My fingers jitter as I pick up my heather gray crochet sweater off the lounge. I hope my father doesn't bring up the deal I made in the moment of my weakness. He still has this type of guardian ownership over me where Bora is the outsider, the one intruding. But he is family. We practically raised each other. Ugh. I was so stupid for taking my father's help.

A sense of presence was lingering. As I fastened the buttons, I couldn't help but look back, half-expecting someone to be there, but the area remained empty. I could've sworn someone was here. I guess it was nothing.

We made it back to Colorado Springs, shuffling up the stairs to the FRL laboratory entrance in the mountains as I dreaded going inside. While my mate was ahead of me, he was noticeably slower than the rest of the group. He paused in front of me and turned with haste to come face to face with me while I stumbled over him. He caught my arm. "Tell me what you are hiding." I widen, sucking in air through my pipes. "We are alone now, so there is no need to feel ashamed. Out of respect, I didn't want to humiliate you in front of them by making you tell me the truth. Here and now tell me what's wrong?"

It caught me in between the truth and the lie stuck in my throat. How do I answer the question? With deceit or the real, he would sense any BS I try to explain, anyway. I opened my mouth, but nothing was coming out. Lying is not what I want to do. What can I do? If I tell him I know he will see me differently, I just know it. But, keeping it from him isn't good either. That man caged him, then used him for experiments, and I accepted my father's offer for selfish reasons.

"Bora, I-"

"Gemma!" My father came through the sliding doors with an over-the-top joyful, yet dead look. You have got to be kidding me. He will tell him. No doubt about that.

My gaze fixed on Bora like a race against time. "I tried to have your baby by getting artificially insinuated." I glanced at my father while came closer. "By John's nurse/assistant with your swim team." The heat from my cheeks flushed my chest. The lapse motion in his eyes sent my gut on a roller-coaster. If I lose him, at least I told the truth to give him a chance to decide.

He blinked out of it and stood in between me and my father. "You are not to come near her, ever."

"I think I will let my daughter decide that." His face fell, annoyed, trying to see past him.

"You betrayed her. The sick things that came out of your mouth. Let me know everything about you. You come near her when I say it. The reason we are here is for this one thing."

Quinn handed him the electric gun. "Is this yours?" He pushed it to his chest.

He glanced at the weapon, then side eyes up at Bora. "I thought you were dead?"

The beast came out of him, making the biggest unhinged scene I have ever seen. My father clambers to the ground, clutching his chest. Then his eyes glossed with amazement. "You truly are a beautiful creature." He looked at Quinn. "Well, aren't you going to do something?"

"Do what? I mean, I brought them here. Did you base this, whatever it is, because it has your logo on it?"

"Oh. So you work with him." The sadness on his face almost makes it believable.

"Cut the crap and tell us." Carina lost a bit of patience.

He studied between the nine of us. "Hmm. Follow me to my office and I will tell you everything."

The hall lights did the domino effect as we wandered through, blinding us. Whatever he got up his sleeve, I hope Bora spared him. He is my father, after all. But the hate in my mate's eyes. I hope I'm not in the line of fire. He hasn't said two words since I mentioned the truth. We arose another doorway and the eye-catching chrome was the first thing I saw.

"It belongs to me." My father placed the one we gave on display. "This is a hybrid electric spider bolt. Powerful if used correctly." He plays with the pens on his glass table top, taking a careful seat behind his desk. "Why?" Interlocking his fingers.

"Wrong question to ask. A better one is why aren't you concerned it's missing?" Bora returns to his human self.

"How did you get it?" He fires back with a question. Typical behavior from him. He never gives a straight answer.

"Are you working with the shadows?" Malinda probed with a stank eye, while Adam stood behind her with a death stare.

"Oh look, our old neighbors are here. How's life treating you?" The sarcasm spewed, and the tension grew thicker than tar.

"If you want to live. I suggest you talk." Miska gutted out the small talk and handed him a threat.

"Define working for, because I work for no one. I work with people, not for them."

Quinn turned up his lip. "Are you helping them or not? Quit playing games."

"Who's playing games? I merely replied to the inquisitive query."

"I hate this man." Que walked away, losing his patience. I already know the language John uses pisses him off.

"Children, I understand you hate me, but I am innocent."

"Define innocent." I jumped into the conversation.

"No need. What I do is none of your concern. We all made our own choices. We should move on."

"More like you left them with no choice." Bora stood up for us.

My father opened his mouth and Miska put a knife to his throat. "I am a very impatient person, much like your son. And as I evaluated the situation, you are worthless to everyone. So tell us what you know or your children will become fatherless."

"We already are." My brother plopped down in the chair and kicked up his feet on the desk, playing with a scalpel.

"Fine. I will give it to you simply. Soren, as you know as Cage, wants to build his village. And to do that, I have to create an artificial womb for his embryos to grow." A plethora of sighs exhaled out their exhaustion.

My brother expressed disgust, asserting, "You don't stop, do you?"

"Like I said. You made your decision, and I made mine. I lost my family because of my research. I can't lose my research too. Then it will be for nothing. This is what I do, this is who I am."

"He is using that village to create an army to harm your daughter," Bora spoke up.

My mind is chasing for understanding, trying to follow it all. "How long has this been going on?" My father couldn't look me in the eye. Instead, he dropped his head low, which confirmed why Cage was in Colorado Springs. "It's been that long? How far have you gotten?" Still no answer. Then realization clicked in my brain that sent me into a frenzy. "You were going to use me as the host. You lied to me."

"No Gemma, now you're wrong, I wasn't."

He stood up, coming towards me, but Bora jacked him up against the wall with his forearm against his throat. "How sick are you?"

"Hear me out. I was not allowing my assistant to inject you with Cage DNA. I was only testing with Boras DNA to determine if it will take a human host."

"That is terrible." Tears formed in my eyes.

"But you agreed to it, did you not? We both would have won in this situation. And I wanted to make you happy."

"Shut up." Bora threw him to the side.

My father gathered himself. "No matter what you think of me. Trust me when I say I want to bring joy into your life."

"While helping yourself." I shake my head, leading close to my mate, grieved, locking onto his arm. I rest my head on his shoulder, distraught by the lack of love my dad has for me. He breaks my heart every chance he gets, it seems.

Quinn just stared at him with disgust. "There's no fixing us, is there?" He got up and left.

"Hey, wait." Carina followed behind him.

Filled with enthusiasm, Wooly's curiosity prompts him to ask. "Can we see it? Was it successful?"

That question brightened up John's mood. "Yes, it was. Follow me."

They went on ahead as I followed behind. Despite everything that has fallen, I am curious too, but Bora stopped me by my stomach. "We need to talk." He confided under his breath. I knew it was coming, as I expected his words to be prepared to break my heart because I knew I had broken him with that decision.

He delayed till everyone left the office, with Miska being the last one heading out. She halted and sought back at us and rolled her eyes, then left. "Are you afraid of me?" The sadness in his eyes made me weak and sorrowful. 

https://youtu.be/X90JzNNXFuY