38. Ghosts of the Past
“Dotty, your phone is ringing!” Easton called out from his spot at the kitchen island.
I looked up from the sticky pizza dough I was kneading to see my lit-up phone vibrating on the counter in front of my younger brother.
Ace and I were babysitting my siblings so my parents could go out on a date. He was playing some video game upstairs with four of my brothers, while Easton, Felix, Wes, and I got dinner ready.
We were having homemade pizzas. Easton and Griffin chopped up ingredients— with child-safe knives of course—while I prepared the dough.
Wes was hanging out in his playpen nearby, eating Cheerios out of a dinosaur Tupperware container.
“Who’s calling?”
Easton glanced at the screen. “It’s an unknown number.”
“Oh, okay. You can just ignore it then.”
“Wait, you got a text!” Easton continued as my phone stopped ringing and pinged with a new text message. A frown took over his face. “It says it’s from…Mitchell Cooper.”
My eyes snapped up. “What?”
“It says he needs to talk to you and wants you to answer his call,” Easton said, reading off my phone.
My phone started to ring again.
“Who’s Mitchell Cooper?” Felix asked.
The phone stopped ringing.
I quickly made my way over to the kitchen sink to wash my hands. Even if I was upset with Mitchell for ghosting for years, I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to talk to him.
“Isn’t that your dad’s name?” Easton continued behind me.
“Her dad’s name is Joe!” Felix argued.
“Mitchell is my biological father,” I explained as I scrubbed at my hands. “Mom was married to Mitchell before she met our dad. Joe is still my real dad.”
I rounded the kitchen island and grabbed my phone off the counter.
Why the hell does he want to talk to me after all this time? How did he even get my number?
Before he went silent on me three years ago, he only called me on my birthday or Christmas, and that
was if I was lucky.
Maybe there is some sort of emergency.
“Are you allowed to talk to him?” Easton asked.
I looked up at my younger brother, who was still frowning deeply. “Why wouldn’t I be allowed to talk to him?”
“Well, because…because…” He shifted uneasily on his stool. “Maybe I should go get Ace.”
Before I could answer, he jumped off his chair and raced to the door.
“Wait! Why would Ace need to know…?” My voice trailed off as he rushed out of the room, the sound of his footsteps carrying him upstairs.
Ace had never been a fan of my birth father, but I assumed he would be happy to hear he was reaching out again. He knew how hard the last few years had been for me without any contact with my dad.
“Hey, but I thought your old dad hurt you,” Felix said, pulling my attention back to him. “That’s why you don’t see him anymore.”
I cocked my head to the side. Where the heck did he hear that? “What do you mean?” Mitchell wasn’t ng on the counter the best father in the world, but he never hurt me.”
His little eyebrows scrunched together. “He stole your thoughts. O—or I mean”—he struggled to come up with the word—“your memories.”
The kid had to be confused because I had no idea what he was talking about. Maybe he was thinking of a movie or something.
“Mitchell never hurt me,” I assured him. “We just grew apart after Mom remarried.
That’s why I don’t see him anymore.”
My phone started to ring again, lighting up once again with Mitchell’s name. I guess he was really determined to get a hold of me. A thrum of worry fanned through me.
“Keep chopping while I take this, okay?” I told Felix.
Felix kept his eyes on me while he slowly picked up his knife again.
Leaning back against the counter behind me, I accepted my birth father’s call and brought my phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Dorothy. Hi,” Mitchell breathed out in relief through the phone speaker. “I’m so glad you picked up.”
While he spoke, Ace came bursting into the kitchen, his eyes unusually fierce. He instantly found me, zeroing in on the phone in my hand, and rushed over.
“Who is it?” Ace asked.
Mitchell, I mouthed back to him.
Ace’s face twisted into a scowl.
I shrugged and directed my attention back to my conversation. “Yeah, I’m, uh, happy you called. It’s been a while since we talked.”
“It’s been too long,” Mitchell agreed. “I’m sorry we haven’t had the chance to connect over the last few years.”
Ace was crowding my space, standing right next to me, staring at me like some sort of weirdo. I took a step to the side only for him to take two steps forward so he was pushing up against me.
I didn’t mind him touching me at that moment—I didn’t even mind him hearing my conversation with Mitchell; I liked having the support—but he was acting strangely.
I gave him a look that said, What the hell are you doing?
Ace only grunted in response.
Okay… “Yeah, me too,” I said down the phone. “It’s nice to hear from you now though. You said there was something important you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Yes,” Mitchell replied. “Are you alone right now? Are your mom and Joe home?” room, the soundAce growled, telling me he could hear what Mitchell was saying. I gave him an annoyed look. He
needed to cool his jets. I didn’t need Mitchell overhearing him on the other end.
Ace ignored my glare, put his hands on my waist, and pressed me against the kitchen counter. I tried
pushing him back a step, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Dorothy?” Mitchell asked.
“Sorry.” I did my best to ignore my very severe-looking boyfriend. “No, Mom and Joe are out for dinner. I’m babysitting my younger brothers tonight.” I paused. “Did you need to talk to Mom?” truggled to comeMy shoulders tightened at the thought that he might only be calling me to get a hold of my mom.
“No. I called to talk to you. I wanted to get an update on your life. How’s school?” e was thinking ofHuh?
I found it hard to believe he was calling just to catch up after all this time.
Besides, too much had happened over the last three years. I couldn’t fit it all in a single phone call. Nor did I think he would care.
“School is…good. Great. It’s my senior year, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to finish out the year with a nearly perfect GPA—”
“Uh-huh, that’s great,” he interrupted. “How about your love life?”
I veered back. “My love life?” Not exactly a topic I thought my birth father would be interested in.
“Hang up,” Ace said abruptly.
He tried to grab my phone, but I quickly slapped his hand away. I glared at him.
What the heck was that about?
No, I mouthed at him. I slapped his chest to make sure he knew I was annoyed with him.
“Yeah, I heard through the grapevine that you and Ace finally got together,”
Mitchell said. “Is that true?”
Once again, Ace tried to grab my phone out of my hand, but I pulled away before he could.
I covered the microphone so Mitchell wouldn’t hear. “What is your problem?”
“Hang up the phone,” Ace demanded again. “He shouldn’t be talking to you without your parents here.
He shouldn’t even have your number.” over the last few“He can talk to me whenever he wants! He’s my father!” I shot back.
“Dorothy?” Mitchell asked through the speaker of my cell. “Did you hear me?”
I pressed the phone back to my ear. “Yeah, I heard you—”
Ace squeezed my hips in warning and violently yanked my body against his. “Doe, I’m not kidding,” he growled. “Hang up the damn phone.”
“I really just need you to answer the damn question, Dorothy,” Mitchell continued in my ear. “Have you officially mated with that fucking monster or not?”
I froze. “What…? Did you just call Ace a monster?”
Ace made another attempt to grab my phone, but I was ready this time and ducked under his arms,
quickly moving across the kitchen.
“Doe!” Ace called after me.
I was able to avoid being caught by him by putting the kitchen island between us and moving every time he did so I always remained on the opposite side. Ace’s snarled.
“Come on, Dorothy, drop the act,” Mitchell continued. “The OPS ruled that Ace wasn’t allowed to mate with you before you’re eighteen.
“So, if the rumors are true, and Ace has brainwashed you into mating, the OPS is liable to take you from him.
“They can help you get away. We can figure out a way for you to come live with me, far away from any damn werewolves—”
I was so engrossed in what Mitchell was saying that I didn’t even notice Ace had rounded the counter.
He pounced on me and grabbed my wrist, causing my grip to falter and my phone to slip out of my hand. Before I could catch it, it landed with a splash in the sink full of dirty dishwater behind me.
“Ace!” I yelled. I shoved him away from me and spun around. “My phone!” e phone call. NorAce pressed against my back, looking over my shoulder. “Crap! Here, let me get it.”
He reached into the murky water—taking a suspiciously long time to fish around for it—and pulled out ut the year with amy cell. The screen was black. He clicked the button on the side. Nothing.
“I think it’s broken,” he said.
I gaped down at the phone.
“I’m sorry.”
I whirled around and punched him in the chest. “You did that on purpose, you jerk!”
“No, I didn’t—”
“Yes, you did! You didn’t want me talking to my birth father, so you made me drop my phone in the water!”
“Doe, that’s ridiculous. I may not have wanted you talking to him right now, but that doesn’t mean I would purposefully break your phone. It was an accident. I’ll get you a new one, I promise.”
I scrubbed my hands down my face with a defeated groan. “Ugh, my head hurts,” I whimpered into my palms. our parents here.I hadn’t gotten a migraine this bad for a while. Only mild ones I barely even noticed, but this one was
hitting me with a shocking intensity, right between my eyes.
Ace wrapped his arms around me. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Doe. What did Mitchell say to you? Do you remember?”
I frowned at him. “Of course I remember.” I was just talking to him, after all. “He asked me about school. And you. And then he said…um…he said something weird… He told me…”
I stared blankly ahead, my thoughts suddenly extremely muddled within my inflamed skull. A fresh wave of pain rolled over me, causing me to wince and my stomach to roll.
I dug my fingers into my temples. “I swear, I remember. My headache is just making it a little hard to think right now.”
Ace let out a sigh. Did he sound…relieved?
“It’s okay, Doe. We can talk about it when you feel better.”
I nodded. Maybe that was for the best. “Why didn’t you want me to talk to him, anyway?”
Ace rubbed my sides. “Because Mitchell doesn’t have custody over you. Your parents do. He’s not supposed to talk to you without them present. That’s why he asked if you were alone.
“He’s up to something, and I don’t like it.”
Okay, now he was just being paranoid. Mitchell was not the mastermind Ace was making him out to be. He was just some middle-aged dude with a poor-paying sales job, a beer belly, and thinning hair.
“I’m basically an adult,” I argued. “It shouldn’t matter who has custody over me anymore.” I slumped against the counter. “And he hasn’t talked to me in years. I was…excited.”
Ace pulled me forward so I was tucked into his chest. “I know, baby. I’m sorry.
“I’ll get you a new phone tomorrow after school, and you can call him then. When your parents are with you. How does that sound?”
I leaned back to look at him. “You’re way too protective of me, you know that?” I shook my head.
“Actually, no, protective is the wrong word. Controlling is more like it.”
Ace pouted. “I liked protective more. I only want what’s best for you.”—and pulled out I hummed and pushed him away from me, ready to go search for some ibuprofen for my aching brain.
“So, you tell me.”
impered into my
Okay, now he was just being paranoid. Mitchell was not the mastermind Ace was making him out to be. He was just some middle-aged dude with a poor-paying sales job, a beer belly, and thinning hair.
“I’m basically an adult,” I argued. “It shouldn’t matter who has custody over me anymore.” I slumped against the counter. “And he hasn’t talked to me in years. I was…excited.”
Ace pulled me forward so I was tucked into his chest. “I know, baby. I’m sorry.
“I’ll get you a new phone tomorrow after school, and you can call him then. When your parents are with you. How does that sound?”
I leaned back to look at him. “You’re way too protective of me, you know that?” I shook my head.
“Actually, no, protective is the wrong word. Controlling is more like it.”
Ace pouted. “I liked protective more. I only want what’s best for you.”
I hummed and pushed him away from me, ready to go search for some ibuprofen for my aching brain.
“So, you tell me.”
