Entwined Realms Volume One(106)
Fully clothed, Terak came to sit beside her legs and took her hand in his clawless one. “He will. That he did not betray my secret – betray my Clan – to the human authorities tells me he will. But you are asking him to go against the core of his beliefs in taking me as a mate. It is unfair to ask him to make that transition in an instant without giving him time and space to adjust and to grieve.”
“Grieve?”
“Yes, grieve,” Terak affirmed. “Grief over what he feels is a betrayal of his oath as the leader of the police. And this also lays bare once again his grief over the loss of your mother.”
Terak’s now grey eyes were direct on her, no hint of shading to tell her he was minimizing his own concerns to make her feel better. Her chest hurt, unable to contain the swell of adoration this male evoked in her, the pure gratitude that she had been blessed enough to have him come into her life. She stroked down the sharp plane of his cheekbone. “There’s a very small, vindictive part of me that wants to tell him he can’t use her as an excuse for his actions forever. But I never will, because the instant after that impulse occurs, I imagine my life if something were to happen to you, and I know for him it’s not an excuse. And afterwards, I want to hug him in apology, because I’m in awe he survived as well as he has.”
Strong arms pulled her against a hard chest, and thank gods in this form that smell of newly-cracked stone and undefinable male remained, the smell that was only and forever Terak. She held tight, dragging his warmth and strength into her, both for tonight and for banishing that momentary terror the thought of losing him always evoked.
Of course, now facing her father in the dining room of her old home as he was blatant in his disregard of Terak, the earlier council of giving her father time and space was heading into the territory of don’t think so and a down-and-dirty yelling match became more inevitable by the minute. “Dad,” she said, trying once again to engage Jack in a way that didn’t involve him staring a hole through Terak, “How are things at the precinct?”
“I’d rather not talk about it.” In front of him rang through Jack’s tone and down the center of the dining table.
That was it. Larissa near sprang from her seat as she locked gazes with her dad. “Can I see you in the study for a moment?” Damn straight her teeth were clenched – so were her hands, her stomach, all the way down to her toes. No more of this.
Jack rose, defiance in the slow, steady movement. “Yes. Let’s go.” And he walked ahead without waiting for her to come beside him, like he usually did.
She brushed off Terak’s hand and went after her father. The door click was still echoing in the room as she said, “What is your problem? We talked about this already.”
“We didn’t talk,” her father shot back, restrained fury in his tone. “You waltzed in and informed me you were marrying a creature. Wait, that’s not it, you mated a creature. You left not five minutes later while I was still stunned. How is that talking?”
A tiny tremble of guilt fluttered through her stomach, but she wasn’t going to let that derail her from setting Dad straight. “It doesn’t matter what word is used. He and I are together forever and are it for each other. Words are meaningless.”
“I am your father, and you can be damn sure it isn’t meaningless to me if my daughter is married or not!” Jack paced around the desk, hands on his hips and fire in his eyes. “You didn’t talk through anything with me. You leave me in the dark while you are in danger. You trust strangers over family. And when it’s all over, you leave it to Michael to tell me everything – you can’t even face me and explain what was going through your head!”
“I’m twenty-six years old! I don’t owe you explanations, Dad!”
“Is that right, baby girl?
Deep breath…deep, deep breath. Her father had a point, and yeah, he was owed an apology for that. “I handled things poorly, and I’m sorry about that. But Dad, if anyone can understand the kind of confusion having your life upended like that can cause, it’s you. People and creatures coming at you, and this terror of something so much bigger than you, and you can’t tell friend from enemy. The aftermath of all that was chaos, and somehow in all that Michael got hold of me and told me about the panic over me and Taneasha, but I couldn’t get away so I had to trust him to handle it.” Larissa paused, bringing breath deep into her lungs to calm the panic even the memory of that time could instill in her. “I am sorry. It wasn’t how I wanted to let you know. At the time it seemed the only way and looking back, I still don’t know how else I could have done it. But I waited until I could tell you about Terak myself. I never wanted you to think I was ashamed of him, because I never will be.”