Once Scorched Always Safe

The Past Collides With The Present

Parker

He sat on the edge of the couch in Rayne’s office watching her sleep since she passed out at the sight of her long–lost father. They thought the man was killed in the last pack war fourteen years ago, along with her mother. How had he survived? Where had he been all these years? Had he just wandered Into the bar, not knowing that his daughter owns it?

The daughter still mourning his death years later. The daughter that still has nightmares of that long–ago night to this day, nightmares that she never remembers, Parker had a theory on what her mind was trying to tell her, and it had everything to do with her old Alpha Wilton Stone, the drunk, abusive piece of garbage that was meant to protect her. There was a time when Rayne had told him everything that the man had done to her, that he had wanted nothing more than to find him and do temible things to him. Leave the man just as broken as he had made Rayne for most of her life.

That bastard took an orphaned child and broke her down in every way he could while she was grieving the loss of not one but both of her parents. Then when things couldn’t get any worse, he took her innocence in a drunken rage, like the worthless piece of shit that he was. He raped a thirteen year–old girl, beat her bloody while shattering her last shred of hope.

For that alone, if he ever met Wilson in person, he was a dead man.

Rayne had broken free of that monster’s hold the night she met her mate. If that asshole had done anything worth it that night, it was nearly killing Wilson, bringing the man’s heinous acts to the attention of every wolf at the hall that night. They called the werewolf elders in order to strip Wilson’s, title away, and they hanished him from his pack to be a rogue.

Knowing that the dirtbag was out there somewhere in the world still made Parker angry that her mate didn’t kill him, but he understood why there was restraint. Wilson was a dead man if he ever showed his face in this bar or anywhere Bayne was. Parker would finish the job that Sebastion had begun years ago, only he would rip Wilson’s heart right out of his chest.

He just wanted Rayne to be safe, healthy, and most of all happy. He loved her, was in love with her, more now than he had ever been before. Their relationship was like waves in the ocean. Sometimes calm as they each did their own thing with their lives, coming together as the waves slid along the beach. Other times it was passion as they danced together like dark waters crashing along the shoreline during a storm.

Parker knew one day he would find his true mate if she was even out there. One day hers would come back for her if he was smart, but until that day he would love her with everything he could give. She owned him more than she would ever know, because like a fool, he could never quite tell her with the words he knew she needed. Maybe someday he would have the balls to tell her how he felt, maybe if he was lucky, she would tell him she felt the same

way:

If he was lucky.

Lyric

He sat shell–shocked at the end of the bar, a plate of nachos in front of him that had gone uneaten, despite his growling stomach. The look on her face when she looked at him tore something loose in his mind. Images of a little girl with purple flowers in her jet–black hair, her purple dress swirling around her knees as she danced in the yard outside their little house. Her mother dancing next to her purple flowers braided into her brown hair, her white dress skirting around her ankles.

His girls, his loves, his life. He did everything in his power to keep them safe.

Wave after wave of emotion bombarded him as fast as the images of his wife and daughter had. Love, pride, joy, and most of all a sense of peace Happiness was under it all, and hiding deep under the rest was fear.

Fear of what? What could he possibly be afraid of with all that he had before him?

Then, just like that, the images faded, and it left again him with that big blank space in his head. He knew without a doubt that what she called him was who he was to her, It explained the intense protective nature he had towards her. Surprise took him when he had asked for the owner and she walked in. He was looking for a meal and a way to work off paying for it. In walked a small woman with eyes like 1 that had gone wide when she saw him. Then she whispered that que brief word before she pitched sideways

“Papa”

That little word made his heart stutter. His head felt like it exploded as images flooded his mind, but when it all faded, he sat alone at the bar while her protective friend took her upstairs. Part of him wanted to rip the man’s arms off her, but when he got the feeling that the man would do anything for her, that calmed him.

People who protected surrounded her. That soothed his soul in ways he didn’t knine was possible. The images he got from her head earlier that day

The Past Collides With The Present

made him furious. The man that did those things to her better be a dead one. What more had his daughter suffered while he was out in the world no memory of his life? That thought echoed in his blank canvas of a mind. Left him feeling hollow as he just sat there staring at the doorway where his daughter had disappeared twenty minutes ago.

All he knew for sure was that this woman was his family, something that he thought he didn’t have, something he never know he lost. Now all he wanted to know what had happened all those years ago to take that life he had away from him. Who took that life away from him? How was be going to get that life back? Those memories were shadowy ghosts in his mind that he wanted back,

Now he just had to find someone who could help him unlock those secrets that his shattered mind was holding onto so tightly.

Rupe

She jerked awake as someone stroked a hand down her hair. Her eyes flew open as the inoked at the person stroking her hair. Parker’s scent calmed her down, his eyes searching hers for a sign that she was alright. All he did after she nodded was open his arms wide. She sat up and gladly went into them. pressing her lace to his chest to just breathe his familiar scent in,

“Was it t

real?” She asked in a small voice as she just held him tightly

“I saw the resemblance between the two of you. His eyes are so like yours, my love.” Parker stroked her hair as she clung to him.

“Where has he been all this time? Why did…. Her voice hitch as she struggled with the tears that were now streaming down her face, “Why did he leave me alone…..” Her throat tightened as she fought the overflowing tide of emotions that took over. “Why did he lease me with that…. monster?”

The damn broke on her tears as she sobbed into his chest, Parker held her tight while she let the storm of emotions free. All the years of mourning her parents, all the times she woke from nightmares that she could never remember, all the pain she endured at the hands of the only father figure she had left. She sobbed it out in Parker’s arms, knowing that with him she was safe,

When the storm subsided, Rayne leaned back, looked up at Parker as he wiped her tears off with the pad of his thumb. “Thank you for picking up pieces of my broken heart, Parker.”

He leaned in, kissed the tip of her nose, then looked at her in the eyes and swallowed hard. “Always,”

Rayne leaned in, pressing a soft kiss against his lips, “Do you mean that?” © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Yes, all of it and more.” His eyes held hers as they showed her he meant it.

the

She wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug, then stood holding her hand out to him, “Let’s g

sgu meet father.”

Parker took her hand, gave her a warm smile as he stood. “I will be with you until you tell me you want some time alone with him.”

They slowly made their way down to the bar, Rayne stopping at the doors to the kitchen to take a deep shuddering breath. Her nerves were all jumpy as she prepared to face her father again. What would he be like after all these years? Would she be able to remain calm and not rage at him for abandoning her? So many questions skittered through her mind as she made stood there trying to calm her emotions. Parker’s hand in her’s the only thing grounding her.

After letting out one last shaky breath, she stepped through the doorway, her eyes going straight to the man sitting on the stool at the end of the bar. He was staring at the floor, his dirty hands folded in his lap, thumbs tapping idly. Rayne looked away to scan the rest of the room. It was empty of all customers, silent except for the ticking of the clock mounted on the wall behind the bar.

It was four in the morning, but Parker must have closed early and sent everyone home from the day. For that she was grateful. There was no way that she wanted an audience for the shit show that was coming.

“What is your name?” | His voice was soft as he looked up at her.

What? Her name? He didn’t know her name? How was that possible?

“Excuse me?” Her voice was edged with confusion, anger peeking through.

He sighed, motioning to the stool next to him. Rayne looked at him skeptically, walked two stools clown from him, and sat. Packer moved to sit on the little stool behind the bar, giving them a bit of space, but staying close enough. Rayne looked at her father with new tears forming in her eyes. He didn’t remember her.

He pointed to the long scar on the left side of his face, “I woke up fourteen years ago with blood all over me, and no memory at all of how I got it, I in the middle of the woods, nothing looked familiar, and I had no idea where I was. I do not even know my name.”

The Past Collides With The Present

“Edmund Solas,” Rayne spoke softly as what he said sunk in.

He hadn’t abandoned her. He didn’t even know she existed.

“What is your name?” He asked again as his eyes searched her face.

“Rayne,” She reached across the bar to grip Parker’s hand as he moved his towards her.

“Rayne, that is a lovely name.”

“My mother named me Rayne because she loved the rain.”

“Can you show me her in your mind?”

“What?” Rayne looked at his quizzical expression. Was this where she got her natural affinity for magic?

“I can get glimpses of people’s thoughts, images, and sometimes voices. I don’t know how it works, or why I can, but it is something I have used to survive.”

Rayne thought of the last clear memory she had of her mother. They were in the kitchen making pancakes. She had flour smeared on her face as she smiled down at Rayne. They had gotten into a minor battle of wills, resulting in a mess as they threw flour at each other. They laughed as they finished the pancakes in all shapes and sizes, looking nothing like how her mother wanted them. The memory brought fresh tears to her eyes, knowing that there were still pieces of her mother in her mind, not as faded as she once thought they were.

A gasp made her open her eyes and look at her father. His eyes were wide, glittering as so many emotions crossed his haggard face. She has lost so much time with him, but he had lost so much more. His life, his mate, and his daughter for the last fourteen years. “Where have you been all these years? How did you know that I was even here?”

“She was so beautiful, your mother. What was her name?” He took a deep breath as he looked at her.

“Mia,” He spoke her name in a whispered voice, closed his eyes like he was embedding the image Rayne shared into his mind.

She decided that maybe they had both been through enough for one night, looked to Parker briefly, then looked back to her father. “Would you li

like to come back to my home for the night? Stay with us and we can get to know each other more tomorrow,”

“I do not want to be a burden to you. I didn’t know you owned this bar. I can in for a meal and possibly a way to work off the payment for the meal. I had no idea that stepping into this bar would change the course of my life.”

“You are my father, you could never, ever be a burden to me. I have spent the last fourteen years believing that I was an orphan. That both of my parents were killed in the last great pack war. Now here you are in my bar, showing me I was wrong.”

“Pack war? What was that?” He looked at her, confused.

“It was a large war between many packs of werewolves,” Her face showing surprise as his eyes grew wide at the last word she said.

“Werewolves? Those are real?” His voice was suddenly wary at what she was saying

“You are one……

“No. I am not. How is that even possible? If I were a werewolf wouldn’t I have changed during

the full moons these last fourteen years?”

“It doesn’t work like that. We are not tethered to the moon cycles. How humans believe we are. We can change at will, though on the night of the full moon we are at our strongest, and our inner wolf seeks to control.”

“You are one too?” He then turned and spoke to Parker for the first time, “What about you? ? Are you a werewolf too?”

“I am something different altogether,” Parker looked at Edmund with a small smile on his face.

“There are more things out there than werewolves and humans? His voice took on a tone of surprise.

“Much more, come let’s go back to my place, we can talk more there,” Rayne let go of Parker’s hand, stood from her stool, and motioned for her father to follow her…

The Past Collies With The Pro

h The Present

“I will go with you as I was to know more of what you know, more of who and what I am.” He stood as she walked by him.

“Take the car, I will lock up and fly back to the house after,” Parker spoke as he stood to go to the front doot.

“Fly? What are you?” Edmund watched Parker as he walked away.

“He will show you when he gets back to the house, come let’s get out of here, we can get food on the way home since I can hear your stomach growing.

Edmund nodded his head as he just followed behind her as she headed into the back of the bar towards the back door. Rayne knew that her life would no longer be the same, she was beyond elated knowing that one of her parents had survived that horrible night. Questions on how flooded her mind as she guided her father to the car. Questions on what he had been through over the last fourteen years. How had he survived?

Was that something that was locked in her mind from that night?

Were the nightmares she had since that night hiding something that held the key to his fate?

As Rayne drove to her house, her mind was reeling with all the questions she wanted to ask him. She also wanted now more than ever to unlock those memories that her mind held onto sa tightly. Arabella had offered to help her once, now was the time to take her up on that offer. She would be here tomorrow afternoon to help with the wards, Morty’s request. What was one more favor to ask for?

Tomorrow would be a busy day, but tonight she held a new sense of peace as her father was returned to her, or at least a part of him was. Maybe his memories were buried deep in his mind, and his wolf. If Arabella could recover Rayne’s memories, perhaps there was hope for Edmund’s.

There was a new seed of hope growing in her heart as she drove her father home.

Her father was alive.