To Kill a Mate

Chapter 31

Will's POV

I woke up to find myself not being able to take my eyes off of Dawn's left hand.

The mark that seemed to devour her hand wasn't natural and I knew if I just asked her what it was, she probably wouldn't tell me anyway.

The longer I examined it, the more the dread in my stomach grew.

Something wasn't right.

I get out of bed with a quiet grunt, pulling on a shirt before I left the room, closing the door behind me with a click.

Making up my mind, I decided to go down stairs to my office and find out what I could about whatever was on her hand on my own before I asked Dawn about it.

'She obviously doesn't want you to know about it.' My wolf chimed in.

'That thing isn't natural. Something is going on and I need to know what it is that she isn't telling me.'

'If she wanted your help she would have told you about it.' He tried again.

'She could still be in danger. Don't you want to know what's going on?'

'Of course I do. Why don't you just ask her about it first?'

'We both know she won't tell men that easily. You saiid it yourself. If she had wanted me to know about it, she would have told me. She isn't going to tell just because I ask if this is as bad as my gut is telling me it is.'

I pushed through my office door to see my father already sitting on one of the couches reading a small red book with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"What are you doing up so early?" He asked me as I closed the door behind me.

"It's 9:15, dad." He looked down at his watch and sighed.

"I've been in here longer than I thought." He chuckled, stretching his back. "What brings you in here this early?"

'Don't tell him quite yet.' My wolf interjected.

'He could know what it is." I countered within seconds.

'We don't know what it is yet. Just don't tell him it has anything to do with Dawn.'

"I just saw something that caught my attention the other day." I explained to his waiting question. "Just thought I'd look it up."

"What was it?" Dad asked, closing his book and placing it beside him while he took a sip from his cup.

I thought for a second.

'I'm going to at least ask him.' I told my wolf.

'Will, just-'

I cut my wolf off before he could finish, answering my dad. "It looked almost like someone had sliced their palm open with a large knife but the cut and the skin around it was black like it had been burnt." I explained, not really knowing how to put it into words.

My dad froze, his gaze turning harsh. "What do you mean?" Every muscle in his body seemed to tense and his eyebrows knitted together as he waited for my answer on the edge of his seat.

"Just that." I swallowed, his body language making me nervous. This wasn't good. "A deep scar from a cut but the palm was turning black, like soot."

"Will, where did you see that?" He seemed worried.

"Why? What is it?" I refused to tell him until I know more about what it was. Maybe this was worse than what I thought.

He didn't reply. He only stood, placing his coffee cup on my desk before walking over to one of the book cases and pulling out a large brown book. It had collected dust and seemed to almost fall apart as he pulled it from it's resting place.