NOVEL NEXT Chapter 556: Boys' parties (4)
Nate and Scarlet were at the shooting ground, the gun pointed at the target and both their fingers pushing on the trigger. The bang made them both wince, and Scarlet even frowned because her sensitive ears weren't expecting such a sound.
She knew it would be noisy but wasn't expecting it so noisy.
Even Nate shook his head to stop the whistling in his head.
«Mr Woods, would you like to use the headset?» the staff member asked when they saw how much they hated the noise. «I didn't offer you before because I thought you wouldn't need it. There is no one else today, so it's not that noisy... Right?»
«It's okay,» Nate said. «We're done here, either way. One bullet is enough for today, right, Scarlet?»
«Oof,» she scoffed, but she didn't complain. She let go of the gun and looked at the target. «We missed, daddy!» she said.
«But we did shoot. It's the first step, Scarlet. We shouldn't do everything at once. Next time, we'll shoot again.»
Scarlet nodded her head, jumping off the chair under the staff member's worried expression. He almost jumped forward to stop it, but he realised he had overreacted when he saw how Nate was cool about his daughter jumping like that.
«Shall we have a snack, now?» he said.
At those words, Scarlet's eye returned to shine.
«Okay, daddy. I was getting a little hungry.»
«Let's try something else from the menu. Then we can go home. Your mother must be waiting for us to tell her.»
«Has my mommy ever been to a boys' party?»
«I don't think she has.»
«Oh, so I can tell her everything. Can I, daddy? Isn't it a secret?»
«It's not a secret. You can tell her all you want.»
They left the shooting grounds and returned to the cafe.
Continue your journey on empire
«So, do you like boys' parties?» Nate inquired, curious. Their day together had been half a failure and half enjoyable. Scarlet hated golf, even though she had given her all to play. She had liked shooting, and likely she loved the food of the bar.
«It's nice,» she said. «Can we come here again before I grow up?»
«Sure. Why not?»
He didn't tell her yet that she didn't need to worry about growing up. He would have subscribed for her if she wanted to.
«So, can we come again tomorrow?»
«I don't have time tomorrow, Scarlet. But we can come back next week.»
«I will ask mommy if we can do horse riding.»
«Oh, sure. She'll tell you it's okay. You're not going to eat that specific horse, after all.»
«It's good? If my mommy says I can, we can ride a horse together, daddy!»
«There's a lot more we can do here, by the way. We just started exploring. Also, there might be boys your age coming here with their dads. You can make friends.»
«Can I, daddy?»
«You can. Of course, you can. But first, you need to learn how to hide your nature. You can't let everyone know we're wolves. We shouldn't even talk about it in the open like this. We won't do it again, okay?
Just today.»
«Just today,» she agreed. «But what does it mean to hide, daddy? What do other boys do that I don't?»
Her big eyes were so open and lost that Nate felt his heart skip a beat. A daughter sure was dangerous. Even having a son wasn't easy, but Jaden didn't have the shamelessness to use their connection like that.
«Humans are like your mommy,» Nate said, realising that no one has ever explained a thing to Scarlet, just getting angry when she spilt the beans.
At the twins' age, wolf pups knew what they could and couldn't do in front of strangers. But Scarlet and Jaden hadn't had anyone guiding them.
Jaden was smart enough to realise everything on his own, but Scarlet had always had her own way of understanding and thinking. She had always needed a little more guidance.
«They're not!» she replied, though. «My mommy is prettier than everyone. And she has a nice scent.»
«I agree with you on that. What I mean, though, is that humans don't have claws and fangs. Their ears don't change when they're happy. They don't growl.»
«Their life must be so difficult, daddy.»
«It surely is.»
They both became silent while crossing the door of the bar. They sat at the same table as before and ordered salty snacks. They didn't want to eat sweets and ruin their appetite for dinner.
«You did a good job at hiding it, so far,» Nate added, once they were served. «Your brother and you.»
«It's because our mommy told us what to do.»
«You don't have to hide it from strangers only. From your friends as well, and from your grandpa Luther. The only human who knows is your mommy, okay? Do you know how to discern humans?»
Scarlet shook her head. She knew they were different, but she couldn't explain to her daddy how to discern them. It was a complex matter: their scent, the speed with which they moved. Even just the way they reacted - or didn't react - to things.
She didn't know what to tell Nate.
«I'll teach you on the way back,» Nate said. «What do you think?»
She nodded, happy. She couldn't wait to find out about it. Maybe, for once, she could be the one to teach Jaden something new. Her brother would always be the one with the answers to everything.
She loved spending time with her daddy. And even that boys' party wasn't a bad place. She liked it. She couldn't wait to come back and try the other places they hadn't had time to visit.
«Would you like to bring Jaden with us, next time?» Nate said.
He almost burst out laughing when he saw his daughter's offended face. He should have expected it: it was something between the two of them.
«He wouldn't like it,» Scarlet said. Her reaction made vain every Nate's effort not to laugh.