Shadowed Strength: Shadowed Series Book One

by Wendi Wilson

  “Melanie,” her mom said gently. “I’d like you to meet your father, Darren Wilkes.”

  Darren closed the distance and Melanie stood, keeping the table between them. She held out her hand for him to shake, and he smirked at it before grasping it firmly. Melanie sat back down and Darren and her mom followed suit. Jeremy stayed where he was, standing behind Melanie. She couldn’t see his face, but she could feel the tension radiating off of him.

  Finally, her father spoke. “Melanie, it’s so wonderful to finally meet you.”

  “Really,” Melanie spouted off with attitude, “where have you been until now? Why didn’t you care enough to find me?” She could feel her face heating with anger.

  “Melanie,” her mom scolded. “This is her boyfriend, Jeremy.”

  “No, Elaine, it’s okay. The anger is normal,” he remarked, then nodded at Jeremy.

  Jeremy’s hands landed on Melanie’s shoulders with a squeeze. She looked up at him in question, but she couldn’t discern the look on his face. He looked angry with a little dumbfounded thrown in for good measure.

  Darren cleared his throat to get her attention back on him. “Melanie, there are reasons why I haven’t been here. Valid ones that I’m sure you’ll understand.”

  “Do tell.”

  God, what is wrong with me? I’ve been wanting to meet this man my whole life, and here I am being a class “A” bitch. She took a deep breath.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Darren smiled. “It’s okay, I understand. See, your mom and I were totally, deeply, undeniably in love with each other.” He reached out and took her mom’s hand, and she smiled back at him.

  Melanie drew her brows down at the gesture. “If you were so in love then why didn’t you stay?”

  “Because, honey,” her mom interjected, “I made him go.”

  “What? Why?”

  Darren continued, “There are things about me, about my life and my family that your mother didn’t like. She loved me, but she couldn’t deal with the rest. She didn’t want you to have to deal with it either.”

  “Like what?”

  “We live a different lifestyle than most people.” His eyes shot up to Jeremy for a brief moment before settling back on Melanie.

  “Okay.”

  “Melanie,” her mom began, “there are certain family traits, or genes rather, that your father carries and we think that they’ve been passed to you.”

  “Like a blood disorder, or something?”

  Jeremy’s hands left her shoulders and she felt him back away from her to lean on the counter behind him. She looked back and he was still staring at Darren, his eyes tight and his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Something like that,” Darren said, bringing her attention back to him. “Have you noticed any dramatic changes lately? Either mental or physical?”

  Melanie’s eyes shot to her mom and she nodded back at her. “Yes,” Melanie replied, “I have. I lost some weight and got physically stronger really fast.”

  Darren nodded. “Anything else?”

  “I have a short temper and enough confidence to back it up,” she said with a smirk, and Jeremy barked out a laugh behind her, covering it with a cough. “Oh, and I can hear and see better. Nothing too dramatic, just sharper.”

  “Your birthday is next week, right? You’ll be seventeen?” He directed the question to her, but he was looking at Jeremy.

  “Yes,” she snapped testily. “Why are you looking at him and not me?”

  “Because he knows what I am, just as I know what he is.”

  “Huh?” Melanie looked questioningly at Jeremy, as her mom stood up and angrily shouted, “What?”

  “Elaine, calm down. The boy is good to her, right?”

  Her mom sputtered and Melanie looked around, bewildered. “What the hell is going on here? What do you mean, you know what he…is……”

  Darren just smiled and nodded his head knowingly.

  “I see you told her.” This was directed not at Melanie, but at Jeremy. Jeremy nodded the affirmative.

  Melanie looked at her dad helplessly. He smiled sadly and said, “I smelled him the second I walked in here, just like he smelled me. We recognize each other because we’re the same. And so are you.”

  The End