3. Mila

Chapter three

Mila

“D ad, I’m home!”

I push through the front door of our one-story home, and already the smell of boiling potatoes reaches my nose.

Dad must be in the kitchen.

I enter the kitchen to find him over the stove. He’s pretty capable of cooking his own meals right now, but he still needs a lot of help getting about the house.

He's what I call an old seventy-five. Because I know plenty of men in their seventies who can still run laps around the training yard.

Some of them are my instructors.

My dad has done a lot of hard manual labor in his life, so it wasn’t good on his bones.

He was an older father when he and Mom had me. The pair of them were nearing fifty. Sometimes, I would have liked younger parents, but I have no regrets.

I had the best parents in the world growing up. They raised me to be who I am today, and I am forever grateful.

They made me strong and determined. If not for them, I probably would have given up years ago. I would have never made it through my first year of training at the academy.

They taught me how to survive, and as a result, I am now in the running for first place in the Beta Trials. The first round of selections is coming up, and the anticipation is killing me.

But I am torn about leaving my father.

It’s just with Mom being gone for nearly ten years, Dad will be on his own once I leave.

Of course, I am doing this all for him. The money is just too good. It will keep a roof over his head.

When I am gone, I can pay for someone else to look after him.

This is all for Dad.

All for Dad…

“Welcome home, honey.”

Dad hobbles over on his walking stick, wrapping his arms around me feebly when he pulls me in for a hug, and walking is getting harder for him.

I place him on his chair by the fireplace as I finish cooking his dinner. I take the chicken out of the oven once it's ready, then remove the potatoes from the stove, draining them over the sink.

Pepper, Dad’s old cocker spaniel, stops by my side, and I pet her ear.

Silence drifts through the living room as Dad eats his dinner by the warm fire. I already ate at the academy, so I’m not hungry.

“So, how was training today, sweetheart?”

I continue stroking Pepper’s head. She’s a pretty old girl herself, but she has been a loyal companion for Dad since Mom died.

We got her as a puppy not long after she passed away. Sometimes, I think the dog is Mom reincarnated, but I know that sounds silly.

She just does these odd little things… She rummages through Mom’s old clothes and likes to sniff them for some time. I once found her with Mom’s old hat on her head, still perfectly intact. Considering she was a teething puppy at the time, it was strange. Puppies like to chew everything they get their teeth on.

I tell Dad about my day, and he is thrilled when he hears how well things are going.

“My trainers think I will be the first Beta to make the selection. Then once I am chosen, I will be placed in a pack in the Alpha-Omega population."

“Darling, that is wonderful news!”

It is, but he does know what my success at the first selection will mean, right? That I will have to leave him...

“You know all I have ever wanted for you was to find someone and be happy, Mila. If you find a pack, all the better!”

My heart plunges, and it feels as if I have swallowed a bag of rocks. Betas hardly ever form packs. At most, they join them.

Pack life is an Alpha and Omega thing, usually with the Omega at the center. I don’t think Dad quite understands; I'm not joining this pack for romantic reasons.

There will be no love involved. I am there to protect the Omega, that is all.

I doubt they will even want me there.

I suck in a shaky breath, trying to find the strength to say the next thing on my mind. “Dad?”

“Yes?” he asks, leaning across to feed Pepper some chicken, no matter how many times I’ve warned him not to feed the dog off his plate.

“You do know that I will have to leave, right?”

“Of course, of course… you do what you have to do.”

I pause, studying him carefully now. If he is heartbroken about me possibly leaving, then he doesn't show it. I know he has Pepper, but I’m the only family he has left in the world.

He's all the family I have left, and I will miss him terribly if things go to plan at the selection.

But I have to do this. The last four years have helped us immensely.

My training pays well, and it will only increase when I am selected to go to my pack.

“Dad…”

“It's okay, Mila. I want you to go out and see the world. I don’t want you tied to an old man like me. You need to find your own family. I’ve had mine. I will be fine.”

I hide the tears. It hurts hearing him talk like this. It sounds so final, but truth be told, I can’t leave him. I can’t let him go.

He is my dad. He taught me how to ride a bike...

Finally, Dad looks up, and when he sees my eyes, he stops. “Oh, dear…”

I can’t help it now. The dam explodes, and I cry. I wish I could bring him with me, but I doubt whatever pack I am placed with will want me and my father.

Accepting me into their pack will be hard enough.

Dad rises shakily from the chair, and now he wraps his arms around me, shushing me like he did when I had nightmares as a child.

I got them a lot when I was a kid. I still get them from time to time.

“Everything will be fine. I will always be here when you need me. I will never stop being your dad.”

He's right. He won’t. But it’s something I don’t like to think about. One day, he won’t be around, and I will be alone in the world.

I will have no family.

The thought terrifies me…

But he’s here now, and that’s all that matters. So, I hug him tighter, and I just… be. I live in the moment. I don’t worry about the past or the future.

It’s just me and Dad here in the present.

Oh, and don’t forget about Pepper, too.