Bound To My Father’s Foe

Chapter 7

Elaina

My body trembled with adrenaline. My lungs burned from exhaustion, but at the same time, a chaotic mixture of fear and disbelief washed over me. The pull is undeniable, involuntarily calling me towards something I don’t yet understand.

Or maybe he’s something I didn’t want to understand.

My insides flicker with rage as a clip of memory flashed before my eyes. His eyes, green and piercing like glorious emeralds. His touch, goddess, I could still feel my body tingle whenever I flash back to that moment.

Damn it. I should only hate this man—that bastard intruder—for ruining my life. Why can’t I get hold of myself by just thinking of him?

“Because he’s our mate,” my wolf grumbles in my mind. For a moment there I had forgotten she’s living rent free in my head.

“Well he won’t be anymore if I reject him first, would he?”

My wolf gasped, unable to believe that I’d even have such a thought. But before she could protest, I felt Raven’s tiny body clutch my leg, her huge eyes glaring fearfully up at me.

“Mama?” She called, her voice shaking with fear. “Are we going to die?”

My heart clenched as it suddenly dawned on me. We have just ditched our only home—that which my pups have grown accustomed to—and now we were standing in the middle of nowhere with absolutely nothing. Mentally putting myself in her shoes, it was terrifying for a five years old pup to be in this situation.

I snuggled her closer to me, breathing in her strawberry scent. “No no no, baby, that would never happen. I will never let anything happen to you and your brother.” I said with the hope that she’d be slightly comforted, but I’m wrong.

“What about papa Orloff?” Raven goes on to ask, but before I could think of a response, something catches the corner of my eyes.

I whipped around to see that we’ve had a silent companion all along, wielding a huge heavy-looking blade. “I wouldn’t be quick to make such promises if I were you,” the figure stepped out from behind a tree.

A startled growl escaped me, and instinctively, I positioned myself between the stranger and my pups.

“You are stepping on hybrid soil,” the stranger announced—like I didn't already know that information—as he slowly stalked. “I’m the protector of this section of the border, and my job is to keep creatures like you out. Dead or alive.”

“Creatures?” I blurted before I could stop myself.

He shrugged, “isn’t that what you one blooded wolves are?” He scanned my entire frame with a scorned expression, then his eyes landed on the trembling pups behind me.

He shook his head, “I’d be disappointed if these kids are an abomination just like their mother.”

Red flashed across my eyes. It was at this moment that I realized my pups can be a source for pure undiluted rage. How dare he call them such?

Blinded with a mixture of rage and love for my kids, I charged at the stranger. Fast. And only one instruction rang in my head—-rip him to shreds no matter how many armor he has on.

But something else was faster than my deadly attack. I was only a few feet away from clawing at him when something whistled through the air.

A flash of needle made firm contact with my neck, and something warm spread into my bloodstream. I let out a growl mixed with whines, and in the next second my limbs gave out.

My body collapsed in front of the stranger. The cold of the ground assaulted my skin as my wolf was instantly hurled back into the recess of my mind. Furs vanished from all over me, leaving me naked and vulnerable as I shrank into human form.

What in the goddess name was in that needle?

“Raven….Ryker. Don’t touch—”

My words trailed off, and I was forced to watch in regret as two other figures seized my babies. My attempts to fight the effects of the sedative failed woefully, and just like that, I was swallowed by darkness.

************

My body refused to move. The world around me swayed in a blur of dull colors and distant sounds. My eyelids fluttered open, but the lights above me stabbed my eyes like knives. My head hurts. My throat was dry, and my limbs felt totally numb.

The moment I came to, I was greeted with the sound of whispering voices walking into the room. A man and a woman. But I was quick to shut my eyes and pretend I was still unconscious.

“We can’t keep hiding forever, Troy,” the female’s voice was heavy with worry. “Sooner or later, he has to know.”

“What, are you out of your mind, Monica?” The man whisper-yelled. “Aiden would have our heads and display it to the pack members. It’s bad enough already that I’m speaking to his Luna…”

“His trophy Luna,” the woman corrected.

The man sighed, “trophy Luna or not, does it really matter?” He paused for a moment, and when the woman didn't answer, he continued. “The fact remains that you’re his, and it’s an act of treason for us to be together.”

My head was well propped onto a pillow so it was a bit easy for me to peek and catch a glimpse of the woman, who at this point was shaking her head regrettably.

The woman’s skin looked smooth like caramel under the silk emerald dress she donned. The way her hair was elegantly styled and packaged, there was no doubt that she’s of royalty. Maybe not just any royalty—their Alpha’s Luna. A queen. A painful reminder of the life I once had.

The tang of emotion that struck me at that very moment almost made me wince and give up my cover. A mixed catastrophic sense of jealousy, regret, and longing came crashing down at the center of my chest.

But just as the forbidden lovers argued on, an idea formed in my head. My eyes fluttered open and I looked to my side, a slight smile forming on my lips when I saw what I was hoping to find.

Despite the pain and discomfort that was shooting in my joints, I sprang up with lightning speed and fluid motion, grabbing the sharp metal object from the bedside. However, I was clumsy and I accidentally knocked a tray over.

The clanging sound of the metal tray falling to the ground startled them, ultimately giving me up to be noticed. But before they could even react, I’d crossed the room and grabbed the closest to me—the queen.

Wrapping my elbow around her neck, she choked. The man growls at me, ready to pounce, but doesn’t dare take a step as I now hold a scalpel to his lover’s throat.

“Where are my pups?” I glared, pressing the scalpel tighter on her neck.