'I'm so sorry, we lost him!'
I feel a cold air kind of sensation wash over my body as the doctor's words echo over and over inside my head.
'Lost who!?... My dad!?... My dad is dead!?' I continually thought to myself in disbelief.
The doctor is still talking and I also hear distant voices talking around me but I can't make sense out of all what they're saying. Nothing else penetrated my mind apart from the bad news the doctor just gave me.
He pats me on the arm when he's done talking and walks away.
''I'm so sorry, we lost him! My dad is really dead!" I say out loud this time since it feels as if I'm in a dream
"But how can he be dead when we were just talking some minutes ago!?" I ask no one in particular. For someone who is known for his prowess on the battleground, I know I probably look stupid to the people around me because of how I talk about death as if I don't know there's just a step between life and death
Someone lightly slaps me on the back and I see it's Eric when he comes to stand in front of me. He's talking but I can't hear him. It feels as if he's speaking from quite a distance away from me. Then he touches my forehead with his to look deep into my eyes.
He initiated the forehead-to-forehead contact between us after we lost our parents and I started having emotional breakdowns. That day, I flew into an uncontrollable rage and attacked my martial art coach for cussing at me. I wouldn't stop hitting him until some people grabbed and handcuffed me to an iron bench that was bolted to the floor.
Eric just came to me and used his forehead to touch mine. He talked while his calm eyes drilled into my furious ones. He told me he wished he could share my burden by absorbing some of my demons. Nobody could hold me down that day but surprisingly, Eric's words calmed me down considerably, and always does till now.
"Thor!..."
"Thor, common man!" His voice gradually penetrated the foggy state of my mind till I can clearly hear him call my name
"Yes!" I answered half-mindedly as if I was in a trance
"Let's go to the doctor's office." He says
"For what!? My dad died! Didn't you hear when he said my dad died!?... One moment he was okay... I should have allowed him to rest! I shouldn't have made him talk! I should have insisted he stopped talking instead of encouraging him. I should have ..."
"Enough already!" He firmly shut me up. Stop with the self-blame! It's not every bad thing that happens that you will blame yourself for man, please!" He says furiously "Now snap out of it and let's go see the doctor."
He moves closer and speaks into my ear then.
"He said your dad gave him a message for you!"
Alpha Nate is already at the doctor's office when we arrive and I wonder why he's there since the discussion is about my father and doesn't concern him. We sit and the doctor hesitantly looks at Eric. I can see he's not sure if he should say whatever my dad told him in front of Eric or not
"So we're here... What did my dad ask you to tell me?" I ask the doctor
"Are you sure you want me to..." His words trail off as he nods his head toward Eric. "You know what I mean"
"Sure, I know what you mean. Are you sure Alpha Nate should also be here when I hardly know him? Or are you allowing him because he is your Alpha!?"
"No! He's here because your dad wanted him to be involved
"Well, Eric is not just my best friend. He's my brother and I trust him with my life so start talking." I firmly say and he looked towards his Alpha who nods for him to continue
"Okay..." He says and returns his gaze to mine "I'm sorry that I had to break the news of your father's death to you, making you go through the emotional trauma was not my intention and..."
"Doc, doc, doc..." I say impatiently, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I'm kinda not in the mood for chitchats right now, do you mind going straight to the point?... Just tell me why I'm here?"
"Uhm okay, your dad is alive!"
"What!?..." Eric shockingly replies beside me while I just raise my brow questioningly at the doctor
"Is this some kind of sick joke!?" I ask in annoyance "The gasping for breadth and shit, was that all a joke!? Am I a joke to you people?"
"No, it wasn't a joke!... It's true that we nearly lost him because he was having a heart attack. That was one of the things I thought would happen when I decided to monitor him for some few days before he's discharged" The doctor replies
"He wanted me to announce his death to you in the presence of everyone so the rumor would quickly spread everywhere."
"He wanted his death to be announced! Why? To what end?" I ask not understanding my dad's reason for faking his own death
"He thinks the person behind his attack would resurface after they hear about his death." Alpha Nate answers this time
"Okay, but that still doesn't tell me much!" I reply him
"Right now, I injected him with something that would make it seem like he died. He will be awake in five hours and would discuss the matter further with you then"
★***★***★***★***★***★***★***★
Flame's POV
I quickly start on the last room which I realize too late is the master's bedroom. Whenever I clean apartments, I usually do the master bedroom first but with all the rush, I totally forgot about it. These guests are important to the Alpha. What if they arrive and the master and mistress of the house couldn't enter their room because of me? The Beta already had it in for me and I can't imagine what he will do to me when he finds out about my tardiness
I heave a sigh of relief when the guests still haven't arrived by the time I'm finally done. I even pick fresh flowers and put them in a vase I place on the nightstand. I love flowers and I hope the mistress of the house will appreciate my efforts.
Since Martha said I can return to the pack house, there was no need for me to wait for the guests' arrival. In Fact, I don't pray they meet me when they arrive. I grab the hoodie that I left on the bed and open the door.
Then I freeze
"Oh, my God!..." I couldn't help but gasp out in shock when I see a half-naked man in the living room.