Camilla was just another thing that the vampires had taken away from me and they were going to pay. The vampires were going to pay dearly for ruining my life… mine and my daughter’s.
Burning midnight oil at hunter headquarters, I spent all my energy and anger at the atrium, where the hunters held combat training. Every ounce of my strength was being expended to muscle out the rage I felt inside. I had an endless supply of it and all I had to do was think of my little Sofia. Every time, the rage would shoot up to an all-new high and I would begin hitting that bag with all the might I could muster as I contemplated questions I had no idea how to answer.
How am I going to tell Sofia about this? How am I going to tell her that her mother left us in order to become a vampire? How am I even going to raise her? How on earth could I ever be the father that she deserves? How could Camilla do this to us? Does she not realize how much we need her? How could Camilla stand losing her own daughter?
Memories of how sick Sofia had been came back to haunt me. I’d thought I was going to lose her. Ever since Camilla had left, Sofia’s life had been placed on the edge by some sort of disease that doctors could not even diagnose. She’d been in and out of a high fever for days. I’d been in way over my head, going crazy over how to take care of her. I was supposed to protect her and keep her safe and in the span of those days, I realized that I had absolutely no control of her fate. If anything ever happened to Sofia, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself, but there would be times when all I could do was stand and watch and hope that she would make it.
I hated that. I wanted to always be in control and yet it was so clear to me that my life—much more the lives of those I loved—was never meant to be manageable.
I jabbed at the punching bag before letting out a frustrated scream. Tears and sweat made a mess out of my face, but I held the sobs in. Camilla never could’ve known how much she’d hurt me by leaving. I doubted she even cared.
What am I going to do with Sofia now? How on earth am I going to be a father to her when all I know in life is to play the part of Aiden Claremont, the millionaire, and Reuben the Head Hunter?
“Reuben,” a deep familiar voice called me by my hunter name. “What are you still doing here?”
I spun around and found Arron studying me. Arron was a senior of the Order of the Hawk, which controlled all hunter activities. He was one of the most influential figures among the hunters and one to avoid crossing.
I nodded toward him. “Arron. I had no idea you were here. I was just…”
“Blowing off some steam?”
I nodded, trying to maintain composure. Of all the seniors I’d met, Arron intimidated me the most, and I couldn’t even figure out why. There wasn’t anything striking about him. He was known for being ruthless against vampires, but among the hunters, who wasn’t? I raised my eyes to his, wanting to place what it was about him that silenced even the most fearless of hunters.
“I heard what happened to your wife and your daughter.”
My fists clenched, the leather of the boxing gloves squeaking. I swallowed hard, refusing to break down in front of one of our strongest leaders.
Arron began circling me, his hands tucked behind his back. “Tell me, Reuben, how do you plan to raise a nine-year-old child? You kept your family life so well hidden all these years. How you sheltered your wife and your daughter amazes me, but now that the vampire world is aware of Sofia, do you really believe you can keep this up?”
I was in no mood to discuss Camilla or Sofia. “What are you saying? Kindly get to the point.”
“Just like your father. No time for nonsense, ruthless in battle, loyal to the cause of the hawk. You impress me time and time again, Reuben, but I digress. What I’m saying is that you have a decision to make. This is the forked road. You are either going to introduce little Sofia to our world or you are going to push her away from your life in order to spare her all this.”
“Push her away?”
“Do you honestly believe that she could live a normal life? If so, then you are a fool.”
“It can happen. She will only know Aiden Claremont. She will never have to know Reuben.”
“She is a walking target as long as she’s connected to you.”
“She just lost her mother. I can’t cut her out of my life. I just…”
“Then make a hunter out of her. I’ve known you since you were a child. Your father was a good friend of mine. You were meant to be a hunter, Reuben, but you know what the life of a hunter is like. Look ahead of you and you will find nothing but bloodshed and violence. Thus was the life of your father and thus will your life be also. Should you decide to keep Sofia close to you, then you had better prepare her for this life.”
“And if I don’t want her to be a hunter?”
“Then stay as far away from her as possible.”
“Just like that? How can a father do that to his own child? How can I live with myself knowing that I abandoned my own daughter?”
“How can you live with yourself knowing that you put her life in danger?”
With that, Arron left me to muse over his words. No words of comfort, no hint of empathy—just an expressionless face the entire time.
Right then, I understood what was so chilling about Arron’s presence. He was a man without a family who saw nothing but the bottom line. He looked at people and saw them for what use they could be to our cause. If one was no longer of use, then he was no longer of worth. That was what made him so terrifying. Unlike the rest of us, Arron acted like a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain.