The Alpha's Heir Forbidden Mate

Her name changed everything

(Cassian)

Father was behind his desk when I entered his office. The letter from Alpha Roderick was beside him, along with several papers he had been reading. He looked up when I closed the door behind me. I remained near the desk and waited for him to begin.

"Sit." Father pointed toward the chair across from him. "We need to settle this before you embarrass our family in front of Roderick." He didn't look pleased.

I sat because arguing over a chair wasn't worth my time. Father picked up Roderick's letter and placed it in front of me as though seeing it would change my mind. I didn't bother reading it. Nothing Alpha Roderick wrote could make me want Selene.

"Selene would be an excellent Luna." Father folded his hands on the desk. "Her family has connections Blackridge could benefit from." He watched me closely.

"I already gave you my answer." I left the letter where he'd placed it. "I'm not courting Selene." I had nothing else to say about her.

Father stared at me for several seconds. "Then tell me why." He leaned back in his chair. "And don't tell me you simply aren't interested."

I thought about my conversation with Kiara near the kitchen. She'd given me permission to tell him, and I wouldn't hide her now. I had expected this moment to come eventually. I just hadn't expected it to happen this morning.

"I already have a mate." I watched father's face. "That's why there will never be anything between Selene and me." I waited for his response.

Father didn't speak right away. His eyes narrowed as he studied me, and his fingers moved away from the papers. Whatever answer he'd expected, that clearly wasn't it. Ronan became alert inside me.

"Who?" Father asked. "Who is she?" His attention never left me.

I knew everything could change once I answered. Kiara had lived under father's control since she was five, and I'd seen how he treated any challenge involving her. Still, she wasn't something for me to be ashamed of. I wouldn't speak her name like it was a problem.

"Kiara Vale." I sat straighter in the chair. "She's my mate." The words felt good to say openly.

Father's reaction came at once. He stood so quickly that his chair struck the wall behind him. The papers beneath his hand scattered across the desk. For several seconds, he simply stared at me.

"No." Father came around the desk. "Absolutely not." His face had changed in a way I hadn't expected.

I had prepared myself for anger about Kiara being a servant. I expected him to talk about rank, alliances, and what Blackridge needed from its future Luna. Instead, he looked disturbed by her name itself. That bothered me more than his refusal.

"You don't get to say no." I remained seated. "The bond already exists." I wasn't asking his permission.

Father stopped in front of the desk. "You will stay away from her." His eyes stayed on me. "This ends now."

Ronan reacted inside me, but I kept control. Father had always been demanding, especially when it came to my future as Alpha. This was different from anything I'd seen before. He wasn't trying to convince me that Selene was better.

"You knew this could happen." I stood and faced him. "Kiara has lived in Blackridge for thirteen years." There was no reason her being my mate should cause this much alarm.

Father turned away from me and walked toward the window. His reaction made another thought enter my mind. Lysander had told me how strangely father behaved whenever Silvercrest was mentioned. Now Kiara's full name had caused the same thing.

"What does her being a Vale have to do with this?" I asked. "Why does her family matter to you?" I wanted an answer.

Father turned back toward me. "Her family has nothing to do with it." He returned to his desk. "She's a servant with no pack and no standing."

That explanation should have sounded like the father I knew. Rank mattered to him, and so did the future of Blackridge. But it came too late. I'd already seen his first reaction.

"Then why did you react before I said anything about making her Luna?" I asked. "I only told you she's my mate." I watched him carefully.

Father's eyes changed. "Don't question me as though I'm one of your warriors." He moved behind his desk again. "I know what is best for this pack."

I didn't care for the warning. He had spent my entire life preparing me to become Alpha, which meant I had every right to question decisions that would eventually affect me. More importantly, this involved Kiara. I wasn't leaving without understanding what had just happened.

"Did you know her father?" I asked. "Garrick Vale." I remembered Kiara telling me father recognized her name when she arrived.

Father went still for a second. "I knew of him." He picked up the scattered papers. "That doesn't matter anymore."

It mattered to me. Father had known who Kiara was from the night she entered Blackridge, yet he'd made her a servant instead of helping her after her family died. Now he wanted me away from her before we'd even discussed what the bond meant. There was something he wasn't telling me.

"What happened between you and Silvercrest?" I asked. "Lysander remembers how you reacted whenever anyone mentioned that pack." I wasn't going to ignore the connection.

Father looked up immediately. "You've been discussing Silvercrest with Lysander?" He put the papers down again. "Both of you need to leave the past where it belongs."

His response gave me more questions instead of answers. If there was nothing important about Silvercrest, he shouldn't care whether Lysander and I discussed it. Father was trying to end the conversation each time I got close to Kiara's past. I could no longer believe that was a coincidence.

"Kiara is my mate." I stepped away from the desk. "Whatever happened to Silvercrest doesn't change that." I wouldn't allow him to turn her history into a reason to reject her.

"You have no idea what you're getting involved in." Father looked at me. "Stay away from Kiara until I decide how this will be handled." His words only confirmed that there was more to this.

I stared at him before turning toward the door. He'd told me Kiara had no standing, but that wasn't what had frightened him when I said her name. Something about Kiara Vale mattered to my father far more than he wanted me to know. And now I intended to find out what it was.