Page 19 of My Shy Alpha

“I don’t know. My dad’s trips never really lined up on the same day of the week or month, I guess.”

“That’s because it was on a full moon. Your dad was a werewolf, hun.”

As if this is a rational explanation, Amy gazes into my eyes for a response.

“Well, wait, that’s what I’d tell a human, but it’s not exactly right. He was a Lycan. And he had to go wolf out somewhere else. But Lycans don’t spiral out of control like fictional werewolves, so it’s not the way you’re probably thinking. It was for a cultural ceremony we hold every Full Moon, and...” Amy trails off, frantically searching my expression. “Sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself.”

I gape at Amy, unsure whether this is some cruel joke.

But I didn’t tell her about the wolves from yesterday... at all.

“Amy, what are you talking about? Werewolves - well, Lycans - don’t exist... Do they?” I swallow hard, well aware of the shapeshifting man I met last night.

No, last night couldn’t have been real. This has to be a long, continuous dream.

Amy raises her eyebrows. “So you didn’t see any wolves last night? You didn’t find your fated mate, and he didn’t tell or show you he could shapeshift into a wolf?”

“I... I didn’t say that. It’s like you said - I just can’t believe it. Especially because–” My body stings with how hard my blood surges. “Why wouldn’t my parents tell me something that huge? And if my dad was a Lycan, and he was as giant as those wolves I saw, who could’ve been strong enough to take him from us, Amy?”

Amy’s eyebrows arch, reflecting my sorrow, and I have to fight back fresh sobs. “Aliya, I’m so sorry, truly. It wasn’t fair.”

I angrily swipe at my tears. “Are you trying to say you’re not human either?”

“Nope, I’m not. Neither is Kira.”

My gut burns. With how much has lined up in the past 24 hours, I’m starting to believe her. To believe everything.

But to believe is to accept I’ve been kept in the dark my entire life.

With one look at Amy, my crying warps into hot anger. We’re supposed to be the two A’s, sharing everything and more than our first initials.

My voice heightens despite warping into gutted tears. “What else are you hiding from me, then? I thought we didn’t keep big secrets.”

Amy shuffles in her seat, her eyes widening in panic. “I know, which is why before this goes any further, let me make this clear: I never wanted to keep this from you. If I didn’t think it was for your safety, I’d say ‘fuck it’ and tell you anyway.” Her tight grip on my hand tells me she’s serious. “And the same went for your parents. If they knew this would happen to you, your parents would’ve told you. I know it. They didn’t expect to die either. But your dad was killed by hunters.”

“I know that...”

“But you don’t know everything. He wasn’t out hunting like you think he was, getting shot by mistake.”

I’m ready to freak out. “What do you mean he wasn’t out hunting?! You didn’t think to tell me how my own father died?”

“It’s not like that, Aliya! You know the truth, just not the wolfy stuff!” She huffs in panic, and I sit back, stifling my rage.

I want to believe her, but how can I?

“A., please, listen. Human curiosity is too deadly to tempt, and I’d never want to put you in danger.” Amy shakes her head with bulging eyes, reading the doubt on my face. “All those hunters saw was a huge wolf on the run, and rather than staying curious, they stole him from us. ‘Curious’ humans made a split-second, permanent decision that changed everything.”

She swallows hard at my angry, pathetic whimper. I don’t know who I’m mad at anymore. Life, maybe.

Amy softens her tone, unable to keep looking me in the eyes. “This is exactly why wolves keep it a secret, even from your best friend. It was your parents’ choice while they were alive, but after your dad died, I was so terrified you could die from either side’s fear and prejudice that I realized why they did it. That could’ve been me. Fuck, that could’ve been you, getting shot by proxy.” Amy grips her head, her voice shaking. “I’ve had nightmares of you getting stripped away from me for our differences, A., even when we were kids. I’m lucky I got to be by your side at all.”

I feel sick. When Dad died, nothing added up. He could spot birds from distances I could never, follow any invisible trail in the forest to get us home, and hear a thousand times better than me. How could he not notice a hunter nearby and warn them that he was also hunting so he wouldn’t get shot? Killed.

But if he was a Lycan - shifted into a wolf, like Noah - it makes more sense why someone shot him. He was just another beast to display on their wall.

Or was that really all it was?

Fuck, I sound irrational again. Jenny, Amy, and Kira were gentle about it after Mom died, but no one believed me when I thought Dad was murdered on purpose, chalking my theories up to grief. Absolutely no one will believe it this time, now that I know he was a wolf being literally hunted.

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