It was a no brainer that I wouldn't be riding with Tristan.
So Uncle Victor suggesting that we drive behind them in his pick up saved the awkwardness of anyone outrightly saying that it would be best if I wasn't in such close proximity to Tristan
We left the rest of the Benson kids in a cloud of confusion. One that was surrounding me as well at the moment in all honesty.
There was something Uncle Victor had to tell me about my mother and for some reason, we couldn't be in the house when he did.
Anxiety ate at me and I just wished he would blurt it out already.
But another part of me willed myself to understand that there was a reason we were heading to HQ for this information to be disclosed.
Honestly, part of me didn't even want to know what it could be. My view of two of my favourite people in this world had already been horribly marred and I just couldn't take more bomb shells that would change the way I would see my mother forever.
I wiped my hands on my jeans and stared at the black SUV that Tristan was currently in.
I wondered if he hated me. Part of me knew that Tristan could never truly hate me but I knew it was possible for him to despise me. Or hold some resentment.
Bridget wasn't beside him because of me. The pack was in chaos because of me and lives had been lost...
"You okay, kiddo?" Uncle Victor asked from beside me.
"Uhm - yeah - I just..."
I turned to look at him. "Is this gonna hurt? This news as well because-"
I stopped myself before I could say what I was thinking. I was scared. Completely and utterly terrified of more heart ache.
Uncle Victor responded by putting his hand on mine and squeezing.
"I just want you to know that whatever happens, you've got me. Always. Okay, kiddo?"
I didn't know what that meant but I nodded anyway.
Of course I knew Uncle Victor would always be there for me but at what point was he going to finally accept that I was a destructive presence. Before I got here, his life and his family's was so peaceful.
"Uncle Victor, about me moving away from Woodfell -"
"Let's talk about that later, baby girl." He spoke, patting my hand before refocusing on the road.
I could tell something was bothering him just by his body language and I knew somehow a lot of it had to do with the conversation we were about to have.
"Hey old man, relax, those grey hairs are gonna get you." I teased.
Uncle Victor smiled but weakly and I could have sworn I saw tears forming in his eyes.
"Hey. Want me to put on some of Kirk Franklin's greatest hits?" I asked sounding enthused.
I didn't like seeing Uncle Victor sad. And I knew how he handled sadness, he pushed it away. His it and locked it tight and went off to be by himself. It's how he had reacted when we found out Roman had been a spy.
Now that I think about it, Roman handled sadness that way too. I knew Roman was sad or upset when he suddenly chose to be on his own.
Solitude was the answer to heightened emotions for him.
Even when he got too happy, he would push it down and try to suppress it.
It's only now that I realised that it must have been a Van Cliffe thing. Maybe that's what they had been taught to do.
Uncle Victor had met Aunt Sarah, his soulmate, someone who brought light and love into his life. He had learnt to be at peace spiritually so in a lot of ways, the effects of Van Cliffe ways weren't too intense on him. But then there was Roman.
The Roman I had thought I could call mine. So sad and broken in ways I knew I would never understand even when I had met him.
Roman acted like he didn't have a soul in the world or even a god to speak to and that always saddened me even more.
Even when you felt alone in this world, surely you could be alone with God.
"More than twenty years ago, Theresa Benson and Victor Benson escaped the Shadow pack and lived as fugitives in the lower part of Manhattan." Captain Park spoke.
We were in a room at HQ that felt like a conference room but much smaller.
Uncle Victor and I sat at the table in the centre facing Captain Park who stood in front of the room like we were students.
I looked at my Uncle confused about why she was telling me this when he already had.
"I know this already." I spoke.
Captain Park looked at me with a stern expression on her face.
When she had greeted us at the entrance of the building, I could tell that she hadn't been too happy to see me.
I had hurt their alpha and this pack. Once again, I had been reduced to one of the most hated people in this pack.
"You know part of the story, not all of it."
This time Captain Park looked directly at Uncle Victor.
I turned to face him as well.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Uncle Victor looked down at his hands.
"Why don't we let Victor fill in his niece on the rest." Tristan spoke.
He stood at the very back, his arms crossed over his chest.
Honestly, I hadn't been expecting him to stay in the room.
I guess what I was about to find out was serious enough for him to have to stay and bare being in the same room as me.
"Very well." Captain Park spoke smoothly as she a tossed a folder in between us. It had T.Swan printed on it.
Theresa Swan.
"But this time, no omissions."
Uncle Victor narrowed his eyes at her. "I didn't omit anything. I just told Crystal what I knew to be true at the time."
"Uncle Victor?" I spoke softly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Uncle Victor sighed and reached out to take my hands.
"Crystal, your mother and I did escape the Shadow pack, we did escape the Van Cliffes... at least that's what I thought."
I furrowed my brows.
Uncle Victor sighed before sucking in a deep breath. "Theresa got us out of Heathlands. She kept us hidden and - I never had to do much but keep my head down. Those were her instructions to me. She took care of the money and the housing... she always told me not to ask her too many questions about where the money was coming from or why no one had tracked us yet-"
"And you never once got suspicious?" Captain Park asked, accusation in her tone.
Uncle Victor stared directly at her. "She was my sister, she took care of me. We had escaped Ornyx, at that point, that's all that mattered."
"Tell Crystal about your parents." Captain Park continued, not missing a beat.
Uncle Victor clenched his jaw, this time not meeting my eyes.
"They were commanders in Ornyx's army." He spoke stiffly.
"What?" I gasped.
I immediately turned to look at Tristan wondering how this made him feel or look at us.
The Shadow pack's were their greatest enemy. It was bad enough that their blood ran through us, now we knew that my grandparents had been leaders in the army that had hurt so many of his people.
Tristan's expression didn't change and he didn't even meet my gaze.
"This is what you wanted to tell me?" I asked Uncle Victor.
Did this new evidence make us seem suspicious? Did it make us possible accomplices all over again?
That was ridiculous!
I turned to Captain Park
"So what? Uncle Victor walked away from the Van Cliffes. My mother - I don't know, maybe she decided to go back, but my uncle remained here and - and started a family. He has never done anything wrong. Who his parents are shouldn't make you look at him differently." I spoke fiercely.
Captain Park looked completely unimpressed by my little speech.
"We knew who the Bensons were when we let Victor in. They were killed in battle before the war ended." Captain Park spoke.
I turned to see Uncle Victor's reaction. As horrible as the Shadow pack sounded, they were still his parents.
"That's not the news you wanted to tell me?" I asked.
Uncle Victor lowered his gaze again and shook his head. "No."
He shifted his legs underneath the table. "Crystal, your mother got me out of the Shadow pack but I don't think she ever left."
"What?" I asked in shock pulling out of his hold.
"T-that doesn't even make any sense. My mum lived with me and my dad for fourteen years, our life was normal. She didn't even tell us that she was a werewolf."
"Theresa was good at keeping secrets." Uncle Victor spoke.
I thought about my mother and how she would call us'Van Cliffe' girls like we were in a secret club.
When I got here, Uncle Victor immediately made it clear that I shouldn't even utter the term.
Something that had seemed like a loving bond between us had turned sour and it was getting much worse.
"Then does that mean my dad -"
"Your father is probably the only innocent person in all this." Tristan spoke up.
I furrowed my brows at him in confusion. A little relieved that he had actually spoken and looked at me.
"How would you know that? You said -"
"Tristan told me about how you asked him to find your father right after you did." Uncle Victor spoke. "I told him to lie to you and say that he couldn't find him."
My eyes widened. "What?" I yelled. "So you do know where he is?" I asked Tristan.
Tristan nodded. "He never moved, Crystal."
I shot up, not because I wanted to go anywhere but because I just didn't want to sit anymore or be still.
I started pacing.
"You both lied to me about my father?" I yelled.
All this time I had thought they had both abandoned me. That they were together enjoying life without their burden of a daughter.
"I asked him not to." Uncle Victor told me.
"Why?" I screamed at him. Feeling tears prick at my eyes.
I had lost my mother and thought I had lost my father as well but all this time he was back at our house.
"Because your mother asked me not to." Uncle Victor spoke.
"And you listened to her?" I asked betrayed.
My mother leaving me here and telling me that she'd be back and never coming back hurt. But my father? I had always assumed she hadn't told him and then there was a part of me that wondered if it had been his idea. If maybe my mum had told him about our werewolf heritage and he had decided that he wanted no part of it. No part of us...
"Until two weeks ago, I had no reason to doubt Theresa." Uncle Victor spoke. "She had always taken care of me and I knew how much she loved you. Initially the reason I thought she had left you with me and disappeared was because your father was a bad guy. Abusive maybe."
My eyes widened at my uncle. "My dad could never hurt a fly!"
My father was a history professor who adored my mother. He was the opposite of a violent person. A pacifist through and through. Anyone who met him would know that immediately.
"How was I supposed to know that, baby girl? I didn't know the guy. I had never even met him." Uncle Victor tried to reason.
This time I did wipe away a tear that had escaped.
I couldn't do this. I couldn't face my uncle or look at him the same.
I turned to Tristan. "So you found him? Did you talk to him?"
Tristan didn't budge. "We didn't make contact but -"
Tristan looked at Uncle Victor as if seeking approval.
"No! I want the whole truth now. From you."
I thought I saw Tristan's face soften.
"We didn't make contact. We didn't engage but... I think your mother had been lying to him as well. The man was in pretty bad shape. He had filed multiple missing persons cases for both you and your mother but the station didn't qualify his wife running off with her daughter as that. They - they um just thought your mother had decided to leave him."
My heart shattered. My father thought we had abandoned him? He was all alone thinking that? "We would never! I mean - I would never leave him. I never wanted to leave in the first place."
Another tear slid down my cheek.
"I know." Tristan spoke gently.
I quickly wiped my eyes and sniffled.
"I want to see him, I want to talk to him." I looked around the room desperately. Begging everyone with my eyes to get me to my father as soon as possible.
"We have bigger issues to deal with first, Miss Swan." Captain Park spoke. "Please take a seat."
What, there was more?
I looked at Tristan and he nodded.
I settled back down.
Uncle Victor had a pained expression on his face.
"I was right in thinking one thing Crystal, your father is a bad guy." Uncle Victor spoke.
I felt myself get angry. "No he isn't. You don't even know him! He's-"
"Not that father, Crystal." Uncle Victor sighed. "Your real biological father."
I froze and looked around the room. My real father? Was this a joke?
"Terrence Swan is my real biological father." I spoke slowly.
Uncle Victor gave me a sympathetic look.
"No he isn't."
This time it was Tristan who spoke.
I looked at him in confusion. He started walking forward.
"Some things didn't add up when the Shadow pack wolves started coming for you." Uncle Victor spoke. "And I didn't tell you the entire truth about your mother and Xavier Van Cliffe. Yes he adored her beyond reason but the feelings weren't completely unreciprocated. When your mother started using him, it was just supposed to be that. Her using him to get us a way out but I think along the way... she developed feelings."
I felt like everyone could hear how loudly my heart was beating at this point. "What are you trying to say?"
"The werewolves that broke in were Shadow pack wolves alright but they were runaways." Captain Park spoke.
I turned my attention to her.
"They are part of some kind of resistance against Ornyx."
My head was spinning now.
"Ornyx Van Cliffe is dead."
As I said it I knew it wasn't true. Roman and that Vanessa girl had referred to an 'alpha Ornyx'. He wasn't dead and the Shadow pack hadn't been destroyed.
"Ornyx is alive and well according to the rogues." Captain Park spoke.
Tristan stood next to her now and I saw him clench his fists.
"So is his son, Xavier Van Cliffe, your father."
I felt all the energy drain from my body.
"No." I spoke almost in a whisper. "You guys are mistaken. My father is Terrence Swan." My voice rose an octave.
"Maybe my mother was cheating on him but my father is Terrence Swan. He's my father!"
Uncle Victor tried to reach out for me but I moved back.
"He's my father!" I snapped.
Uncle Victor looked defeated.
Captain Park just glanced at Tristan.
Tristan sighed and stepped forward, towards me. "The rogues in lockup told us what they know. You're part of the Van Cliffe family." He spoke in a level voice.
"No!" I spoke firmly, shaking my head. "No I am not."
"I interrogated them myself the night before the ball." Tristan spoke.
"So? They must be lying!" I screamed.
Tristan walked behind his desk and took out an envelope.
He walked back to me and held it out.
"We did a DNA test against Terrence Swan and we confirmed that there's no way he could be your father."
"You're lying!" I didn't mean to yell but it was upsetting me why he would be untruthful about something this serious.
"If you had found out before the ball, you would have told me! Why didn't you tell me then, huh?"
Tristan looked at Uncle Victor.
"He told me." Uncle Victor spoke with a sigh. "I told him that we couldn't let you find out."
I stared my uncle. More lies?
I turned back to Tristan.
"Was that why -"
" I asked Tristan to reject you so that you wouldn't be caught in a Melrose - Van Cliffe war. So that you would be safe." Uncle Victor told me.
Wait a minute.
Uncle Victor was the reason Tristan rejected me that night?
" I didn't want you to be involved." Uncle Victor continued.
I stood up and ran my hands through my hair in frustration.
"No, you're lying. You're all lying."
My head was spinning.
This was too much.
"When Roman told you seven rogues had infiltrated the pack area, it wasn't a lie." Captain Park added. "You met the seventh one. Meggy Carter."
The wolf that Roman had fought with that night.
I hadn't seen her since but I knew that she had been captured.
"She confirmed that the reason they had snuck in was to retrieve you. To make sure Ornyx never got to you and used you against Tristan."
"You're officially his number one weapon against this pack because of what you mean to me." Tristan spoke in a quiet voice.
I tried to take in deep breaths and even out my breathing.
These were lies. Why were they still telling lies?
"Meggy was trained with Roman Desireè to become a spy at a young age but her and her parents joined the resistance against Ornyx instead." Captain Park explained.
"I - I can't." I sucked in a deep breath to even my shaky voice to no avail. "B - but I'm a halfling."
The room was quiet.
Tristan walked towards me. He stopped right in front of me and reached out to finger my necklace.
"Crystal." He spoke. Not saying my name but what the necklace was made of.
"Perfect for housing poison discreetly."
I frowned at him. "What?"
"It's a strong ancient poison called Amrodia." Tristan spoke. "Lost to generations of werewolves but apparently not the Van Cliffes."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Trapped like this, in crystal and in such a small amount, its been penetrating through your skin for years in small dosages inhibiting your full werewolf potential."
"How would you even know that?" I asked Tristan.
"I recognised the scent because it's what they used to poison Bridget."
I felt my heart ache for him as bitterness took over his voice.
"Tristan -" I started, stopping when I realised I didn't know what to say.
I looked down at my necklace. My mother told me never to take it off.
If this was all true...
"No..." I spoke.
I lost all my energy and next thing I knew Tristan was holding me up.
I wrapped my arms around him and just rested my head on his chest.
I didn't know what I felt anymore.
Quite honestly, at this point, I was just numb.