Alecia took a long sip of her hazelnut coffee as Ryder stood from the breakfast table, clenching his plate that contained a few scraps from the Colby cheese and pepper omelet her mother made earlier. He copied her sister and placed it in the sink before he looked her way; their eyes connecting, sending a warmth through her. From the corner of her eye, she saw a smile stretch across her father’s face. Ryder left the kitchen, to get ready before they took their annual trip to Durham to get a Christmas tree. Once the door swung closed, she turned to her father, buried behind a newspaper. “So you like him, Daddy?” Her father lowered the paper. “Yeah, I do. He’s very polite, and smart.” A smile widened across her face. “I’m glad you do.” “Come here, baby.” Her daddy scooted his chair back and reached for her. The time had come for questions. She would just play her cards right, like she always did as a little girl. Her daddy would melt. Before they had left New Haven, she had practiced just how to answer her father’s questions so he’d see Ryder as a regular human and not the Alpha who would soon rule the whole of California. Alecia sat on her daddy’s lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. He smelled like ink and palm oil soap. She laid her face against his scratchy, unshaven cheek as the feeling of being a little girl washed over her. But she wasn’t a little girl, she was an engaged woman. And she would need to stay strong and not crumble if he gave her that fatherly glare. Her father kissed her and pulled her closer. “I’ve been quiet about it, but I’m quite curious about the extent of this relationship,” he said. “We like each other.” “Are you dating?” Alecia nodded. “Well, I’m guessing it must be somewhat serious, if he came to meet us.” Alecia kicked her feet out in front of her. “We’ve been dating since September.” Her father bent his head to the side and stroked one of her curls. “ Does he support the cause of freedom?” Alecia sat up and looked her father in the eyes. If only he knew! “ we attend freedom council meetings together. One of the first things he did was quiz me on my stance. I wouldn’t date someone who didn’t have the same values as me.” “Of course you wouldn’t. I trust you, baby.” He patted her shoulder. Alecia smiled, feeling her body relax. That was easy to get around. Her father motioned for her to get up. “You better go get ready.” Alecia folded her hands together as she walked out of the room. She didn’t feel one ounce of guilt for lying to her father. In the past, she couldn’t even lie about accidentally breaking a glass, but now she could lie about something this important. It scared her. Was she becoming so cold and calculated? Ryder ran his hands down his face and pulled the quilt further up his body. He hadn’t told Alecia, but he had never decorated a Christmas tree before, and he had never enjoyed chocolate chip cookies with milk so much. Future Christmases with her family would be the same. He was making the right decision for himself. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, but his eyes popped open. Every part of him was energized. Alecia had looked so beautiful as she placed the Angel on top of the tree earlier. The tree lights had reflected in her eyes, and glowed around her, making her innocence stand out more. He was never going to fall asleep. Ryder pushed from the bed and walked into the hall. He wanted to knock on her door and ask her to come downstairs with him, but her father wouldn’t approve. Ryder headed downstairs to the den in order to turn on the TV, but he stopped, noticing that the light of the adjoining room, a room they used as an office, was on. He walked to it and knocked on the door. “Come in,” he heard her father say. He smiled. He had hoped it was him. Ryder opened the door and walked in. Her father sat at the computer, gazing at a website. He turned to look at Ryder and smiled. “Can’t sleep, son?” “Nah, too happy from the day.” The smile on her father’s face widened. “Pull up a chair.” Ryder sat across from him and glanced at the computer. The image of a white two-story house on stilts filled the page. Apparently, he had been looking up information about beach houses in Sri Lanka. “We take a trip every year. You’ll have to come with us,” her father said. “I’d love to.” Her father sat back from the computer, put his hands in his lap and turned to Ryder. “You like my daughter a lot, don’t you?” He smiled. “Yeah, I do, sir.” Her father nodded and bent his head to the side, his eyes narrowing. Ryder clenched the arms of his chair. What was that look? "Tell me boy, what do you think about the freedom cause? Humans shouldn't have to sign themselves up as slaves to werewolves just to be safe.'' Ryder tensed. If only this man knew that he was not only a werewolf, but an Alpha, if he only knew what his father was planning for the entire country, he wouldn't want him around his daughter. But he was a Hendrix after all, his father had thought him to lie well. Ryder squared his shoulders, and tried to remember all the bullshit he had heard from the believers of freedom. He couldn't understand why it mattered to humans this much what they believed in. The protected were always fighting against the freedom believers. ''Well, I would not say I believe strongly, as much as Alecia, but all I know is that this system is wrong, and I am willing to do whatever is needed of me to change it.'' A smile seeped across her father’s face as he turned to the computer. “You have my blessing, son.” Ryder exhaled. “Thank you, sir; that means a lot to me.” From the moment, he had walked into this simple dwelling, he had wanted to impress Alecia's father. Something about the man drew him. Mr. Bell loved his family like they were precious jewels and yet maintained a realm of influence over them. How did he do it? Was it respect? Love? He’d have to figure it out. And he had nothing but his daughter’s welfare in mind as he drilled him. What a contrast to what he had always known. Even Richard expected something from him. Part of him wished, he could be that clean-slate boy, Mr. Bell wanted for his daughter. But that could never be. His father would make sure of that.