Meeting Kane (Part 1)

Thea’s POV

My entire body trembled with nerves. My heart raced so fast I swore it would burst, and my stomach was twisted into knots that would make a sailor proud. I stood outside the prison, staring at the high walls, unsure if I should even go in. I had no idea if I’d visited Kane before, but this felt profoundly important. To me, standing here, this was like visiting a stranger—a stranger who happened to be my daughter's father.

“Are you going in, or do you plan on staring at the wall all day? You’re wasting my time,” the werewolf guard at the gate mocked, his attitude dripping with disrespect.

I clutched Phoenix tighter and glared at him. I understood his impatience, but his rudeness was unnecessary. Guarding the gate was literally his job; I wasn’t wasting his time.

“What did you just say to me?” I snapped. Unwarranted rudeness was something I hated.

He rolled his eyes, infuriating me further. I wanted to slap that smug look off his face.

“You heard me. I don’t think you’re deaf…what are you here for anyway? Are you some Rogue sympathizer? Or just a whore selling herself? If it’s the latter, how much? I could take a break, have some fun.”

I was seriously offended by his assumption that I was a prostitute. I had no prejudice against sex workers, but being casually assumed to be one was deeply disrespectful. This was not how I wanted my day to start. I was nervous and anxious, yes, but I was also looking forward to meeting my daughter's father. This arrogant jerk had completely ruined my mood.

“Do you know who I am?” I growled, stepping closer. I wasn’t even inside the prison yet, and he’d treated me this way. Was there some rule against taking a few seconds to calm my nerves before entering?

“So, who do you think you are?” His lips curled into a contemptuous smirk. “Around here, there aren’t more than three people who can talk to me like that.”

I flashed him my sweetest smile. “I’m Thea Sterling.”

As I watched his face, he initially seemed ready to roll his eyes again, but then it was like a light switched on in his brain. Fear instantly consumed his expression, aging him a hundred years in a second.

It was a lucky guess, really. My name used to mean nothing to anyone, but that seemed to have changed. I wasn’t sure if it was because Sebastian had accepted me, or because of my parents, or because of Kane. I didn’t know, but I wasn’t about to complain.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I didn’t know it was you,” he apologized, but it didn’t move me.

“Your apology means absolutely nothing to me,” I said with a cold smile. “You were rude for no reason and made some pretty disgusting assumptions about me.”

“It won’t happen again, I promise.”

I snorted. How quickly his attitude changed now that he knew who I was. But what if I had been a nobody like I used to be? I wasn’t fooled. He wasn’t genuinely sorry.

“Oh, trust me, it won’t happen again…because you’ll be getting a call from your superior very soon,” I said, no longer looking at him as I walked through the gate into the prison.

I wasn’t sure if I would actually contact his boss, but I wasn’t going to let this slide. No one disrespects me. He needed a lesson.

While the fight with the guard had temporarily pushed my anxiety aside, it returned a thousand times stronger as I walked toward the “Visitors” door. I went inside. They asked for my details and who I was visiting. My heart still pounded as I provided the information. It turned out I had been here once before.

After completing the formalities and receiving my visitor's pass, they led me in.

“Wait here. I’ll go get him,” another guard said, directing me to a table.

I sat down. Phoenix was looking around. Her usually comforting baby noises did nothing to calm my nerves. I guessed I’d only relax once I saw him.

A few minutes later, the guard approached with a man in silver handcuffs. A memory, or what I thought was a memory, hit me: a man standing outside a house I didn’t recognize, flowers in his hand. He handed them to me, and I smiled, giving him a light peck on the lips.

The memory vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving me breathless and confused. The man in the memory was the same one being led toward me now. I had no doubt this was Kane.

My eyes followed him as he sat down across from me. He turned to the guard, holding out his hands. After the guard removed his handcuffs, he faced me. His eyes were so dark, so similar to Phoenix’s.

“Hello, Thea.”