“Hey, there's your father,” she says, then holds the receiver away from her mouth. “It's Drew. He's fine. Parker's fine. Did you know Eugenia Barrett was at Recovery?” A pause, and when she speaks to him again I can tell he's in trouble. “Well, isn't that nice? Well, they're all leaving. They are going to the Barrett territory. Get that look off your face, Nathaniel Cross. They will come here when they do.” Her volume and tone changes as she comes back on the line to talk to me again. “What do you need, honey?”
“Nothing. Her father is coming to come get us. We're going to meet him outside Recovery grounds. I just wanted you to know where we were. I didn't want you to worry.”
“And you know I would. Congratulations, baby. You sure Parker is alright? And how is our girl? We call her Genie now?”
I love my mother. I love her so much. “Parker is so good, Mom. I promise. Will you tell his mom he's okay and let her know where he is? Genie is good, too. She's perfect. You're going to love her so much.”
“I'll tell Cheryl. I always knew I'd love Genie. Will you let me know when you get settled with the Barretts?”
“I will. Love you.”
“I love you, too, honey.”
We end the call, but I stand there with my hand still on the receiver. Did my father know Genie would be here? Did he send me here knowing she would be here? I pick up the phone and redial.
Mom picks up again. “Yes? Hello?”
“Mom. Put Dad on, please.”
She lets out a hard breath. “Nathaniel. Your son wants to speak with you.”
My dad comes on the line. “Hello, son. I hear congratulations are in order.”
“Did you know, Dad?” I ask, pushing my voice to remain level. “Did you know she would be here?”
He sighs heavily. “Yes.”
“And you sent me, and Parker, here? Knowing what could, whatwouldhappen?”
Another sigh. “Yes.”
“Why?” I'm not angry about Genie. I'm not angry that she's mine. She was mine all along. I'm angry about the deception.
“That's what Recovery is, Drew. It's one of the things you would have learned about when you take over the pack.”
I'm not going to scream at my father. It won't make me feel better and it certainly won't help the situation, but I'm getting angrier with each word. “Explain it to me now.”
“Are you sure you don't want to come home and talk about it?”
“No.”
“Alright, fine. The only reason wolves turn rogue, whether by choice or circumstance, is because they lack stability. They don't have the balance inside themselves or outside that they need. After a while there is a split. Sometimes it's mental, sometimes emotional, but the result is always physical. Recovery is a place to recover that balance. Wolves stay there until they find whatever it is, or the person who will bring balance and stability back to them. My hope was for you to find another female while you were there since the Barrett girl was unacceptable. I hoped that Parker would find someone else there too, which is why I sent him with you.”
“So you lied to me?”
“Yes and no. I told you I wanted you to learn how to function as a pack leader, and that you and Parker needed to learn how to do that together because Parker is going to be your Second no matter what, that much has been obvious. Eugenia's father contacted me and told me about her decision to go to Recovery and I thought, good. Maybe being in close contact with each other would give nature and destiny a chance to work. And it did.”
My eyes close against the anger threatening to spill out of me, and my next words are very controlled and come through clenched teeth. “What did you think would happen to Parker?”
My father sighs so heavily that I can almost feel it. “I wanted Parker to find whatever he needed, too. He left for nearly a year. He left the pack and he left you.”
“He leftforme,” I interrupt. “He left because he thought I would run to Genie without him here to stop me.”
“And that's what you were doing. But he came back.”
“He was called.”
“By you.”
