The True Union

Chapter 11 Derrick

Derrick couldn’t believe his ears; she was an alpha heir. He had just finished offering her sanctuary, and now he was going to have to fight like hell to keep his promise. He had to protect her though. Everything in him screamed she was his. He needed to find a way to fix this. He didn’t want a war, but he can’t stand by while her father forces a mating on her. He briefly considered mating her before they leave tomorrow, but it wasn’t fair to her. He refused to let her think she had to mate for anything less than love. But did he love her? It had only been three days since he found her, and she was asleep for all but the last couple of hours. He couldn’t bring himself to call what he was feeling love. It wasn’t rational he couldn’t be in love after this short of time, but he had a deep seeded need to claim her. She had been his since he first saw her beautiful wolf in the woods.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he looked back at Sam. He tried to come up with something to say to make this better, but he didn’t know how she would receive it. “Are you ok, Derrick? You look miserable all of a sudden.” Letting out a sigh, he started, “Are you Samantha Hartly, daughter of Alpha Jacob of the Blood Moon pack?” He watched as the color drained from her face and he got his answer. “Your dad is saying you’ve been kidnapped. All alphas are to meet at the Elder Council to get information on your whereabouts. I’m supposed to fly out there tomorrow with Jared.” He watched as she just nodded as he spoke. Watching as her defiance grew, she looked him straight in the eyes and said, “I’m not going back to mate that pig. I don’t care what the Elder Council has to say about it.”

“Beautiful, I’m not going to make you do anything. The choice of what happens next is yours, and you have options. I’ve already told you, you’re safe in Dark Moon and I meant it. No harm will come to you, unless they want to go through me. I’ll protect you against any threat you face.” Derrick couldn’t believe his own thoughts; he knew what he should do. He couldn’t let the war he’d spent six months trying to stop happen, but if he did anything besides return her, it would. He knew that as sure as he knew his name, but he couldn’t do that to her. Unless she said she wanted to leave, he wasn’t going to let her go. For three days he couldn’t stand her being out of his sights, never mind across the country.

Taking a deep breath, he gave away control and gave her the choice. “These are your options ok. You don’t need to decide immediately, but you are limited on time because I fly out tomorrow. Understand?” When she nodded, he continued. “Option one is the best if you ask me, that is you accompany me to the conference. I’ll escort you in, and you’ll explain to the Elder Council and present alphas what happened and why you ran. However, it is a guarantee your father, his Beta and most likely your older brother will be in attendance. Also, depending on who it is they want you to mate, if he’s an heir, he will also surely be there.” Even thinking about having to be in the same room as the man she was supposed to mate sickened him. “Option two is I go with just Jared and tell them you are in my territory, but they are not welcome to come get you. That will likely result in your father and his strongest warriors coming to forcibly remove you. Which will result in war. Option three is similar except Jared and I lie and say we don’t have any clues about your whereabouts. That’s risky though, because if any news of you being here gets out it will confirm their suspensions of kidnap and, again, it will result in war. Your last option is the most unsafe. You run from my territory. I’ll go to the meeting and tell them we found you, but you were injured in wolf form. We didn’t know who you were for a few days and when you finally woke and shifted back you ran. It would be three days before your father’s trackers could arrive and your scent would probably be gone. However, you would most likely be unable to find sanctuary in another pack for many years.”

He hoped it escaped her notice that there was an option five and six if he was being honest. She could have come to her senses about running away and want to return to her pack, or worse, return to her promised mate. Option four didn’t sit well with him, and it would be almost impossible knowing she was out there alone, but he knew he would find her. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stop his wolf from going after her almost immediately. There were too many dangers out there for a lone wolf. Hell, this started with her being attacked by rouges right outside his territory. These other options, though, made him want to throw up. The thought of her being gone for good terrified him. He’d rather face a war than see her mated off to another wolf. His wolf growled at the thought of another man’s lips on hers, taking what was his.

He watched as she took in her options, seeming to contemplate them carefully. After giving her some time, he continued, “I really do not want to see a war start. I have actually been trying to prevent it for the last six months, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to protect you.” The last thing he ever expected her reaction to be was her bursting out with the loudest, most infectious laugh he’d ever heard. It was so beautiful; he couldn’t help but chuckle. Still, he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out what she found funny in this situation.