Page 26 of Caligo

“Adrian.” I kept my voice as calm as possible. “Meet my parents.”

Chapter 8

Adrian looked shocked. “These… these are your parents?”

“Yes,” I informed him tightly, before addressing my parents. “Mom. Dad. Nice of you to let me know you were coming home for Christmas.” I had never seen them looking like this before, both dressed in identical black outfits with short knives strapped to their hips. They looked deadly, and they definitely didn’t look like my parents. Dangerous looked so natural on them, and I wondered how I never realized something was amiss before Jasper filled me in.

My parents gave each other an exasperated look. “Don’t be dramatic, Ava, it doesn’t suit you,” my mother told me. “And put those ridiculous swords down before you hurt yourself.”

I was angry. Angrier than I had been over finding my parents out here in the first place. They still questioned my capabilities when they had no right to do so. “Don’t give me orders. Tell me what the hell you’re doing out here in my woods.”

My mother coughed out a laugh. “Yourwoods, are they, now? Did you magically become a werewolf while we were away?”

“No, Mom, I became a Venator. So let me ask you again. Why are you here?”

“Don’t be dense. You already know why we’re here,” she said bitterly.

“You’ve been helping the other wolf.” I felt numb. My relationship with my parents the last few months had been like the worst roller coaster ride of my life.

“Congratulations, you’ve figured us out. You must be a true Venator,” my mother said sarcastically, clapping.

“But Jasper said there was a kind of magic, when he was in the cave. How did you --”

My mother cut me off. “I told you there were things he couldn’t hope to understand. Obviously, I was right. Let me give you another chance to go home and forget this whole mess. You’re in way over your head.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate her, if I were you,” Adrian interjected, and I looked over at him in surprise. Up until this moment, he had managed to stay quiet and I had almost forgotten he was there. “Ava has been working hard. She can best nearly everyone, and I wouldn’t be overly surprised if she could take you both down one handed.”

My heart swelled with pride that Adrian thought so highly of me, but ice flooded my veins when I realized the truth of what he said. Jasper had trained me for every eventuality, every possibility. But I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for taking my own parents down as enemies.

“Shut it, mutt,” my mom snapped back at Adrian. “You don’t know who you’re talking to. Ava needs to learn her place, and this isn’t it. She needs to get home before she embarrasses herself.”

Adrian growled, and I rested my hand on him again. “It’s okay,” I told him. “And you,” I said, turning on my mother, “will not speak to my friends that way. They have treated me with more respect than you ever did. Now while I have your attention, what did you do with my mate?”

My father joined in. “Don’t tell me you actually buy into that bull. I told you he’s no good for you. I meant it.”

I gritted my teeth together. “Thanks for the fatherly advice, Dad. Now, where is he?”

He simply gestured towards the thick tree line. “Maybe our friend can answer your question. What do you think?”

The shaggy brown wolf limped into view. Before I could stop him, Adrian phased, leaping in front of me ready to attack. The brown wolf bared his teeth in return, but he looked pretty beat up. I hoped Jasper had inflicted some of those wounds. “Please. Be civilized,” my dad scolded before turning his attention on the brown wolf. “Kelley, I believe Ava has a question for you. Did you deal with Jasper like we had originally discussed?”

I froze at my father’s blunt words, but then hope threaded through me as the wolf shook his big head. Jasper had to be out here somewhere close. We had to find him. But something in what my father had said was ringing a bell. “Kelley…” I repeated, “as in, Sheriff Kelley?”

My dad looked at me like I was missing an obvious point. “Do you know another Kelley?”

“No,” I replied coldly. “But I’m trying to piece together how my parents, who are charged with protecting the pack, have come to be attacking them instead.”

“Why would I want to protect such a disgrace to mankind?” My father’s voice matched my coldness. “My father was one of the best Venators around, and his father before him. So on and so forth. The kind of men you read about in… alternative histories.”

My mom interrupted him. “Jim, stop. We don’t owe her anything. We knew a long time ago she’d never understand. She’s too soft.”

“Monica, if she thinks she can handle it, let her hear the truth. Besides, picking up some toy weapons doesn’t make you a Venator. There are things she still hasn’t experienced.” He turned his attention back to me. “As I was saying. We were the best in history. That’s what I was trained for -- greatness. But as the pack grew in size and strength, the rest of the monsters dwindled in comparison. Here I was, meant to go down in history, while I was stuck babysitting a pack of half-breeds.” He curled his lip.

I was dumbfounded. Did my father expect me to believe they were killing innocent wolves for glory? His reasoning was disgusting. “Your plan was to kill the entire pack off, one at a time?”

He shrugged his shoulders, unbothered. “If it came to it. Our original intention was to create enough attention surrounding the pack they would go into hiding at the very least.”

“And how does Kelley fit into all of this?” I spit out.

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