When Paradox went downstairs he was surprised to find his father in the living room with his mother. Paradox’s father—Richard Feign—was in the army, meaning he traveled a lot for his work. He was supposed to be down in San Diego for at least a month but somehow he was back at the Feigns’ house despite being in San Diego for only two weeks. When Richard saw his son, he immediately went to him and pulled him into a tight hug, once more surprising Paradox. Richard wasn’t necessarily a touchy-touchy type of guy. He did high-fives, fistbumps, and the occasional side hug. He didn’t do a full hug, which was what he was doing with Paradox right now.

“Dad?” Paradox said, confused.

Richard was hugging him tight as he said in a raspy voice, “You know I love you, son, right?”

Paradox was taken aback. This was unlike his dad. His dad rarely got emotional—in fact, Paradox wasn’t even sure he ever saw his dad cry. Paradox managed to say, “I know, Dad. I love you, too,” and this caused Richard to break down into tears.

Kami, who was in the living room, was fighting back tears of her own. She had her hand over her mouth as her shoulders shook from repressed sobs. She came toward her husband and Paradox, and then she joined the hug, hugging Paradox tight.

Paradox was now openly crying. He hated crying. He made him feel vulnerable and he hated that. But this was too much. It was his fault, after all, for being caught up in the lust of a Lycanthrope and being Marked. Now he was going to be taken away because of his ill-made choice.

“I’m sorry,” Paradox sobbed.

“My love, it’s okay,” Kami whispered.

“But I fucked up,” Paradox said, looking at his parents. “I just…”

“We all fuck up sometimes,” Richard said, giving Paradox a sad smile. He ruffled Paradox’s hair. “You’re almost an adult, son. As long as you’re safe, healthy, secure, stable—I mean, you’ll be okay, y’know? Just…be careful. There’s nothing your mom and I can do now. It happened and…well, I’m not mad. Kami, are you mad?” Richard faced his wife.

Kami shook her head, wiping her tears away. “No, no. I can’t…I just. It was stupid, Paradox, you do realize that, right? For a one-night chance, you bedded with a Lycan and became Marked. Now you have become his pet, his toy, his…thing for pleasure. I don’t know if there are even good Lycans out there. Perhaps, by some chance, you met a decent Lycan. But who knows? He’s still a beast, a-a creature with supernatural qualities. I just…well. I’m not mad. I’m…hurt.” Kami shrugged.

Richard gave off a short laugh as he said, “It was a simple yes or no question, dear. I thought you said you weren’t going to lecture him.”

“It’s fine,” Paradox said, giving his mom a smile. “I get it.”

“So,” Richard said, crossing his arms over his chest, “you’re gay?”

Paradox felt his face flushed. He knew for years that he was gay—probably when he was around eleven or twelve. However, he never told his parents about his sexuality, but they never assume anything of it. When they asked if he was interested in dating, they tended to focus on neutral pronouns of “they/them” rather than “she/her”. Paradox had never hinted that he was gay, nor did he “seem” gay, as stereotypical as it sounded.

Kami laced her fingers with her husband’s as she said to him, “You’re telling me you never realized, Richie?”

“Realized? How? The boy appears more ace than gay!” Richard laughed.

Kami shook her head, smiling fondly. She looked at Paradox and said, “You remember Lyke, right?”

Paradox tilted his head in question. He did remember Lyke. Lyke was a former classmate of Paradox during middle school up until sophomore year. Lyke was very flirtatious—he shamelessly flirted with the boys, trying to get their attention. Paradox and Lyke were somewhat friends during eighth grade to sophomore year before Lyke’s parents sent him off to a boarding school. Lyke had hit on Paradox multiple times, but Paradox, unsure, hesitant, shy, and horrified, would be a blushing mess in the end.

“You were constantly blushing around him. It was cute. I mean, there were times where girls went up to you and like, what, tried flirting, but you were so cold. I knew you liked boys, but I just waited for you to be ready to come out yourself.” Kami said.

“Well, look at that,” Richard said. “Our boy’s gay.” He shrugged. “So you rather get smashed than smash—”

“Dad!” Paradox blurted out, aghast by his father’s response.

Richard and Kami were laughing but they quickly sobered up. Kami then sighed and said, “Well, I made breakfast. We should…we should eat, you know?” Kami had a sad smile on her lips.

Paradox nodded. As much as he wanted to talk to his parents, to apologize, to explain his reasons for sleeping with a Lycan, he was hungry.

The three of them went to the table where pancakes, waffles, hashbrown, scrambled eggs, bacon strips, fresh fruits, a bottle of syrup, and a can of whipped cream was set up.

“Let’s eat,” Kami said, sitting down, smiling at her husband and Paradox.

Paradox didn’t need to be told twice: the moment he sat down, he began eating. Not realizing how famished he was, he managed to eat everything on his plate rapidly and was beginning to eat seconds. This caused his parents to smile at him, but the smile was hard to read. It wasn’t sad nor happy, perhaps something around the lines of wistfulness.

Breakfast was quiet. It wasn’t abnormal for breakfast to be quiet, but today felt different. It was a straining silence, an uncomfortable silence. Paradox wanted to talk to his parents but found no words to say. He was unsure what would be uncomfortable to tell his parents, or how they would respond.

It was Richard who broke the silence in the end with a heaving sigh. He put his hands on the table and said, “Paradox.”

“Yeah?” Paradox asked. He sipped his orange juice, eyeing both of his parents.

“How long have you been going to Byd Cyntaf?” Richard asked. His expression was unreadable, hazel eyes dark.

“Twice,” Paradox answered.

“Twice?” Kami said, disbelief on her face. “Just…twice?”

Paradox nodded. He began fiddling with his fork. He was slowly worried about what his parents were going to say about Cyrus. A one-night stand with a stranger—a Lycan stranger.

“How did you…Daemin, how did you meet him?” Kami said.

Paradox exhaled sharply, letting go of his fork and leaning back into the chair. His cheeks were on fire as he saw his parents’ distressed stares. He drummed his fingers on the table before finally saying in a mutter, “Was a one-night stand.”

“Okay, so when I said one-night, I didn’t realize it was actually a one-night.” Kami said, frowning. “You met the Lycan that night and…” She hesitated, brows furrowed. “And you…”

“Had sex,” Richard chimed in.

Paradox chewed his lower lip, nodding slowly. He focused on his empty plate, not wanting to meet his parents’ stares. He saw the disappointment, the concern, the pain in their faces, and he didn’t want to see it. It hurt him.

“Was it…was it at least…protected?” Kami asked.

Paradox rubbed his arms with his hands. He gave a useless shrug.

“Paradox, we’re not mad. We just…we’re worried, son.” Richard said. “We have, what, five hours before you leave us. We just…” Paradox’s father’s voice trailed off.

“It-it wasn’t—wasn’t…” Paradox began nervously.

Kami sighed. “At any given point, did he force you?”

Paradox shook his head stiffly. He wanted to do it, which he somewhat regrets to some degree. It had to be Cyrus’s pheromones that was fucking with his head, turning him on, getting his hormones to speed run throughout his body.

“I’m sorry,” Paradox started, but Kami cut him off:

“Stop apologizing, Paradox. It’s…okay.” Kami looked at Richard who had a slight smile on his lips.

“Hey,” Richard said, “so long the Lycan’s a good guy, I suppose it’s okay. I don’t know. Haven’t seen the guy.” He shrugged.

“He’s…okay.” Paradox said. “I don’t. He-he’s nice. Patient. Um…gentle. But uh…then again, I don’t…I don’t really know him. Ha…it just—it was just for one night.” He began fiddling with his shirt, wringing it around his finger and unwinding it.

“How did you find out about the Lycan World?” Kami asked.

Paradox looked sharply at his mother. Her green eyes were filled with curious worry that it pained Paradox. He didn’t want to lie to his mother, but then again, he didn’t want to out Caravel. Caravel was his best friend. Sure, the guy didn’t make the brightest choices, hence he was Marked by a Hybrid, but then again, Paradox ended up getting himself Marked by a Lycan.

When Kami noticed Paradox’s hesitation, she said, “Caravel, huh?”

“He just—” Paradox began, readying to defend his friend, but Kami was faster:

“I’m not mad at him nor you. Sure, it’s also my fault for letting you two go to Lumen Lunae. I didn’t fathom it would lead to you…to you…” Kami struggled to form the words, but Paradox knew what she was trying to say.

“I’m sorry,” Paradox found himself saying again. “I fucked up.”

Kami had a faint smile on her lips. “I wish you would stop swearing, Paradox.” She said.

Paradox blinked, and then started, “O-oh. Oh my god, oh sh—uh, shoot. I didn’t realize…I just…” He fumbled over his words, which made his parents laugh.

“Son,” Richard said. “You’re okay. You know…since we all finished eating, how ‘bout we play a game, hm? Like a board game or something. As a family. While…we’re all here, you know?” Richard’s voice broke slightly but he managed to clear his throat and have a smile.

“I’m fine with that,” Kami said, looking at Paradox.

Paradox nodded. Might as well do something fun and mind-numbing to forget what was to come. Watching his father clear the table and his mother going to the closet where they kept the board games, Paradox couldn’t help but feel wistful about the situation. It was his fault for bedding with a Lycan. He had no choice but to be with Cyrus now. However, seeing both of his parents, seeing them laugh and smile, Paradox was wishing he had never gone to Dodencel. He wasn’t ready to leave his parents. There was so much to do with them, yet he was leaving them not by choice. He loved his parents, and his parents loved him. They were a happy family, a good family, and it was going to be broken because of him.

More than anything, he didn’t want to leave his life behind. He had Caravel, he had school friends, he had senior year to look forward to—he still had so much to do in his life before college, but now it was all coming to an end. College, what had felt so close, was now a forgotten dream. All his hopes of going to college, majoring in forensics, graduating, finding love, getting married, starting a family—all of that went up in flames.

He was now praying silently, praying that he could still have a life, by some chance, some fate, some alignment of the stars. But he knew, even if the stars went out tonight, there was no turning back. He made a grave mistake that now cost him his life. He must pay it with his life and expect to be in good hands.

It was a choice, a stupid, foolish, ill-made choice, but nevertheless, a choice. He saw it and seized it and now the world was on fire.

Paradox spent the next four hours with his parents, playing different board games, listening to music, talking, laughing, and enjoying the moment knowing that this probably would be the last time he spent with them.

And when the doorbell rang at exactly 12:00 pm, Paradox wasn’t ready. Cyrus was at the door, waiting patiently. His eyes of ice and fire were cool and calculative; he watched Kami and Richard carefully, arms crossed over his chest.

“He’s in good hands,” Cyrus reassured Paradox’s parents. “Isn’t that right, kid?” He asked Paradox.

Paradox didn’t know what to say.

“Is there anyway—” Kami started, but Cyrus cut her off coldly:

“I told you, Mrs. Feign: I choose when he gets to see you. If the next time he sees you is in twenty years, so be it. He will see you and your husband, don’t worry about that, but don’t count on it being any time soon.” Cyrus clapped his hand on Paradox’s shoulder, fingers digging into the flesh.

Kami deflated, a low whimper in her throat. She looked at Richard who had his jaw set, eyes set on the ground.

“I-I’ll be okay,” Paradox said. “I love you both. I—I’ll figure out how—if—when I can see you guys. I love you, Mom, Dad.”

“I love you, Paradox,” Kami said, hugging Paradox tight. “Be a good boy, okay? Make good decisions.”

“I love you, Paradox,” Richard said softly, hugging Paradox after Kami. “You got this, okay?”

When the door closed on his parents, that was when Paradox broke down crying.