"I knew you wouldn't understand," I sigh.
"I knew I couldn't trust you," Dad mutters. "You're useless. Can't get anything right." I tilt the screen up and glare at him, but it doesn't stop the torrent of abuse. "You ruin all my plans, same as your mother."
As he sputters insults, I run my hand through my hair but snap when he shakes his head in disgust. He's heartless and cruel, but the thing is, I've heard it all before, and I've had enough.
"Stop it! How could you be so rude to the man I love?" I don't recognize the power in my own voice, but I like it.
"You don't know what you're doing. He's not even a man!"
"He's more human than you've ever been. Besides, I'm a grown woman!"
"Like hell you are. Mark my words, Dahlia. That thing doesn't love you. You're going to mess this up, and I swear, I am not cleaning up your mess."
Ha!He only cares about himself or how my behavior reflects on him. HowinconvenientI am.
"You know what? Nothing's a mess. You don't have to like it, but I know what I want, and I don't care what you think about him because he'smine."
Tears prick my eyes, but I'll be damned if I let him see me cry. "Bye, dad." I end the call before he has a chance to say anything else.
I'm too embarrassed to face Draven and need time to pull myself together. He didn't do anything wrong, and I refuse to bring any more negativity into his life. It feels as though the walls are closing in around me. I need air and space and need to get outside right away.
As I run to the door, Gretchen sweeps into the room, her face a mask of shock. Our eyes meet, but I tear my gaze away. With my heart burdened by the horror of dad's nasty words, I am unable to face her. She's too sweet, too kind. I can't share my pain with her. It isn't fair.
"Dahlia!" She calls out for me, but it's too late. The door slams closed, and I run into the woods as fast as I can.
It's daylight, so I'll be safe. Nothing will go wrong because the worst has already happened.
Chapter Eleven
Draven
"Fuck!"Iroar,sweepingmy hand across my desk as fury courses through my veins. Everything on top crashes to the floor, glass shattering at my feet. I never should have pushed Dahlia to contact her father. Had I known he was such a fucking asshole, I would have kept my mouth shut. But I didn't do that. I urged her to talk to him. I let him see me.
What the hell is that…thing?
Thing. Not a man worthy of his daughter. Not a man at all in his eyes. To him, I'm a mere thing. The monster I've always believed myself to be.
Except I don't believe that anymore, do I?Dahliadoesn't believe that. She sees a man, where her father sees a monster. She makes me see a man too. And by God, I am worthy of her. No one will ever love her better or adore her more than I do. I may be a seven-foot-tall freakshow, but I'mherseven-foot-tall freakshow.
That's why I'm pissed. That…fucker…hurt her. He can call me what he wants. I developed thick skin a long damn time ago. But what he can't do is say it toher. What he can't do is spew his venom and his hatred at her. My beauty is as gentle as she is fierce. She loves deeply. I've lived most of my life in this form, hidden from those who would never understand. Those who, like her father, have sharp tongues and hard hearts. She hasn't. This is her first taste of what life in this form is like. And it came at the hands of someone she loves.
The urge to hunt him down and kill him slowly is strong. Iwantto make him suffer. That's my instinct. Kill what hurts my mate. Destroy it so it can never do so again. No one hurts Dahlia. No one makes her cry.No one.
It's a serious fucking problem when giving in to that instinct would hurt her too.
Her father was wrong. I'm not a monster. I'm not a man, either. At least not fully. I'm something in between. Not entirely one, not fully the other. I'm just…hers.
"Draven!" Ma calls, her steps hurried as she rushes into my office. "I heard a… Oh, dear."
"I'll take care of it," I mutter, scrubbing a hand down my face. I'll clean it up later. Right now, I need to see Dahlia. I need to apologize for pressuring her to talk to that…fucker. I need to make sure she's all right. I need to make her smile and laugh again. The world won't be right until she's smiling. "Where's Dahlia?"
"That's what I was coming to tell you when I heard…that," Ma says, and I can just imagine her waving her hand in the direction of the mess at my feet. Atticus is going to be pissed when he has to design a new monitor for me. "She went running off into the woods."
"She did what?" I growl, my heart stalling in my chest. Even though it's midday, the woods are no place for her. Mountain lions aren't the only animals that roam the forest. And I'm not the only monster in Screaming Woods. There are others. They aren't all civilized.
If anything happens to her…
No. I won't allow it. I'll splinter every tree in the forest with my bare hands before I allow a single hair on her head to be harmed.