Black Moon (Alpha Pack #3)(63)

"There never is, honey." Sitting next to her on the sofa, he took both her hands in his. "If there's one thing I learned from being married to your mother, it's that there is never a perfect time to deal with the unpleasant stuff. It's always best to get issues out in the open so they can be dealt with and healed."

"And here I am, the therapist with all the fancy college degrees, and my dad had to clue me in." She sniffled, and he handed her another tissue. "Thanks."

"That's what dads are for."

She heaved a shaky breath. "Malik's such an opportunist and a manipulator. I should've known he'd pull something like this. I shouldn't have waited to tell Kalen anything. And I won't from now on, if he gives me another chance."

"I don't think forgiveness is the worst trial either of you are facing right now. It's Malik and how he's going to use this rift to his advantage-and he will. It's just a question of how."

"Daddy, why did Nick bring you here? I know you didn't show up just to surprise me," she said quietly. She was afraid of the answer, but she had to know for sure.

His hesitation, the silence ticking away, was answer enough before he reluctantly shared some of what he knew. "Nick had a vision recently. A couple, actually, involving Kalen and the Pack. He saw that something terrible is going to happen, but he's not certain when or where. Just that it will be soon."

"And what he saw was so bad that he secretly called in the military?" Alarm shot through her at her father's grim nod. "Are your men in the area?"

"I'm afraid so. They're on standby. I had hoped never to have to involve them in the paranormal world, but we don't always get what we want, huh? At least they're good men, trustworthy. They won't breathe a word about their mission or anything they witness."

"Well, it's not like anyone would believe them if they did."

"True." He eyed his daughter. "Are you feeling better?"

"Physically, yes. I wish I knew where Kalen went exactly. And when he's coming back." If he was coming back. One thing was for sure: she couldn't sit here anymore feeling miserable and sorry for herself. She needed to get her mind off her troubles with Kalen. "I think I'm going to wash up, then head to the infirmary. What are your plans?"

"I'm going to head out for a while, meet with my units. I don't normally take such a hands-on role these days, but this isn't exactly a typical situation." Kissing her on the cheek, he stood. "You sure you'll be all right?"

"Don't worry." She forced a smile. "Go and take care of business. I'll see you later, maybe at dinner?"

"It's a date."

After seeing her dad out, she took a nice, hot shower, trying to wash away the stress of the morning. All the recent events kept running round in her mind, and it blew her away how fast things had gone from hopeful to hellacious in the span of a few minutes. She liked to think she and Kalen were stronger than the forces trying to drive a wedge between them.

But now she had her doubts.

She hated that, like she hated that he'd run instead of listening to her side of the story. He'd be back, but she wasn't going to make it easy for him. Now that she was over her crying jag, she was getting good and mad. Damned men! They were frequently a huge, collective pain in the ass. It was ironic that she'd taken a job that surrounded her with loads of testosterone on a daily basis.

She dressed quickly, then headed to the kitchen to pour the rest of the coffee down the sink and nibble some crackers. As excited as she was about the baby, the changes to her body made her feel like she'd been dropped into the wrong person. Certain smells made her sick, her br**sts were tender, and she was sleepy all the time. She was also weepy, which was problem enough without the rest of the drama.

A few crackers and a cup of juice later, she headed to the infirmary and busied herself examining the latest round of test results on Sariel. He was doing much better and would likely be released, with the stipulation that he take care of himself. Everyone was concerned about the prince, and they would monitor his weight, but there really didn't seem to be a reason to keep him.

She was readying Sariel's release papers when her ink pen hit the desk with a clatter. "Oh my God."

Sariel. If Kalen was Malik's son then that meant . . .

Stunned, she sat back in her office chair and debated her next course of action. Talk to the prince? Or wait for Kalen? She decided on the latter. Waiting for him was not the same as keeping the news from the faery. It just wasn't her place to share what she knew without speaking with her mate first.

"Mac?"

She looked up to see Melina standing in the doorway. "I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"You look a million miles away. You okay?"

"I'm fine." She waved the other woman inside. "I was thinking Sariel is about ready to get sprung. What do you say?"

Her friend took the test results from Mac and looked them over. After a few moments, she nodded. "Looks good. Or as good as it can be, considering we don't know what's making him sick. It took him a helluva long time to recover from the witch's attack, much longer than any of the shifters would have taken to heal. He didn't need the injury on top of that."

Mac managed to stifle a smile at her friend's protective tone. Someone was more than a little sweet on a certain Fae prince. Melina would deck her if she mentioned it, though.