Amid the drizzling air, the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement echoed through the empty streets. I jogged out of the bar into the humid droplets, taking shelter under the bus stop coverings. But no lingering person hanging about. Why am I drawn to him? It tastes, no - no, I can't admit that. Wait. There. The lamp post casts a bisection of an orange glare across the body, determining if it is him with many stares in a darb olive field jacket.

An eerie aurora of being near the pressure of death kicks in my flight sense. The earth shifts, helping the glow with a glint on his pale cheekbone. That's not him. I couldn't recuperate from agitation but glowered, recognizing that crisp crease line anywhere. Wow, this is not happening. I faded out, heading to where I came.

"Gemma, stay!" His sweeping footsteps and the energy closing in. I am glad I bumped into you. He clung to my forearm, forcing me to confront him as I shoved him off.

"Why are you here, John?" The nerve of this man to show his face.

"Dad. I am your father."

"Okay, Darth Vador. It's more like a boyfriend killer."

That is not fair. I did not capture to kill him.

The level of hate and love I have for my parents. Puke sits in my throat. Your experiments stirred confusion and premature separation. I've blamed myself, but in reality, it was your ridiculous scientific practice. So again, why are you here?

"To see you."

With a simple "Okay," I pivoted on my heels, wandering elsewhere. At this point, I do not entrust a damn word he says and my evening, ruined. No way, after all this time. He decides he misses and wants to see me. Crude and heartless are the gray eyes I read now.

"Gemma!" The ignorance. Why is he screaming my name? It brings me to tears, such a waste of time. My tears only move for you and you only. The one who deserves it has the saddest story of all of us. "Gemma."

"What!" I wailed, chest bumping him.

"I'm not here to cause trouble, but don't judge me."

"We're past that. Already set and buried."

"I am... searching for a werewolf." When I thought it could not become much worse, he enabled a train to splatter my skull against the railing, becoming rail-kill. Gawd, I am a jar of cliche feelings, and not even the desirable kind, an absolute slap to the forehead.

"After everything?" I could not fathom the words to understand. The elevation of agony I endure showering over the curves of my shoulders with aches in the thoracic area of my back. Picking at wounds that are raw, still stitching from the damage he caused alone. I never saw somebody single-handedly throw out years of family memories for food for a dying garden to regrow it. What about the roots that you threw away that he could not use? Where's my happy ending?

"Yes." His truth ate away at the cavity in my hollow heart. "When I found out what happened to-"

"Don't say his name." In a desperate attempt almost intensified the acid in my gut. How close I almost heard it.

"I burned the research. Half was already gone because of Quinn, so I discarded the rest. I was out of line on many degrees, caught up in my desires and new discoveries. Letting go seems irrational. I was so close to cracking the code, but it wasn't worth it. I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but this is my livelihood, passion, and how you think you are paying for your car and school. Despite everything, you and Quinn are my responsibility. So please, let me protect you. We're both in danger."

"What?"

He pushes me behind, holding up a high-tech temperature meter in one hand and an electric bolt wand in the other. The same one they may have used on you. I clutched his jacket tucked away behind him, and yes, I used him as a shield better than me. From the highlight of the gleaming bridge lake to the broadest part of the shadow trees, there was nothing. A passing auto splashed my knees, seeping through to the inside of my shoe, soaking the chilled water in my jeans.

"Are they still here?" I peep up at him.

"I don't think so. One was very faint, undertaking not to be detected, but they're incapable of suppressing for long, so he had a few slip ups." He knows so much about them.

It infuriates me. "I know how you learned that because he did it with me. In a seductive way. And no, he can quite suppress it for a long time. He was playing games with you. Stupid, he is not some animal off the street." The gratification of his nose flaring. Point out a father who wants to hear that from his daughter. I deserve much more than the uncomfortable disgust he undergoes for a few seconds.

"Cute. You think I was unfair, but detaining him benefits further than you think? Or else we'll be in a dilemma right now. There is a thing called a circle of life."

"And the other?"

"What?" His eyes squinted, brow raised to comprehend my question since I overlooked his verbal death sentence.

"You said there were two wolves."

"Ah, yes. The other isn't hiding at all, and his blood levels are rising, but the last recording was at nine forty-seven, twenty minutes ago. They are no longer in the area. The search is far beyond my capabilities."

"Good, bye."

"Hey." He snagged my elbow as I spun with a leisure posture to face him, exacerbated yet satisfied I kept it together. What more could he want?

"I need to talk to you."

"Make it quick."

"How can I repair our father daughter relationship?"

I hunched my shoulders. "Honestly. I don't know. Figure it out." He collected, tapping the tip of his fingers, thinking of what to bargain for. Unless he already has a response. It wouldn't shock me. He is a brilliant man, so I am positive whatever he has to say is a premeditated, planned out effort.

"I can put you at ease. If you trust the process and be open-minded."

"Process?"

"An artificial insemination. I may use his specimen for you to inherit life from him." My eyes fell nearly out of the socket. The lubrication circled the sclera, saving my sanity. I lift a hand over my mouth in disbelief at what I heard. This demon, just explained earlier, dismantled it all. Now, he has taken it back and did much worse.

"What did you do to him?"

"No worries, he was in animal form when I performed the urethral catheteriza-" I swung before he finished the end of that sentence, but he dodged me into a bearhug. "Please. It's not what you see on YouTube."

"What is on YouTube?" He releases his grip now that he senses my composure.

"I am reiterating it is not what you think." He emits a sharp, heavy whiff of a milder, relaxed fashion as I figure out why the mood is reversed. "The world knows you hate my guts, but identify opportunity. You can hold an innocent life in your palms that has his eyes. The mixture of both of you in one. Analysis reveals that a lot of women will choose it if they could. Don't you long for that? "

"For a half wolf?" I made eye contact to see the truth while pointing out the very obvious factor, acknowledging the real reason he asked me to get an insemination. To perform lab work on my baby and monitor the pregnancy. Could he exceed? He sure wants to achieve the impossible. I chuckled in misery because of how severely I wished to accept it. "You're pathetic." I aired out, walking to my vehicle, leaving him standing on the wet cement.

I ended the night by sending Que a text in front of the bar. A crowd full of people straggled onto the sidewalk toward the tree fence-line and gas pumps connected to fried wings. If he hasn't realized I am gone by now, he is drinking. The moment he does, he will panic. That's why he comes through my window to check on me.

Quinn yanked the phone before I could send it. "Where the hell were you? Damn, you gave me a heart attack."

"John showed up. Sorry, I lost track of time." I forgot about him for a second.

"What?" Quinn lightened up. "What he wanted." I should have known he was going to ask this.

"Um, to see me. He said he misses me."

"Miss you? How does that make you feel?"

"I don't know, like I wanna puke."

"Damn, Hobbit." He pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I will talk to him." In my car after that long hug, I realize I am no better than John. What I will do to see you again?

https://youtu.be/CveANi17YfU