Page 68 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
“I was surprised by the attraction because she’s not a werewolf. I’d never cheated on my wife, never thought I would. I loved her. Still do. But it wasn’t something I could resist. It was a compulsion.”
I gasped, realizing what he was saying. “Cravedark,” I said under my breath.
Travis nodded. “It didn’t occur to me at the time because, like I said, your mother is not a werewolf. I thought Cravedark was only possible between members of our kind, but recently, I’ve learned that is not the case.”
I clenched my fists, fighting the host of new emotions rising in my chest.
Cravedark.
If their attraction has been due to Cravedark, could I blame either of them for what had happened? Had they had a choice?
There was no choice,a voice said inside of me. It was Red, who understood these things better than my human side ever could.
She did have a choice when she decided to lie to me, another voice said. The anger I’d been feeling toward my mother redoubled.
I glanced at Travis, expecting a similar torrent of feelings to crowd my chest at the sight of him, but they didn’t come. He hadn’t known. My mother had never told him. Instead, she had chosen to lie to everyone. My father, Travis, me, my siblings.
“Now,” he said, “I understand why my interest in her died so suddenly.” His eyes scanned me from head to toe as if to say I was the proof, the cause for that abrupt end to his infatuation. “You... came along.”
Cravedark created a compulsion between people who would make strong offspring, and it ended the moment that goal was achieved. So when my mother had gotten pregnant with me, Travis’s desire to mate with her went away.
As if to leave nothing to interpretation, he added, “You’re my daughter.”
I wanted to tell him it wasn’t true. I wanted to tell him that Peter Sunder was my father, but the anger I’d harbored toward him seemed to have disappeared. When he spoke next, whatever remnants of animosity I still had toward him went up in smoke.
“If I had known, if Amalia had told me, I would have been there.”
Part of me wanted this to be a lie, but I realized that he had no reason to lie. Admitting that he was my father would still bring chaos into his life. His wife would be mad. His kids would be mad. Wouldn’t they? Why would he bring that on himself unless he meant to take responsibility? Red stirred with her own emotions.
A pack. I would’ve had a pack, she seemed to say. It was true. My entire life would have been so different. I would never know all the things Mom had deprived me of.
I struggled to find something to say, but I had no idea what.
He spoke first. “Perhaps, you and I could—”
High beams pierced through the dim light, and a Land Rover drove in, filling the cave with the stench of its exhaust. Ulfen Erickson stepped out of the SUV and joined us. He looked more put together than the last time I’d seen him. His red hair and beard were trimmed to perfection, and he wore an expensive suit, a matching tie in place.
He nodded in greeting as he approached us. “Craig is right behind me, I think.”
“And the Knight boy?” Travis asked.
The idea that he thought of Jake as a boy struck me as funny.
Ulfen glanced toward me, expecting me to answer the question.
“He’ll be here,” I said.
Travis frowned and seemed to consider the small interaction between Ulfen and me. These two had an alliance, one that also represented a rivalry against the Knights and the Blackridges. Was he wondering whether his newfound daughter had a thing going with the alpha of an enemy pack? Did he care? I knew I didn’t.
A moment later another car pulled into the cave. This one a BMW much like Travis’s. Craig got out of the driver’s side, and to my surprise, Jake came out of the other door. I didn’t like the sight of the two together. Craig would not be happy if he found out what we’d been doing in Eric’s garage.
Jake’s gaze bore into mine, and memories of last night filled my mind. A blush heated my face. He smiled wickedly, deliciously. I wanted him between my legs all over again, but I had to stamp my urge down.So inopportune. Seriously!
“We’re all here,” Ulfen said without preamble and walked toward the back of the cave, where he pressed his hand to the wall.
The others did the same.
