Bound By My Ex’s Alpha Father

Chapter 4

Iris’s POV

I don’t know why I thought it was a good idea to come back to Gravefang Pack after Liora called me about Ruth’s death. She’d been sick for a long time and I’d called her once a few months ago to ask how she was doing. Ruth had been so happy to finally hear from me, her voice warm despite the weakness in it.

I’d cut off contact with everyone except Liora for four good years, my parents included. I felt like I needed time for myself without going through the questions they would no doubt ask.

I haven’t told anyone that Theo was my mate and rejected me. Not even Liora knows the full truth cause she just thinks I left because I couldn’t shift and needed a fresh start. I feel like there’s no use dragging it all up now. It would only ruin the relationships everyone has and I don’t want that.

I’m sure Theo hasn’t told anyone either or they would have asked when Liora and I reconnected.

Those years in the human world changed my perspective on everything. When I decided to become a street racer and bought my first car with my trust fund money, I knew it was the best decision I’d made. There was good money in underground racing if you were skilled enough. And I was very very skilled.

Ruth’s death hit me harder than I expected. Guilt drove me to pack a bag, slide into my custom black Porsche and make the long drive from the racing circuit back to Grave City. I didn’t plan to stay long just mourn for a bit, pay my respects maybe see my parents and then get back on the road.

But sitting here facing a half-naked Alpha Thorne is making me question every decision I’ve made. Why does he look so f*****g hot?

I shouldn’t be staring at him like this. Aeris shouldn’t be practically purring with lust in my head but I’m a lost cause. Something is happening and I don’t understand what.

It feels like four years ago when he hugged me after Theo rejected me. There was a pull I felt then as we stood in each other’s embrace. I felt it again earlier when he pulled me into his arms though I’m sure he was just drunk.

Theo looks more like Ruth than he does Alpha Thorne which is probably why I never noticed how devastatingly attractive the Alpha is. Even in my younger days, his appeal never escaped me though I’d buried those inappropriate thoughts deep.

A masculine presence, he stands broad and towering at six feet seven, exuding a rugged charm that only time has refined. His thick black hair is threaded with just a hint of silver at the temples framing a face.

But it’s those icy blue eyes that remain timeless, effortlessly dominating any room he enters. At forty, he possesses a magnetic appeal that only deepens with age. I don’t know why I find his age oddly appealing. Maybe it’s the experience behind those knowing eyes? The confidence? The way he carries himself like he owns the world?

I haven’t seen Theo and I don’t want to. But I saw Liora at the graveyard crying with tissues clutched in her hands. She’s grown taller (easily over six feet now) and more beautiful, her modeling career clearly suiting her. I’ve missed my best friend so much.

She’s been visiting me every few months in whatever city I’m racing in keeping me connected to the one good thing about Gravefang Pack.

My eyes lower to my hands clenching the fabric of my jeans and that’s when I realize I’m crushing on my best friend’s father. My Alpha. My father’s close friend.

This is horrible but it’s something I have no control over.

I swallow thickly embarrassment heating my cheeks. I need to leave. This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here but Aeris’s suddenly stopped her restless pacing in my head and sat completely still. Then she growled all deep and possessive.

“MATE!”

My eyes snapped up to find Alpha Thorne staring at me his icy blue eyes shifting to molten gold that was his wolf’s eyes. Oh god. He feels it too. For a long moment neither of us moved. The air between us crackled with tension.

I was at the door before I could even think things through. Having crush is different but mates? This is wild.

“Don’t go,” I heard him say say then added. “Iris, please. We need to talk about this.”

My hand was on the doorknob, my whole body trembling.

“I can’t,” I whispered biting in my lower lip. “This is wrong. Today of all days, I cant-“

“Just stay,” he said but it was softer this time. “Please. I know the timing is terrible. I know this is complicated but don’t run.”

I hesitated though but then my hand slowly lowered because this is not something I can avoid just like that.

“This can’t be happening,” he said his voice rough.

“I know,” I whispered.

“My wife was just buried today.”

“I know.”

“We can forget this whole thing.” I suggest though it sounds lame even to me.

He laughed but there was no humor in it. “I don’t think either of us is going to forget this, Iris.”

He was right. The bond was there now humming between us like a live wire.

“Sit down,” he said finally gesturing to the chair. “You came here for a reason. You said you found a lump?”

I blinked, surprised he was still thinking about that. “I -yes. But it can wait or I’ll see another doctor. You’re grieving and this is a”

“Sit. Down.” It wasn’t a request. “Doctor’s orders.”

So I sat. He moved around his desk and poured two glasses of whiskey sliding one across to me.

“Drink. We both need it.”

I took the glass, our fingers brushing and the contact sent electricity shooting up my arm. From the way his jaw clenched, he felt it too. We drank in silence. One glass became two then it became three and countless.

“This is insane,” he muttered pouring us both a fourth. “You’re half my age.”

“Twenty-two is not half of forty,” I pointed out the alcohol making me bolder.

“Close enough.” But he was looking at me differently now, his eyes tracking over my tattoos, my piercings and the strip of skin showing between my jeans and crop top. “When did you become this?”

“When I stopped trying to be what everyone else wanted me to be.”

He made a sound low in his throat that I felt in my core. “And the racing?”

“How did you know?”

“Liora talks about you. Shows me pictures sometimes.” He took another drink. “Says her best friend is tearing up the underground circuit. Making a name for yourself.”

“Are you disappointed?” I asked not sure why I cared.

“No.” His eyes met mine so intense and heated. “I’m impressed. Terrified for your safety. But very impressed.”

The whiskey was making everything fuzzy and warm. The bond between us was growing stronger with each passing moment pulling us toward each other like gravity.

“About that lump,” he said his voice dropping lower. “I should examine you. Make sure it’s nothing serious.”

“Now?” My voice came out breathier than I intended.

“Unless you want to wait until we’re both sober. But given what we just discovered…” He trailed off his meaning clear.

If we waited until we were sober, the guilt and inappropriateness of this would stop us. Right now we were both drunk and raw and connected by a bond neither of us asked for, we had an excuse.

“Okay,” I heard myself say. “Examine me.”

His eyes darkened. “Come here.”

I stood on shaky legs and walked around the desk. He gestured to the examination table against the wall like standard in a doctor’s office.

“Lie down,” he said roughly as. I did.

He stood over me all professional despite the alcohol and flaring bond. “Show me where.”

With trembling fingers, I lifted the hem of my crop top exposing my breasts. His sharp intake of breath was audible.

“Here,” I whispered guiding his hand to the spot.

His fingers were warm and gentle but professional as he examined me. But there was nothing professional about the way we were both breathing and the way the mate bond was singing between us.

“I don’t feel anything concerning,” he said his voice strained. “It might have been a swollen lymph node that’s gone down. But you’re fine. You’re -” His hand was still on my breast his thumb accidentally brushing my n****e.

I gasped.

“f**k,” he breathed. “Iris, we shouldn’t- ”

“I know,” I whispered. “But I don’t care. Do you?”

For a moment he just stared at me, conflict raging in those ice-blue eyes. Then he growled and crashed his mouth to mine.

The kiss was explosive and desperate, fueled by whiskey and grief amd a bond that had been suppressed for too long. His hands were everywhere and mine were pulling at his sweatpants and nothing mattered except this. The feeling of finally finally beinh wanted.

“Mate!” He growled against my throat before his teeth sank into my neck.

The marking was instant and possessive and I just let it happen.