AUTHOR'S POV
"Daniel Woodsworth? I've been looking for you", Diana studied his face, and found the resemblance uncanny. From the hair that's as black as hers, to the deep blue eyes they share, the bridge of theirs nose and complexion of their skin. This man is undeniably the lost puzzle in her life.
The man looked at her with his forehead puckered. "I don't do consultations anymore. Reschedule and leave me alone", he said, walking away. Diana and Kate followed Daniel. This time, no ounce of fear crawled in their spines anymore. They no longer feel frighteningly alone as they trail the irritated man with a lantern.
Diana stared at the back of Daniel's head, listening to the loud beats of her heart. Refusing to look away even in a split second. Afraid that she might lose him again. His skin dried by time. Hair with strands of white. A part of her wanted to believe her intuitive feeling is right.
"Why are you still following me?", Daniel squinted his eyes at Diana in a scornfully derisive way. Before any of the girls could respond, he turned his back from the two women as he groan irritably.
"Wait Mr. Woodsworth! Wait!", Kate exclaimed, blocking the man's way. "We came all the way here just to find you! We've met wolves, creepy guys, a whole lot of croc and snakes... Ugh!! Mountain hiking in the middle of the night just for you!", Kate didn't hesitated to make her 'I'm-tired-of-this-shit' speech. "Don't you at least recognize... her?".
Grunting, Daniel didn't bothered to take a good look. Instead, he kept dragging his tired feet straight ahead. Diana and Kate shrugged their shoulders off. Kate thought they might've found the wrong guy, while Diana convinces herself that this man is who they came here for.
The man casted light on the trees, checking for tiny markings that were carved in there. Directional arrows showing where to go. Diana wondered why a wolf like her father would be too unwolf. No sense to track scents, no sharp eyes to see in the dark, no sense of direction on nature. He was too human... like her.
A couple more hoots of owls, and chirps of crickets, they reached a cave carved like a skull. Diana and Kate did not gave Daniel a chance to slip away as they match his pace. They followed him in, despite he kept pushing them away. Following the man's footsteps, Diana and Kate held each other's hand as they go deep into the cave. The narrowing path became darker until they gradually lose light. Somewhere far inside, water dripped in a slow endless rhythm. The deeper they went, the colder the cave became.
"You won't be able to see anything from here. Go back to where you came from", he dared, blowing the light of his lantern. In a blink, the dark swallowed the cave, and there was nothing but pitch black and the moonlight guiding the way out of the cave. Leaving never crossed Diana's mind. She followed the squelches of the man's boots through the dark.
Remembering the marbles, Kate took them out and smiled with how it glows. It was truly magical how the tiny balls of crystal were able to immensely light up the cave. "Not so dark now", Kate was relieved.
The man glanced back. His weary eyes narrowed instantly. "Lythari magic", he scoffed. "Interesting", he murmured, realizing how these feeble girls survived the forest.
Finally, they reached a wooden door reinforced by iron locks. Daniel pushed it open as the creaks echo. A certain warmth welcomed them, along with the strong scent of disinfectant. He placed his lantern beside five other broken lanterns by the door. Tossed his satchel on the brown velvet couch. Taking his white coat off, he looked at the girls gaping at the door. "Well? What are you waiting for? Get in".
Diana and Kate stepped in the caveman's house. Inside, the smell is undeniably strong. The scent of disinfectant was stronger than the tea leaves, coffee beans and old books. The cave dwelling was small, but carefully kept. Shelves full of books crowded the walls from floor to ceiling. Medical notes covered one table. Dried herbs hung upside down from ropes overhead. Near the fireplace sat several bottles of badly hidden liquor pretending not to exist. A single bed that looked like it turns to a chair for other purposes. Too many fruits resting on the table. Everything was minimal and simple. What's in there are the only essential things for the survival of a single person.
The ladies watched Daniel move around. "Sit down. And keep those marbles, before it runs out of power.", he said.
"We're not here for a consult", Diana said, while Kate sat on the couch keeping the marbles in her pocket.
"I know", the man replied as he exhaled sharply after seeing how Diana kept the marbles. "Hey! That's not how to properly keep them! Argh...", he sighed as he took a piece of dark cloth from his study table and handed it to Kate. "Cover it with this", he said, as Kate took the marbles out from her pocket again, placed them over the dark cloth on Daniel's palm. Daniel looked at each of the marble, and smiled in astonishment. "These are no ordinary marbles. The purple one is to protect you, like a shield. Apparently, it has depleted. See? No more glow.", touching the marble with his finger. "The green one boosts your attacks. This blue one is for health. It replenishes your strength, keeping you alive. The lythari elves must have favored you so much that they have given you such great gifts", he wrapped the marbles and gave it back to Kate. Diana then figured why Kate's stamina earlier was too vigor compared to hers. It was the boost of Ofir's blue marble.
"Health? Diana can deal with that. She's a doctor", Kate said proudly.
"You are?", the man smiled a little and went back to making a serious face. "Hmmm… Then what are you doing here? Doctors are not really needed in this place", he asked, as he prepare cups of coffee. He made each one with measured scoops, with steady hands. Diana's eyes narrowed at how calm her father seems to be, when she's about to lose her mind with all of the questions winding in her ears.
"Do you recognize me?", Diana asked, lowly. As if she didn't what to be heard at all.
"Are you even Dr. Daniel Woodsworth?", Kate doubted. "I don't think we have the right guy", Kate whispered to Diana with a frown.
The man placed the coffee cups on the table, and approached Diana. He heard her clearly. He bended forward to look straight to her face. "Do you think I won't recognize my own daughter?", his dark brows lifted, and flashed a smile. "Ahh.. Your mother looks just like you", he placed his hands on his waist.
Those words shattered something inside Diana. Years of wondering if he's really dead. Years of imagining what if he's alive. Years of hoping they'd meet again. And suddenly, he stood there inches from her talking about marbles and making coffee like he hadn't vanished from her life. Diana folded her lips in a fine line. No drama. No hysterical crying. She just looked at him and smiled faintly. "I thought you were dead", her lips trembled as she blink her tears away.
"I'll... step outside for a while", Kate remarked, giving privacy to the father and daughter reunion.
As soon as Kate closes the wooden door, Daniel blurted out, "I'm not surprised she wouldn't tell you everything". He looked at Diana and his composure cracked. His eyes softened at his little girl hidden behind the hardened gaze. Behind exhaustion. Behind whatever pain that had sharpened her into this woman standing before him.
"You knew where I was?", Diana knitted her brows at her father who knew where she was all along and yet, he didn't bothered to get her from Tamara. "And you didn't take me from her?", Daniel could hear her bitterness clearly.
Daniel took a long deep sigh and sat down. He looked at the coffee steaming. Untouched. As if it was made to be cold. "It was a part of the deal..", he simply said. "But I'm glad you lived a comfortable life with Tamara. She kept her word. You, a doctor..", he smiled.
Diana laughed bitterly. She kept her chin up, even if the tears dared to stream down her cheeks. "I never wanted to have a comfortable life. I would rather stay with you in a small house or even in a dark hole.. not with someone who deceived and used me for their personal gains.", she said.
Those words struck Daniel harder than shouting would have. He looked at Diana in the eyes, nodding. "Me too..".
Diana forced something stuck in her throat. A cold rush brushed her face that have dried the tears on her eyes in that single line. She couldn't fathom the anger swirling inside her with her father appearing to be agreeable of giving her away. She sat in front of Daniel and asked, "That's all you got to say?". Daniel didn't dare look at her daughter. He could feel the anger in between her words. Her hands turning to hard fists. The tension growing between them inside the cave. It was not suffocating but, it was something he knew he deserved. "You must have gotten a great deal from the Nagual to exchange your own daughter that easy. It looks to me...", Diana looked around the shabby cave. "It was damn worth it".
Daniel rested his back on the chair and sighed. "I'm so afraid that this time would come. I never thought I would still live this lifetime with my daughter confronting me of the past and relive my mistakes", he looked at her, meeting her darting eyes. "But what can I do, Diana. I don't want to lose my daughter". Diana never removed her sharp gazes at Daniel. He slumped in front of her like a man who cannot carry his burdens anymore. "I was born into a family who worshipped strength", he said quietly. "Moon River raised their alphas like weapons. At a young age, I could track prey through snow. At my teens, I could kill a grown werewolf.", a humorless smile crossed his face, but Diana remained silent. "They call me gifted, but I hated it. My heart has always been with my patients, and even though I was not really good at it, I love what I'm doing.", he glanced towards the shelves overflowing with books. "My father used to say there was something wrong with me because I looked happier covered in blood from an operation compared to winning a hunt", a small breath escaped him. "Then my alpha blood awakened and its duty swallowed me whole", he stared into the fire watching a winged termite gets burned in the flames. "I led the hunts. Sat in council meetings. Trapped vampires. Buried warriors. Trained wolves.", his jaw clenched. "Eventually, I found your mother", his voice softened for the first time. His smile looked more tender, and genuine that even if she's dead, the sound of her name gives him a happy glow. "She made the world quieter, as if the moon goddess is rewarding me for being obedient. We started a family, got you a year later. Everything was perfect", the smile vanished again, and the cave stood still. "But then, everything snapped when my people got "sick" sick and I just had to do something. I remembered my calling. And that passion burned. I returned to the doctor I planned to be... But hey, doctors can't handle every sickness there is. I can't cure my own flesh and blood.", his voice grew thinner, rubbing his face with his rough palm. Daniel look at Diana once again. "You were dying slowly beside your crying mother. It broke me that I can't do anything to save you as an Alpha, as your father... as a doctor. One night, you grabbed my hand and you said you wanted to live", he closed his eyes, as the cave became unbearably quiet. "Then, I found Tamara", Daniel leans back slowly, with his face tormented with such regrettable decision.