Dangerous Territory

Ten

"It's for an immediate start. They sent me an email saying that I'm expected to start in two days, latest."

"What did Bateman say?"

"He was the one who got me the job, dad. He's totally fine with it."

Her dad's mood was considerably worse when they got up the next morning and by Monday he was only talking to Mala in clipped, angry sentences.

She was fed up with him, not bothering to keep her voice down as she spoke to him in his office.

"What's the big problem? You can't still be mad at me for what happened on Saturday. I'm an adult, you stopped giving me a curfew when I was fifteen."

He didn't raise his voice but Mala could hear the anger in his tone, "you came home smelling like aspen."

She was lost, "am I supposed to know what that means?"

"Aspen trees don't grow in the reserve." He pinned her with an expression she knew to be disappointment. "You know you're not meant to leave the reserve in full-form."

Her shoulder hunched and she looked at the floor, "It was only for a little bit."

Lie.

"It's also illegal in this part of the city." He hissed, lowering his voice. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking, alright?" She blurted, trying to cover up her mistake. In all honesty, she didn't give a rat's arse if leaving the reserve had been illegal, she was about to do something much more illegal soon. "I passed out, and when I woke up the damage was done. I didn't want to worry you."

Only half a lie, but a lie nonetheless.

Her dad's anger left and was replaced with concern, "passed out? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I told you, I didn't want to worry you." She repeated, looking up at the man. "Anyway, I know why it happened. It had been too long since I'd last shifted and my body was out of practice. Lesson learned. Shift more often."

The sadness on her dad's face was enough to make her feel bad about the entire situation.

"Okay, fine. Good, just-" he cleared his throat, "-let me know next time."

She nodded hastily, giving a polite smile when the door opened and one of the other men walked in.

"Oh. Daddy daughter time I see. Hope I'm not interrupting anything." He joked, nudging Mala with his elbow.

"Very funny, CJ." She deadpanned, nudging him back.

She winced when he stumbled from her blow and looked up at her with wide eyes. It was like he suddenly remembered he was in a room with two shifters, and no humans, and quickly excused himself.

"So, what else did the email say?"

She blinked with the change of topic and looked back at her dad.

"Well, the lady I'll be working with has a spare room that I can rent. The prison will obviously be covering the cost of that and my education." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm planning to take the offer. I wouldn't have to do the long commute in the mornings and-" She paused, "-wait, are you crying?"

She looked in horror as her dad wiped a tear from his eye.

"Dad?"

"I'm sorry, Mala." He wiped another tear and gave her a small smile, "I just never thought I'd see the day when my baby moved out of the house."