Jackson.

Alpha Team.

NAC & The Holly Group.

Author: Chelsea Handc.o.c.k.

Chapter 1.

Declan "Senior" Quinn sat at his desk looking at his daughter, Ryleigh. She was standing in front of his corner window looking out into the New York City skyline like it held all the answers, all while chewing on her thumbnail. A habit he hadn't seen her using since she was a child. He regretted the choices of his past that made her feel so apprehensive today. Unfortunately, even if he had the choice he wouldn't change anything. Too much was at stake.

She was his greatest treasure, pure at heart and strong. He could still see her face when she came to him several weeks ago, distrusting and confused. He had promised to never hurt her and although he kept that promise to the best of his ability he had still withheld crucial information: not entirely lying yet not explaining everything. At least that was how he justified it to himself.

Her distrust hurt the most and he never wanted to see that look on her face again. Declan hadn't wanted to keep such important things from her but for the greater good he had to make a choice and that choice was to keep his daughter in the dark. Whether he liked it or not, there was more at stake than just his discomfort over his daughter's feelings. An entire race depended upon keeping secrets. He never once thought that his two worlds would collide the way that they had such a short time ago.

Help her forget the atrocities of the past and move on: this had been his first goal and until that day he had thought he had done that. He wanted her to continue believing that his motives for helping her as a child were altruistic and loving. However, in reality they weren't. He was tasked with getting the child and keeping her creation under wraps. That didn't change his feelings for her, but in the beginning, she was simply a job. The shame of that would haunt him till his dying days.

All his hard work was for not. In reality, her memories surfaced and she started to put the puzzle pieces together with the help of her team. It only took one little piece of information to undo years of work. Never before had Declan wished that he hadn't encouraged her to follow in his footsteps. If she had stayed with one of the many career fields that she had chosen over the years, then neither of them would be in the position that they were in today. But that wasn't the case. He had to make some very hard decisions, revealing parts of himself and her past all while keeping his real motives of the past safely hidden away. He hoped his choices never backfired on him again.

Finding Ryleigh 15 years ago, changed him and what he wanted out of life. Before that day, he was sure that he would spend the rest of his days serving his country until his last breath: following orders and working towards someone else's greater good. Ryleigh gave him back his humanity, not to mention humility. That was something his military career had basically drained from his soul. Declan laughed to himself. Raising a child had a way of humbling a person. Ryleigh didn't care who he was to the outside world or even who his teams knew him as. To her he was just a dad and at times he cherished that, but others times he hated it.

He was still manipulating her and that wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He didn't have a choice because some things just needed to be hidden. He wanted to be a good parent to her: not someone to be feared or even someone to obey and follow like he was to the men that worked for him. His team might call him "Senior", but Ryleigh called him "Dad". That one word was enough to squeeze his battered heart. His work life or early career rarely interfered with his and Ryleigh's relationship. However, they were now going to collide like two freight trains during the night. The explosion would either bring them together or tear them apart. He hoped for the former and feared the latter.

Declan's goal since finding Ryleigh all those years ago, was to simply maintain her safety and keep the ugliness of his world and everything else away from her. She had suffered greatly and he didn't want her to endure a second of pain again, but he failed on both accounts. His girl was tenacious and dove right in where she needed to stay away. She now knew things weren't as they seemed and the nightmares that he had hoped were gone from her childhood were rearing their ugly heads once again. But this time he couldn't keep them away like he had done when she was a child. She was a grown woman and although he was very proud, he had moments that he wished that she was one of those flighty ent.i.tled brats that his teams were consistently getting called in to save from their own stupidity. But that wasn't his girl, not even close. She was smart, observant, vigilant and had proved herself within his circles of the of the Security, Search, and Rescue community. Her own team had already made a name for themselves in a very short time and were quickly rivaling NAC for cases. All that didn't matter now because everything was going to change. His daughter's life would never be the same after this meeting.

He could still imagine Ryleigh the day that he found her. She was looking up at him from a tiny cage; battered but not broken. Bright green eyes that seemed to have a knowledge and maturity well above her age full of hope but also apprehension. Her body was skinny, malnourished, and mistreated. The a.s.sholes had left her with tattered clothes and no shoes. In the 10x10 cage, she had a bed intended for dogs and a single bowl filled with water. There weren't even the core amenities provided for her. His heart went out of her, but she never asked for a thing. Not help, not to get her out of her confinement; no, not Ryleigh. She just watched and waited for was to come, expecting the worst but hoping for the best. She was chewing on her little thumbnail like it would solve all her problems. That was his girl, and he only hoped her perseverance lasted through what was to come. Now everything that she had learned threatened her life and future and Declan didn't like it.

To him Ryleigh represented innocence and strength, but maybe that was just a parent's dream. Ryleigh had gone through and witnessed things in her life that even the most seasoned soldier would cringe at. As the years went by and he watched her grow his admiration only grew. His goal in life was to protect, cherish, and love Ryleigh: the child that was once a job but now a part of his heart. What he was doing now went against all that. He knew his teams would never hurt her physically, but he couldn't guarantee she would come out of this emotionally unscathed and that rankled him to his core. All of them were about to be tested it seemed.

After retiring from military service Declan formed NAC (Not Another Child). His agency's mission was to rescue children in peril and to do it significantly faster without the hindrance and bureaucracy constraints of the standard law enforcement system. His team's mantra was "no stone left unturned." They investigated every rumor, innuendo or feeling - anything required to save a woman or child from one more minute of pain and suffering. He would never understand why evil people would want to destroy, consume, and harm such innocents. He wasn't a nave man as he had spent his life exposed to some of the most heinous acts human beings could perpetrate. It had hardened him to some degree, but it also helped him keep his focus and drove him to make the world a better place. He strove to do this not only for his daughter but also for others that were lost but not forgotten; at least not forgotten to him and his teams.

Shaking his head, he watched his daughter gather her strength. She had stopped chewing on her thumbnail and was now holding herself close. He wanted to go to Ryleigh, wrap his arms around her, and a.s.sure her that everything would be okay, but he couldn't. She needed to do this on her own and he needed to let her. He would always have her back and he really hoped she knew that.

He hated what was about to go down, but he also knew that he didn't have any other choice. The cat was already out of the bag, so to speak. There was no sense in trying to shove the thing back in. His daughter would always come first for him, but his team and clansman were equally as important. The guys needed the information that Ryleigh had, as it changed all of their lives significantly. Conversely, his need to protect his daughter was riding him hard.

His sweet girl was about to shake up the lives of very powerful and potentially harmful people by blowing their perceived secrecy and security right out the door. Also, and in some way, divulging his betrayal not only to Ryleigh but to his people. He didn't care about that if any of them had a problem they could take it up with him. The next couple of hours would be hard. Ryleigh was going to have to expose some of her deepest and darkest secrets to a room full of predators and he was going to have to watch. Only to let them have the final blow that she and a handful of others could possibly be the answer to what they have all been hoping and looking to find for well over a century.

He remembered the day that she came to him, eyes red-rimmed and swollen from crying. His first instinct was to go to her, but she wasn't acting like the child of his heart. She was mad, standoffish, and hurt; not making eye contact with him and guarding her tiny body with her arms clenched around her waist. Declan didn't like the combination at all.

"Dad," Ryleigh croaked, "we need to talk."

Declan's first inclination was to kill anything that caused her harm or discomfort. He abruptly stood from his desk pushing his chair into the wall, ready for anything.

But her next words gutted him, she had a folder in her hand, and as she held it out to him she said, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Confused, Declan didn't know what was going on. There were so many things that he had kept from his daughter: missions, contacts, how he came to find her, and even his race. Deciding to tread carefully he asked cautiously, "what do you mean honey?" She looked so forlorn and alone at that very moment. Declan wanted to cry along with her, tell her whatever it was they would work through it, and it would be okay, but he held his tongue. Whatever was in that folder was about to change both of their lives, and he was pretty sure it wasn't for the better.

Ryleigh was so mad and hurt. This was her Dad, the man she valued above all others and he was keeping things from her: important things. They weren't mission secrets, which she understood the need for confidentiality or even mundane secrets like what he was planning on getting her for Christmas, but life changing secrets. Secrets that could change them both irrevocably.

He looked like the same man that rocked her to back to sleep when she had a nightmare or cheered in the crowd when she achieved every one of her degrees. Declan "Senior" Quinn was a handsome man. He was tall and maintained his physique even at his age. He was 48 but could pa.s.s for a man in his early thirties. The only indication of age on him was a little graying on the temples of his blonde hair and the tiny crow's feet next to his eyes unusual eyes. With his experience and career some would except a weathered and aged man, but he wasn't either of those things. She often wondered why he never dated or maybe even had a woman on the side, but to Ryleigh's knowledge he didn't and that always puzzled her. He was a catch by anyone's standards. She had always wanted him to be happy but never questioned him. Maybe now she knew why.

Chapter 2.

Ryleigh wanted to puke. She tried to remember his actions, not what was to come. This was the man that had decided that because of her first eleven years, she didn't have enough of a childhood and forced her to play with dolls and have tea parties. The big bada.s.s Navy Seal would come into her room with a tea set and a feather boa talking with an English accent, trying to get her to play. She didn't know how to play; it was something she hadn't ever really done before. He was an amazing father and most importantly she trusted him wholeheartedly. She had almost from the start. When he said, he was going to get her out of the h.e.l.lhole she had called a home and promised nothing would ever harm her again she believed him.

As she grew up, she wanted to be just like him, but now she was questioning all of that. Had he known what she was from the start and was that why he took her in? So many questions and so few answers. Was her life a lie? Did he want something from her just like everyone else? Ryleigh couldn't wrap her head around any of it.

Ryleigh wasn't able to get anything past the lump in her throat, so she just handed her Dad the folder. She watched as the furrow between his eyebrows got deeper and deeper. She also watched as his complexion went from red to almost purple with rage and she knew that he was aware of what The Holly group had just found out. Those things she could ignore as human nature, but what she couldn't ignore was that his eyes were now glowing an iridescent green and his pupil seemed to elongate; totally not a human reaction. He was something other, and she had been genetically engineered to be that as well. She could understand him keeping his "enhancements" to himself, but did he know about her? If he did that hurt.

"Where did you get this information Ryleigh?" Her loving father was long gone he was all business now. The tough as nails CO and President of NAC was definitely standing behind his desk at the moment. She wanted to throw a fit like a p.u.b.escent teen but decided it was better to take her cues from him. She was going to treat this conversation like she would any other professional meeting. Declan "Senior" Quinn wasn't the person she thought he was. She needed him to be the loving and doting father he had always been, not something else. Not someone that would betray her and definitely not someone that would keep life changing information away from her. She would get her answers or she wasn't leaving until he answered every single one.

Clearing her throat because it felt like she had swallowed the Sahara Desert, she was going to break the silence. "The case my group was on last month yielded a variety of information," she said looking into his eerie eyes. "Including the fact that there is a doctor out there that is creating children and using animal DNA to enhance them. It also showed that this has been going on for a very long time thirty years or so." Ryleigh desperately wanted him to show some kind of shock, but her father's face was expressionless. She could only a.s.sume he knew this information all along. If he hadn't would be as surprised and shocked as she was when she read the initial intel?

Turning, unable to look at him anymore, she continued, "The intel brought back memories, things that were said to me as a child that I had forgotten or chose to not to remember. I'm not sure." She heard him grunt, but never moving from his station behind the desk. "When my team and I discussed the evidence, others were reminded of similar things. So, we decided to look further."

Turning to look out the window because it seemed like the safest place at the moment, she continued, "We tested our blood and ran several different tests with no results until we decided to check our DNA. Each of us has more than the standard 46. We narrowed down the results and found that we all carry animal DNA some identified some not." Turning she pointed and looked at her dad, "Can you explain that father?" The father thing kind of slipped out but what else was she supposed to do? She was mad and wanted to somehow put him in his place. She had never called him father. It was what the person that contributed his s.e.m.e.n to create her insisted that she call him and she hated the word. Declan knew that as well.

He had lied to her, well, not really; he had just kept something paramount from her. Something that explained so much. Ryleigh waited, but there was only silence. But, oh, his eyes were conveying a lot. He was furious.

"I've always known there was something different about you," Ryleigh charged. "You never date and even beyond missions you used to disappear from the house without taking your car or letting me know you were going anywhere. I would look for you, but I could never find you and then you would just show up and act like nothing was out of the ordinary. I spent years looking through the house for a secret room or something to explain where you had gone, not once finding anything. I never put much thought into it and blamed it on your Seal training. Then there are the other things; your eyes glow when you are upset, and you seem to get bigger. Your skin gets a sheen to it that I have never been able to explain before and you have never once in seventeen years even had so much as a cold."

"Listen honey..." Declan said, trying to placate her.

"No, let me finish," she said placing her hand up to stop him from continuing. "Do you remember that time when I was about fourteen? You got me those roller blades and insisted I try them out. You said it was good exercise and you had heard all the kids were doing it. That my life should include some fun not just studying. I didn't want to but you convinced me and I lost control and headed down the driveway superfast. The incline was so steep that I couldn't stop, but you somehow managed to catch up to me before I hit the main road and the oncoming traffic." She continued. "You had been standing on the porch a good 50 feet from where I was watering the plants. No way should you have been able to catch up to me and that car that you said swerved out of the way. Why weren't there any skid marks from behind?" Ryleigh demanded. "You told me that you fell into the car when it stopped, but the door was crushed along with the window. I saw the skid marks from the tires moving away from you like it skidded from your push. There was really no another explanation for it. The driver never hit the brakes and he even admitted that when he got out of the car. You refused to call the police and gave him money to fix the damage when the accident was clearly his fault. With this new information, I started to see patterns that I blew off before. So, I had your DNA ran as well."

"What the h.e.l.l Ryleigh!" Declan yelled, crouching over his desk, planting his hands, and firmly staring right at her. He needed her to realize how bad this was and how serious he was. She needed to start talking but he needed something to ground him. For the moment, his desk was going to have to do; he ignored the loud cracking noise it emitted from his action. He would never strike out at his daughter, but he was infuriated. This was even worse than Declan had expected. If word got out about what he was or what his people were, the damage would be horrific. His people lived by rules of secrecy that would put the government to shame. He was a Shifter, a man that could turn into an animal at will. He and his clansmen had lived thousands of years right alongside humans without detection, and now it looked like his daughter might be the reason behind the downfall to his entire race. He had been so c.o.c.ky to not realize that Ryleigh had picked up on some of his Shifter traits. Never once did he detect her discomfort or even her curiosity. She never mentioned a thing.

Declan didn't like the position that this new information put him in. He knew that his shifter DNA couldn't be traced as his lineage and bloodlines were long extinct. Humans had no Dragon DNA to compare to his, but that didn't mean the others were out of the woods. Apex predators were common, and although they were different from the traditional animal varieties, there would be similarities. Someone with Ryleigh's brain or the others on her team could easily discern those similarities and if that information ever got out. f.u.c.k! He wanted to scream at her to forget about this to never mention it again, but he also needed to know it all. What all did The Holly Group know? How could he protect his people while also keeping his daughter safe? Were all of the members of The Holly Group as NAC, could all her people be trusted? f.u.c.k the list went on and on.

Her Dad never had so much as raised his voice to Ryleigh in all the years that they had been together. So, to have him yelling now, Ryleigh knew that all of the theories her team had come up with were true, at least in part. He hadn't denied anything yet, but he also hadn't confirmed it. Her Dad was more than met her eyes.

"Did you know we are related?" Ryleigh sneered. This was the thing she hated most about all that she had learned. Ryleigh could feel her lip pull up and tremor, but she forced her body to remain planted where it desperately wanted to see his reaction. They were blood-related and he had either not known, which she hoped he hadn't, or kept it from her, which she loathed. Didn't' she have a right to know? Wasn't family supposed to be the most important thing? That was what he had taught her.

"Those extra chromosomes led right back to you or at least someone in your family," Ryleigh declared. "The rest, the standard ones, they lead right back to those people that created me. I have to ask, is that why you took me from that place? Or how about we start with the simple question, what are you?" Ryleigh wanted to be pleased by the flinch those words invoked, but she wasn't, this all hurt her too much.

Turning his back to her, looking up at the ceiling like it held some answer he was never going to find, Declan was at a loss. f.u.c.k, the hits just kept on coming. He had no idea he and Ryleigh were related. It wasn't possible; his brother had died young, and he had no other siblings. His father would have been too old to have created Ryleigh. It was possible, but the old man had been so depressed after Seamus had pa.s.sed that he was pretty sure he never left his home. Looking at the paperwork Ryleigh had given him, he noticed that he and Ryleigh did share a twenty-five percent DNA match. Not really knowing what that meant, he had to ask.

Turning back to his desk, he moved his chair into place and took a seat. He wouldn't get anywhere if he kept on ranting and raving. It looked like Ryleigh wasn't the only one that needed answers.

"What does all this mean, Ryleigh," he said pointing at the open folder. He was avoiding her questions, and he knew it. She knew it too because her shoulders slumped and she was looking down at her feet for a split second.

He wasn't ready to disclose everything just yet. There was still a chance that some of the secrets could be kept. There was one in particular he would always keep from her. It was better for both of them that way. They had always had a bond and he was really never sure where it came from; it was instant and insistent. Never having children, he just a.s.sumed it came from his human side. Blowing off what he always knew was true was that his dragon had also claimed Ryleigh. It was unheard of and he couldn't name a single time it had ever happened in all his years.

He knew the moment he saw her and that he needed to protect her. His instincts had always driven him and that day they had been screaming at him. His dragon had been clawing at him. Declan had a firm grip on the beast, but now that he really got down to the bra.s.s tacks he realized how much he had really let slip. Ryleigh was family. He had no idea how or why but knew what she was saying was the truth. It didn't change his feeling, but it explained so much.

"What that means Ryleigh- "he tried again, still pointing to the paper.

But this time she answered, taking her cues from him. She released one of her arms around her stomach but kept it close like it would somehow protect her from what was going to come. She then pointed at the papers on his desk like they were going to jump out and bite her. Clearing her throat again she said, "What that means is you and I are blood-related. More specifically you are either my Uncle, Grandfather or Nephew. We had a twenty-five percent match."

Declan shook his head. He still couldn't get his mind wrapped around what she was saying to him. When that didn't work, he got up and started pacing. Pacing always helped him concentrate, but this time it did nothing. He kept stopping and looking at Ryleigh, wanting her to finish, but at the same time he was just unable to accept what she was saying. It didn't make any sense. Instead of expressing this verbally to her, because he wasn't quite sure how it would come out, he gestured at her on his next pa.s.s to continue.

G.o.d, Ryleigh really hated this. Her dad was agitated and angry. It was instinctive for her to never want him to be that way, but she couldn't just brush any of this under the rug. She couldn't pretend that she hadn't seen something; like she did when she was a child. She couldn't ignore the evidence her team had discovered. She could make him happy and pretend that everything was all right, but it wasn't. So, she gave him the facts. Sometimes it was easier to deal with data than it was to deal with emotions.

"I discounted Grandfather because you said that you have never had any children. Furthermore, since you are only in your late forties, there is no way that one of your offspring could be my parent. Unless you are way older than I ever knew," Ryleigh accused. "Same thing goes with Nephew; the timeline just doesn't add up, so Uncle it is," she said, shrugging her shoulders. The move helped her relieve some of the tightness. But she couldn't resist just one more dig, "Or is there more to this than meets the eye here, like everything else I am finding out?"

Declan flinched at her accusations. He had kept things from her, but he never lied and hoped that he wouldn't have to. She had never mentioned any of this before. Not about his shifter traits or even his disappearances from the house. Why had she waited so long to confront him? s.h.i.t, he was just as clueless, not even knowing that they were related until this very moment. Even hearing and seeing the information didn't stop him from his duty: protecting her.

"Listen, little girl, you are treading in waters that could get you killed. There are people out there that will hunt you and your team down if this information got out. s.h.i.t, even if they get wind that you have knowledge of this information. Do you understand me?" Declan continued his pacing. When he got back to where she was standing he continued. "If not, let me make it clearer, just having my DNA and running it without my knowledge or consent is an act of treason in my world." More pacing. "Not the kind of treason that gets you put in jail either," he said, throwing his hands up in the air and quickly turning back and adding, "the kind that gets you eliminated. Do you understand me better now?" he said, perching himself on the edge of his desk.

Ryleigh jerked. Surely the man that had been so loving and raised her as his own wouldn't eliminate her or allow someone to 'eliminate her' as he so eloquently put it. She was confused and angry, but she still loved him just like she had prior to getting this knowledge. She just wanted answers. Was that so bad? This stuff didn't only affect him. She was right in the middle.

Chapter 3.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, Ryleigh," Declan said exasperatedly. He had thought that they were long over this. He promised to keep her safe. Hadn't he shown her that he would keep that vow in a million ways? This information was bad, but he had to believe that once it all came out she would understand. Relaxing his arms and leaning back he said, "Not that look. Don't ever think that I would hurt you. I swore to you the day that I found you that you would be safe. f.u.c.k, I would move heaven and earth to make sure that happens. But, d.a.m.n..." he said, raking his hands through his short hair before putting them out to her in a pleading way, "why couldn't you just leave this alone? Why didn't you come to me first before running your 'tests'?" The word came out of his mouth like it tasted foul.

"Your d.a.m.n papers that you stormed in here with, demanding answers, only give you a glimmer of the truth. But what they have done is put you and everyone you let in on this f.u.c.king secret in danger. Do you understand me?" He said pointedly. When she just looked at without acknowledging what he had said, he gave her something. Something small but still something. "What you have done is considered a cardinal sin with my people. Something that is punishable. Something that I might not be able to protect you from."

Yelling at her Dad for the first time in her life, "Then why don't you give me the whole truth!" He still wasn't giving her any answers and her frustration lead her to act in a fashion that she never thought she was capable of. Or maybe it was the fact that he had yelled. Whatever it was, she didn't like it, but couldn't stop it either.

"Why don't you tell me how I have committed this sin?" Ryleigh exclaimed. "I did my job, Dad, one that you taught me. I followed the patterns, put the pieces together, and then brought them to you for an explanation. I didn't advertise these results," she said, gesturing at the abandoned papers on the desk. "And I did come to you for answers. Sorry, it wasn't my first stop, but this was about me. When we decided to make comparisons with my DNA, I never thought in a million years you and I would match as familial. But when the results came back positive I wanted answers. Don't you think I deserve them?"

"I was created in a test tube, Dad, and those people tortured me for eleven years. They kept me in a cage and did unspeakable things to me in order to get me to do what they wanted. Somehow you, or maybe me, made my mind erase most of those times. How do you explain a person with an eidetic memory losing whole portions of their lives? Don't you think I have earned the right to know why?" Ryleigh demanded.

f.u.c.k, her words were like a knife to his heart. She had been through so much, and it looked like she was only going to go through more. He hated thinking about everything she had been through; what he had put her through, but it was her reality. For him, it was time to pay the piper. Sins of the past had a way of coming back and biting you in the a.s.s. He apparently didn't learn that lesson well enough.

"Did I ever tell you how I came to find you that day Ryleigh?"

Her Dad was speaking so quietly that he had stopped his pacing and was standing right in front of her. Even with him that close Ryleigh had to struggle to hear him. "Yes, you said that you were on a mission and got word that a child was in danger. You tried to go through the proper channels, but all you met with was red tape."

That knowledge hurt. From what she could remember plus what she had discovered, when she was older no one had been willing to risk the Abernathy's wealth and power to rescue Ryleigh. They had connections in the government along with a.s.sociations to other unsavory groups. Their influence and power made people; it also bought people. You would think that rumors of a caged child would bring outrage, but in Ryleigh's case that was not what had happened.

"Yes, that is true, but there is more," Declan responded. "As you have already guessed, I'm not exactly human. I am a Shifter. A man that turns into an animal. It was how I was born, Ryleigh. I'm still the man that wiped your nose and bandaged your sc.r.a.pped knees. Human but more." Declan expected the shock that he was now seeing on his daughter's face. She had noticed things, but she didn't have the whole truth. Her eyes were open so wide that he could see the whites. Her gasp stopped her breathing and her mouth formed a perfect "O". Yeah, she might be asking for answers, but she had no idea what he was going to say.

s.h.i.t, she hadn't expected that. Shifter? What the heck was a Shifter? She had antic.i.p.ated that he was genetically engineered like her but not full on sci-fi; like what he was saying he was a werewolf or something. There were rumors of the military doing tests and procedures for years to try and enhance soldier's abilities. That is what she had thought this was all about. Not that he was born this way and if what he said earlier was true about "his people" then there were more of them. She hadn't expected this. She didn't even know how to rationalize this.

Too dumbfounded to speak but too frazzled not to, Ryleigh said, "But How? I mean I thought you were like me; created in a lab or something. That the military did something to you experimented on you. I mean I was ready to expose them bring them down if I had to but this? No, this isn't anything close to what I was expecting. You were born this way? How many other Shifters are there, have I met any? Would I even know? Wow, I have to admit it's pretty amazing though and explains so much." "I mean..." she said excitedly, "you can turn into an animal," telling him like he hadn't just explained it to her. "I have so many questions," she declared.

Declan chuckled, d.a.m.n, so typical of his little girl. She was always so curious and rarely ever scared. "You know what they say; curiosity killed the cat. You need to remember that, honey. It is more important now more than ever," Declan explained. "You need to make sure that this information stays in this room. You need to let me vet your people and ensure that this never, and I mean never, gets out. Or the things that you thought happened with the government would happen to us, or worse. Then there are my people, honey; we have strict laws against outsiders having this information. With you and I being blood-related I think I can spare you but not the others," he said, taking her hands into his hoping that he got his point across, but also wanting some type of normalcy to return to them.

"So, you're not even freaked out that I can change into an animal," Declan questioned. "You just want to know what kind I am. Oh, my brave girl, you will never change. The unusual doesn't scare you, but the unknown and unjust has always had a foothold. Though I don't think that will ever change. To answer your question, like I said before, yes, I was born this way and, yes, there are many others. My entire company consists of only Shifters."

"Do you turn into a big cat like a lion or a tiger?" Ryleigh said, captivated by the information being revealed. "You mention cats. You're fast, strong, and, well, you have blond hair. You also move with a grace that I always thought came from your SEAL training. Oh, that would be awesome, will you show me?" she squealed with excitement.

"d.a.m.n, honey, you always surprise me; never saying what I expect," Declan said. "But sorry to burst your bubble, I'm not a cat. I think if you thought about it long and hard enough, you will be able to figure it out; or at least get in the right realm. But you have to understand that you were never supposed to know. My community is small. We keep to ourselves help where we can. Many of us join the military because of our need to serve and protect. But also, to alleviate our more animalistic natures. Battle provides an outlet for our animals, while still keeping us human. Taking down the enemy helps control the animals within us, giving them an outlet. The structure also provides solid lines. But, honey, I can't say this enough; this knowledge isn't to be spread. Do you understand?"

Gulping Ryleigh managed a, "Yes." She was still in shock. Her Dad turned into an animal. He could change his body and form; change his species. Was that, even right? No, he was an entirely different species. It didn't make sense, but it intrigued her just the same. Her brain was telling her it wasn't possible, but that was because of what she was taught and her a.s.sumptions were blown wide open. Then there was what he said. Battle provided their animals with an outlet. Was the man she loved a killer? Was he not what she always thought a good and decent man? She couldn't believe that.

Lifting off his perch on the desk he approached her slowly; cautiously like he was apprehensive of her reactions. She couldn't really blame him because when his hands made contact with her arms she almost flinched. He wasn't what she always thought he was, but was he still a good man?

"I see the battle in your eyes, honey, and, yes, I am the man you have always thought I was," Declan a.s.sured her. "I am the man who's only wish is to keep you safe and cherished. I would never hurt you or cause you harm in any way, please believe that. I have never hurt anyone in shifted or human form that didn't deserve it, and only then while serving my country. All the stuff you told me doesn't change how I feel about you or how I will always feel about you, and I hope you feel the same about me. It actually cements it more."

Ryleigh desperately wanted to believe him, but there were so many questions. He must have sensed she needed a bit of break because he released her arms and walked over to the bar in the corner of his office that she had gotten for him the first time she was able to access her trust at eighteen. It was in the shape of a globe, but done in all silver and gold. Now looking at it, Ryleigh realized how gaudy it looked in his office. He was a simple man and his preferences reflected that; dark woods, leather, and neutral colors. What had surprised her was when he gave the flashy thing a prime position in his office; like he cherished it and always would. Fixing himself a scotch on the rocks, he lifted the gla.s.s towards her offering to make her a drink as well without words. She shook her head and said, "Water, please." She needed something to get the cotton out of her mouth.

When he handed her the bottle of water, he walked over to the brown leather couch in the corner of the room. The thing had seen better days, but she knew he loved it. Ryleigh knew because she had offered to get him a new one many times and he would say, "Just because something is old and a little scarred it doesn't mean that you get rid of it. It just means that it is well used and soft in all the right places." She often thought that he was talking about himself but she could never figure out why. He was in his prime and it never made sense. Now, when she needed it most, the ratty old couch offered her the comfort and familiarity that she needed. Patting the cushion next to him, Ryleigh complied and took her place. It reminded her of the old times; talking for hours, just like this.

Chapter 4.

"I need to finish telling you about how I found you," he said, offering her his hand, palm up. Ryleigh gladly accepted, placing hers in his and squeezing it. They were the same hands that she had held often, strong and callused but also warm and comforting. She had a feeling she was going to need his strength for what was to come.

"You are right about some things, honey, but not all," he continued. "I received information while on a mission that someone was trying to create designer babies; babies that could turn into animals. I couldn't tell my superiors or anyone else about this information, but I could tell them about you, an abused child. I also couldn't tell them how I got the information because that would raise the question and someone would want those answers. That was why I was unable to get the backing I needed to get you out. Rumors of an abused child weren't exactly on the Navy's list of priorities and until I had more I could only bring in my most trusted men; Shifters."

Ryleigh flinched. She didn't like it, but it was true. The Navy had bigger and worse targets.

"I gathered all the information I could, but everything was just rumor or supposition. The more I dug, the more I found out. I couldn't risk this information getting out, and I couldn't let you stay there," Declan explained. "If humans had the ability to create children with animal DNA and you even showed an ounce of being a Shifter, that information needed to be buried. I had to find out and put a stop to it. The only good thing was that the people who paid to create you liked to s...o...b..at. They told anyone and everyone in their circle about what they were doing. The even better thing was that not many believed them. The rumors would trickle back to me and I formed a plan to get you out."

"When I found, you I was only able to take a small team that solely consisted of Shifters. Everybody had to swear to secrecy. Unfortunately, there wasn't any paper trail and the computers at the facility you were held had a kill switch," he said. "Someone tripped it. For years, I have been trying to piece together information, but since you never showed any signs of shifting or of an animal nature I had to a.s.sume that those people were just talking out of their a.s.ses; that you might have a small part of my race but it would never touch your life."

Ryleigh gaffed, "You a.s.sumed. Dad, I know you better than that. You never a.s.sume anything." Ryleigh got up from the couch. The soft overused cushions tried to keep her where she was, but Ryleigh was determined. "You're still keeping things from me. This is my life. If you want to keep the Shifter thing to yourself, fine, but you need to tell me the things that affect me."

Declan sighed, "It's not that simple. I'm a Shifter, more specifically a Dragon shifter. I am the only one left of my kind. I never had you tested because I couldn't trust anyone outside of the NAC teams and we didn't have the resources to do this sort of testing. I also needed to keep you safe. You have to understand there hasn't been a female shifter in over a hundred years. I couldn't exactly come clean if I wanted to keep you safe."