A Father's Secret, A Daughter's Pain

The silence that followed my outburst was deafening. Five pairs of eyes stared back at me, and I could feel the heat rising to my face – not from embarrassment but from pure, unadulterated rage.

"Don't look at me like that," I snapped, the words tearing from my throat. "You had no right to keep this from me. None of you did!"

Silas moved toward me carefully, like I was a wounded animal that might lash out. "Hazel, we thought—"

"You thought what?" I interrupted, my voice rising. "That I couldn't handle it? That I shouldn't be bothered with my own mother's care? She's all I have!"

The words hung in the air, and I instantly regretted them. I watched hurt flash across each of their faces, even Jaxon's usually impassive one. But I couldn't take it back now. The emotions churning inside me were too powerful, amplified by this damned heat.

Silas recovered first, reaching for my trembling hands. "You're right. We should have told you. But you need to understand – your emotions are heightened right now because of your heat. Everything feels more intense."

I yanked my hands away. "Don't patronize me. This isn't about the heat. This is about you all making decisions about my life without consulting me."

"He's right though," Ronan said softly from behind Silas. "The heat makes everything feel like... life or death. But we weren't trying to shut you out, Hazel. We were trying to protect you."

I laughed bitterly. "Protect me? From what? From knowing about my own mother's condition? From fulfilling my responsibilities?"

Kaelen stepped forward, his presence immediately commanding attention. "Your mother is well cared for, Hazel. Dr. Sterling assured me that there would be no changes to her treatment without your consent."

"That's not the point!" I cried, tears threatening to spill over. "You should have told me! I deserved to know!"

Silas reached for me again, and this time I let him take my hands. His touch was warm, grounding. "You're right. We messed up. But there's something else you need to understand."

"What?" I asked warily.

"In your current state – with your powers manifesting – it might not be safe for you to see your mother right now," Silas explained gently. "If you got upset or emotional... your powers could manifest in ways you can't control yet."

The implication hit me like a punch to the gut. I sat heavily on the edge of the bed, my legs suddenly unable to support me.

"You mean I could hurt her," I whispered.

Silas knelt in front of me. "Not intentionally. Never that. But until you have more control..."

A new, terrible thought occurred to me then – one that made my blood run cold. I looked up at them, horror dawning on my face.

"Oh my God," I breathed. "Is that what happened before? Is that why she's in that place?"

No one answered, but their expressions told me everything. The room began to spin.

"My powers," I continued, my voice hollow. "They started manifesting before I came here, didn't they? And my mother saw them. She saw me doing impossible things, and it broke her mind."

Ronan sat beside me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "You don't know that, Hazel."

"But it makes sense," I insisted, the pieces falling into horrifying place. "All those times she talked about me being 'not right.' She wasn't crazy – she was seeing things that were actually happening! Things no human should be able to do."

I thought back to all the strange incidents throughout my childhood – objects moving when I was angry, light bulbs exploding, the time I fell from our apartment balcony and walked away without a scratch. My mother had seen it all, tried to explain it away, until she couldn't anymore.

"I did this to her," I whispered, tears streaming freely now. "I put her in that hospital."

"No," came a harsh voice from across the room. Jaxon had risen from his chair, his face dark with an emotion I couldn't place. "You didn't do this, Hazel. Your father did."

I looked up, wiping tears from my cheeks. "What are you talking about?"

"Your father must have been a Sterling," Jaxon said bluntly. "He knew what he was, knew what might happen if he had children with a human, and he did it anyway. He's the one who put your mother at risk."

I stood up so fast my head spun. "No. You're wrong. My father was a good man. He loved us."

"Maybe he did," Jaxon shrugged, unmoved by my distress. "Doesn't change what he was."

"You don't know anything about him!" I shouted.

"I know enough," Jaxon retorted. "The Sterlings have been experimenting with Grey-human reproduction for decades. They're obsessed with creating powerful hybrids. Your abilities – they're off the charts. It's not a coincidence."

"Jaxon, that's enough," Kaelen warned, but I was already fumbling for my phone.

"I'll prove it to you," I said, fingers shaking as I pulled up my photo gallery. I scrolled frantically until I found what I was looking for – a picture of my father from before he died. I thrust the phone at Jaxon. "Look! My father had brown eyes. All Sterlings have blue eyes, right? He wasn't one of them!"

Jaxon took my phone, staring at the image. His expression shifted subtly, a frown creasing his forehead.

Rhys looked over his shoulder and cursed under his breath.

Silas peered at the photo and went very still.

Jaxon's jaw tightened. He handed the phone back to me without a word, then turned and walked toward the door.

"Where are you going?" I demanded.

"I need to make a call," he said without turning around. The door closed behind him with a decisive click.

I turned to the others, confusion and anger warring inside me. "What the hell just happened?"

"Hazel..." Silas began, exchanging a look with Rhys that I couldn't interpret.

"No more secrets," I said firmly. "Tell me what's going on."

When no one spoke, I moved toward the door, intent on following Jaxon and finding out who he was calling. But before I could reach it, Ronan stepped in my path.

"Let him go, Hazel," he said softly.

"Move, Ro," I warned.

Silas came up beside him, both of them physically blocking me. "Hazel, please. Just give him a few minutes."

I stared at them, at these men who were supposed to be my bonds – my soulmates – now standing between me and the truth about my own life. Something hardened inside me, a resolve I didn't know I possessed.

Fine, if they want a fight then game on. I'd find out what was happening, with or without their help.