The Beta's Human

Fourteen

Baleigh's POV 

I almost fell backwards. I caught myself on the handle of a cabinet. Dad just stood there. His face was blank, like he wasn't surprised to see his daughter. 

"What are you doing here?" I barely got the words out. Kiera came over to me and grabbed my hand. 

"I'll get you some water, dear," said Evelyn. She opened up a cabinet and grabbed a glass cup. Kiera guided me to a chair and sat me down. I couldn't stop looking at my father. I wanted to scream but also cry. Why did he have to be here? 

Evelyn handed me my cup. I took a sip, my hand shaking. 

"Baleigh, please calm down. Your father isn't here to hurt you." Dr. Stone placed his hands on the counter. "He's here to help. 

I placed my cup down. "Help? He's here to help? Why would he help me? All he's ever done is hurt me and try to keep me away from all of you! He would never want to help anyone!" Tears started forming in my eyes. 

Dad put his head down. He didn't dare to look at me. Kiera gave me a hug as I tried not to cry. I examined my father. His knuckles were cut. He had a freshly new scar on his eyebrow. His hair was all out of wack like he just got out of bed. I could tell that he hadn't slept in a while from the bags under his eyes. Part of me felt bad for him, and the other part wanted me to hate him. 

Dad finally put his head up and looked at me. I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked back. I kept a straight face, ready to take on any blow he gave me. 

"I know you hate me, Baleigh," Dad began. "But I'm not here to take you back home. I'm here to help you find you mate." The last word came out very softly, almost as if he didn't like the word. 

"And why do you want to help me find him?" I asked. I crossed my arms. 

"Because-" he sighed. "Because I messed up. I messed up everything." He put his head in his hands. 

He stood there for a few seconds, and then put his head back up to look at me. His eyes were red from crying. 

"When I found out your mother left me to live with Professor Brian, I lost it. I knew I wasn't the perfect husband, but I would never try to hurt her in any way." 

"Then why did you hurt me?" I asked. 

"I was angry. I was angry because all I could see was your mother every time I looked at you. I felt like it was my fault that I let her die that night." 

"What really happened?" 

Dad hesitated for a second. He looked too hurt to talk about it. He finally opened his mouth and spoke. 

"We were on the boat, having a wonderful time. It felt like the old times when we met in college. It seemed like everything went back to normal. But then-" Dad stopped. I didn't think he could finish. 

"But then another boat came out of nowhere. We didn't see it coming. It can right at us. Didn't even try to stop. I tried to steer the boat away, but it kept coming back. I didn't see the rocks in front of me. I smashed the boat right in the rocks. The other boat escaped the scene. Not a single trace of the boat was there. 

 "I got blamed for the crash, for killing your mother. There was no evidence to prove I really did it on purpose, so they let me go. All I had left was you, so I tried everything to keep you safe." 

"Is that why you filed harassment papers to Dr. Stone's family? To keep them away from me?" Dad looked away from me again. 

"I thought they were trying to take you away from me. I couldn't let that happen. I did everything I could to keep you safe. I didn't want to lose you like I lost your mother."