by Sara Summers
“The sandwich was wrong. You put too much mayonnaise on it.” He glared at me for a second before opening the freezer and digging around, undoubtedly looking for ice cream.
“I’m sorry, next time I’ll be more careful.” I apologized. It would be worse if he knew Tanner was the one who made the sandwich.
When he didn’t find anything, he slammed the freezer door and turned to face me, glaring.
“Why isn’t there any ice cream?” he demanded.
“You ate it all yesterday.” I reminded him, trying to be as gentle as I could. After the incident earlier, he was already on edge. His ice cream was typically the highlight of his day, so I wasn’t surprised he was angry.
“You’re lying.” He snapped.
“I’m not lying to you.” I grabbed the plate and held it against my chest, ignoring the crumbs to both use it as a barrier and keep it from becoming my dad’s newest weapon. “Let’s get you back to the couch, dad. You’ll feel better if you watch your show.” I gestured toward the living room with my head.
“I won’t feel better if I watch!” My dad roared, switching from anger to fury in the blink of an eye. He hurried around the counter and shoved me up against the wall.
When I reached out with my good hand to stop him from swinging at me, I lost my grip on the plate with my sling-hand. It fell to the floor and shattered, and I felt some of the small plate-splinters cut into my legs and the tops of my feet.
“Stop, dad.” I tried to sound authoritative, but I had never been able to order him around. I wouldn’t have been covered in bruises if I had.
As my dad shoved me against the wall again, I heard footsteps on the stairs and wanted to groan.
If Tanner came down now, there was no telling what my dad would do.
“Step back.” Tanner warned, his voice low and threatening. I couldn’t even see the big guy, and I wanted to do what he’d said.
My dad, however, didn’t have a properly-functioning mind to warn him when something bigger and stronger was coming his way.
He bent down and picked up a shard of the plate, turning it to use it like a knife.
“Dad, don’t!” I held up both hands, abandoning the sling and the pain that slid through my shoulder as I moved it. “No one wants to hurt you, you don’t have to—“
He ignored me and lunged at Tanner, who ducked to the side to avoid getting stabbed.
My dad wasn’t all that steady on his feet, though, and he couldn’t stop himself mid-lunge. He slipped and hit his head on the wall, falling to the floor and dropping the knife next to himself. I heard the cracking noise as his head hit the wall.
I rushed to his side, reaching to his neck to check his pulse. Before I could touch his skin, he grabbed my hand.
I screamed like a girl in a horror movie.
“Get the animal out of my house.” My dad glared at me, and then let go of my wrist.
“Should I call 911?” Tanner asked, as I scrambled away from my dad and to the man who made me feel safe. My heart wasn’t going to stop pounding any time soon.
“No, he hates hospitals and has to be sedated there. They’ll just say there’s nothing they can do for him anyway.” I swallowed and shook my head, trying to calm my still-racing heart. He seemed fine, trying to get up while he scrambled to reach for another plate-shiv.
“Tanner, I know you don’t want to, but I need you to wait on the porch for a little while until I can get him calmed down. He’s only getting worse the longer you’re in here.”
He hesitated, and I took his hand. The gesture startled him, and he met my gaze.
“Please. I’ll be fine, I promise. Just wait outside.”
“Alright.” He nodded, but I could see that he was clenching his jaw. “Be careful, I won’t be able to hold back my wolf if I he hurts you again.”
His warning sounded fair. If wolves felt inclined to protect their soulmates, he had obviously already pushed his to the limit.
“I will.” I let go of his hand and he headed out to wait on the porch.
Turning back to my dad, I held out my hand.
“The shifter is gone, dad. You’re safe, so you can give me the plate.” I didn’t step toward him, more cautious this time.
My dad’s tired eyes were narrowed at me. I knew he had a headache; he almost always had a headache, and this much anger and movement would’ve only made that worse.
He dropped the plate shard on the floor and stepped toward me, taking my hand.
“Let’s get you to bed.” I said, making sure to speak softly.
“Alright.” He nodded, and I led him to his room.
Seven
I slipped out the front door, shutting it at softly as I could so my dad wouldn’t hear. I’d heard the porch swing swinging even from inside the house, which was incredibly strange.
“Hey.” I bit the inside of my cheek as I sat down next to Tanner on the swing. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and scooted a little closer. I’d decided to be done trying to keep my distance from him around the time he’d hugged me earlier.
“Are you alright?” he asked, and I could tell he was being careful with how he asked it.
“I’m fine.” I said quickly.
He looked at me with both eyebrows raised.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re always fine?”
“Because I am.” I gave him a small smile. “I’m sorry about earlier, he just doesn’t know what he’s doing.” I apologized.
“The bruises on your body disagree.” He argued, looking at me without moving his arm off my shoulders. “That isn’t healthy for you.” He gestured to the house. “If me being around your dad makes him worse we’re going to have to find someone that he can stand to protect you.”
I scooted away from Tanner and his warm, comfortable arm.
“Stop.” I glared at him, my walls coming up again as I stood. “You don’t decide what I do. I am in charge here.” I folded my arms, feeling my face flush with anger.
Tanner stood up and folded his arms, too.
“I’m not just going to sit back and watch him shove you against walls or come at you with knives, Hallie. If things stay like that, one of these days you’re going to end up dead, and I can’t let that happen.” He wasn’t yelling, but he definitely wasn’t whispering.
My mouth fell open when I heard him say that he thought my dad was going to kill me.
“Get off my porch.”
I pointed away from the house, feeling anger building inside me.
“I’m not leaving.” His muscles bulged as he stepped closer to me, looking about a second away from losing control.
“I let you in because you said you weren’t going to try to change anything. Get away from me or I’ll call the police.” I threatened, feeling my voice shake a little.
As if the cops had heard what I said, two police cars pulled up into my driveway a moment later, their lights flashing and their sirens screaming. I hadn’t even noticed them coming, I had been so wrapped up in our argument.
“What?” I gaped at the men, who got out of their cars with their guns pointed directly at me and Tanner.
I raised my hands in the air quickly, and Tanner did the same.
“You didn’t—“ he was cautious.
“I wouldn’t actually call them!” I said, my hands starting to shake. There was no doubt in my mind why they were at my house; my dad must’ve snuck out during the night and done something terrible, the way I always knew he would.
“Don’t move.” The cops warned, coming closer.
They ignored me and grabbed Tanner’s arms, forcing them behind his back as they handcuffed him.
“What did I do?” Tanner demanded, not fighting the police though anyone could see he wanted to.
“You’re under arrest for harassment.” The cop wasn’t messing around.
“Whoa, there’s been a misunderstanding.” I protested. The cops put their guns away as soon as Tanner was handcuffed, so I knew they didn’t care a
bout me. I hurried to get in their way.
“We got a report of a shifter terrorizing a young woman and we’re taking care of it. Step away please.” The cop was gruff and emotionless.
“No, he’s not harassing me. We were having an argument, it’s just—we’re soulmates, okay? Look.” I pulled my hair away from my ear and pointed to marking underneath that I hadn’t yet had a chance to look at but knew was there because it still felt sore.
The policemen were looking at me suspiciously now, too.
“Like I said, it’s a misunderstanding.” I repeated. “Please let him go.”
The policemen hesitated.
I had no idea why they had to stop and think about it, I had just told them exactly why they needed to let him go.
“In cases of domestic abuse, the woman would typically say something like this.” One of the police finally said.
“What? That’s insane, I just met him a few hours ago. There hasn’t even been time for him to abuse me.” I protested.
“Who reported this?” Tanner asked. I realized he’d been quiet, and had a quarter of a second to wonder why before the cops answered.
“We can’t say.”
“Well you have no proof so you have no grounds to take him.” I folded my arms. At some point in the madness earlier, I realized, I’d lost the t-shirt sling that Tanner had made for me.
“There’s plenty of evidence.” The cops led him down the stairs leading off of my porch, and I followed him.
“Show me where!” I insisted, determined not to let the men take away the soulmate I’d just met.
“Hallie.” Tanner’s voice was as soft as the sad smile he gave me. “Look at yourself.”
The cops pushed him into the back seat of one of their cars and drove away without another word.
I hurried inside the house, my heart beating quickly. Running straight into the bathroom, I turned on the light and gasped at what I saw in the mirror. My shoulder was swollen huge and obviously bruised, and there were greenish-purple bruises appearing on my upper arms that were unmistakably made by someone’s fingers.
It definitely didn’t look good, and the police hadn’t even seen the bruises all over my torso.
My body began to shake when I realized that there was a serious possibility Tanner could be sent to prison for something my dad had done to me.
I scrambled into the kitchen, my mind racing as I tried to figure out what I should do.
“Is everything okay, Hallie?”
My dad’s voice surprised me, and I screamed.
“When did you get up?” I demanded, feeling much angrier with him than I usually did.
“Twenty minutes ago. I heard yelling and saw you facing off against some shifter. Are you okay?” he repeated the question.
“What?” He had my attention, then. My dad hadn’t asked if I was okay in years, and he definitely hadn’t stood back and watched a fight go down without him.
“You don’t look so good, honey. Can I get you something to eat?” he checked.
“Can you get me something to eat? What happened to you?” I looked around the room, waiting for someone to jump out with a camera or something.
“What do you mean? I always feed you when you’re upset.” He looked at me funny, like I’d said something that didn’t make sense.
“You did that when I was fifteen, dad. You haven’t cooked for me since the tumors took over.” I tried to remind him.
“The tumors?” he frowned, his forehead wrinkling. “I thought you were fifteen.”
“No, dad, I’m nineteen. It’s been three years. The doctors said you were going to die, remember?” I prodded him, hoping he would start to remember.
“No.” he looked down at himself and looked back at me in shock. His body was much frailer than it had been three years ago, since I was the only reason he remembered to eat every day. “What happened?”
“Wait, are you the one who called the cops?” I demanded, suddenly remembering why I was in panic mode in the first place. Tanner had just been handcuffed and dragged away in front of me.
“It looked like one of your classmates was hurting you, of course I called the cops. This doesn’t look like the first time, either.” He gestured to my shoulder.
“No, that wasn’t—“ I groaned. Everything was happening so quickly. My dad’s memory and anger had vanished, apparently, but I had no idea for how long. Tanner was in jail or at least being detained…
My eyes landed on the phone on the counter that belonged my soulmate. He’d said his sister was Emma Lush, a celebrity with plenty of money and sway. She could come and fix everything with the police, couldn’t she?
“I’ll explain everything in a few minutes, I swear. I have to call someone first.” I grabbed the phone and sat down on the stairs. When I pushed the home button, the numbers popped up, waiting for a password.
I swore.
“Watch your language, Hallie.” My dad warned.
I shook my head. What a horrible time for him to return to his pre-tumor self! I felt sure it was only temporary and the last thing I wanted was to get my hopes up that he was going to stay like that forever.
Looking back down at the phone, there was only one more thing I could try.
“Siri, call Emma.” I ordered.
“Calling Emma.” Siri responded.
I sighed in relief and held the phone up to my ear.
It only rang twice before she answered.
“Tanner! You can’t just leave me hanging like that!” Emma exclaimed. “What happened? How is she?”
“Um, this is Hallie.” I looked up at the ceiling and grimaced, pointedly avoiding putting my attention on my dad and his new strangeness. The phone call was uncomfortable, but it was way better than the conversation that would follow it.
“Is Tanner okay?” She demanded.
“Well yes,” I wasn’t sure how to sugar-coat it so I just kind of dumped it on her. “But there was a misunderstanding with the police and they just ignored everything I said and took him away. He told me you’re a celebrity and I thought you might be able to convince them to let him go.”
“I can leave in ten minutes.” She moved the phone and her voice got quieter for a minute. “Logan, we have to go help Tanner.” She moved it back. “Where are you?”
I told her where my small town was, on the edge of Nevada and California.
“Perfect. We’ll be there in three hours or so, text me your address.” Emma instructed.
“I don’t know Tanner’s passcode.” I hurried to say before she hung up.
“1232. It’s what everyone in my family uses in case you ever need to get into someone else’s phone.”
“Thanks.” I bit the inside of the cheek. It felt weird, being accepted into their family just like that, universal passcode and all.
“Oh, and Hallie?” Emma said, before I could hang up.
“Yeah?”
“I know everything is probably a little overwhelming right now, but we’ll get it all figured out soon. Thanks for calling me, and welcome to the family.” She said.
“Thank you. I have to go, but I guess I’ll see you soon.”
“Alright, bye.” Emma hung up, leaving me to my very-confused father and three years’ worth of explanations.
Eight
When I finally finished catching my dad up on everything he missed and who he’d turned into with his tumors, he sat back against the couch in horror.
“I am so sorry you’ve had to deal with all of that on your own, Hallie. Why didn’t you just put me in a care facility?”
“I didn’t want you to get drugged and handcuffed to a hospital bed.” I shrugged a little. Don’t feel bad, I chose to stay.”
“And your mom left me. Did she remarry?” he asked.
I would’ve loved to say no, but I couldn’t.
“Yeah. There was a wedding a few months ago. I didn’t go, but she sent some pictures.”
“Can I see?” my dad asked.
&n
bsp; I shook my head.
“That’s not a good idea. I don’t want to do anything that could make you angry again.”
“I’m not going to be like that again, Hal. Take me to the hospital, I want another brain scan.”
“Going to the hospital isn’t a good idea either.” I shook my head again. “And I told you about Tanner, his sister will be here sometime soon.” I looked at the clock. It had been almost three hours since I’d called her.
“You need to be here to help Tanner, but I’m going to go to the hospital to get a brain scan.” My dad squeezed my hand.
“No, you shouldn’t go alone.” I protested. “And you can’t drive.”
“I can find someone to give me a ride.” He brushed it off. “You’ve been here for me for a long time. Let me take care of myself for today. And go take a shower before his sister gets here, you don’t want to meet her looking and smelling like this.”
He made a face and gestured to me. When I saw that teasing glint in his eyes, I realized how much I had missed him.
“Fine, I will.” I smiled and stood. “It’s good to have you back, dad.”
“Thanks, Hal. I’m really sorry that I hurt you.” He apologized for what had to be the fifteenth time since I’d told him he was the reason for the bruises.
“You didn’t know what you were doing.” I reminded him for the fifteenth time. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” He smiled as I headed up the stairs, and I could see the sadness in the expression.
His whole world had just turned upside down, and I was going upstairs to get dressed. I stopped halfway up the stairs and looked at him.
“Are you sure you want to do this alone, dad? If you wait a few hours, I can take you to the hospital myself.”
“Hallie, I’m the parent here. I know it hasn’t seemed like that for a long time, but I’m back now and you don’t have to take care of me anymore. Go rescue that boy.” He chided me.
“Alright.” I went up the rest of the stairs, heading straight into the bathroom to shower.
I turned on the shower to let the water heat up and then noticed that it was getting dark outside. Tanner’s phone was still in my hand, so I checked the time.