Bound to Enemy

7

My eye twitched. It was the fact that he refused to acknowledge the terror he and his father allowed to happen after we begged them for aid. Had they shown their kindness then, maybe, just maybe, my family would be whole.

"There is blood on your hands, Alpha." I spat in his face.

"Your lack of strength in your pack is not my problem, Alessandra."

I gasped at him, my nails dug into the wood of the chair. "You have some nerve saying that when you know what you and your father did to my pack."

"We did what we needed to for our wolves."

I didn't know if it had been the culmination of all that had transpired before we got into the meeting room, or if it was the fact that he blatantly denied his involvement in the m******e of my people. Whatever it was, my wolf seemed to be at her wit's end, and she surged forward, taking part of the control away from me.

I stood up abruptly, the chair behind me falling to the ground with a loud clatter. My claws elongated, as well as my fangs.

I bared my teeth at my fiancé and readied myself to attack.

"Alessandra," my father remained seated behind his desk. He didn't bother to get up from his seat. "Hold yourself, daughter."

His words were merely nothing but background noise in my ears. All my mind could focus on was sinking my teeth into the neck of Daxton Vale.

"Oh, the pup wants to play?" His lips tilted into a smirk, only adding to the raging emotions inside of me. I could see from the look in his eyes he was daring me to do something. He wanted me to take action because then it would provoke him into taking action. "Are you feeling feisty, froggy? Then jump."

I took a step forward, and his beta came into view quickly. He stared me down with a hard look in his eyes.

"Unless you want to die, I suggest that you move, beta."

"I'm protecting my alpha," Elliot crossed his arms over his chest. "Now unless you want to start a war within here, I would suggest that you step back, please. I don't want to have to touch you."

I growled, and my wolf felt challenged by his stubbornness. But even though the anger was pouring into my system, I held her back.

Taking Daxton on, one on one, was like wishing for a death sentence. He was a fully realized alpha and I was only but a fledgling compared to him. However, his beta, on the other hand? I knew I was more powerful than him simply because of the blood that coursed through my veins.

"Ale," this time my father did stand up. I could see him lean over the desk in my peripheral vision. His heated gaze penetrated the side of my skull, willing me to look at him.

The alpha authority in his tone compelled me to submit, but my own pride kept me rooted in my stance.

"Alessandra," this time his authority penetrated right into my skull. My wolf whined and settled to the back of my mind.

I broke my stare-off with Elliot and stepped away from him, trying to give myself enough room to breathe. I turned my head to face my father and inclined it to show my submission to his command.

"That's enough now." He spoke into the thick silence. "Regardless of what has transpired in the past, we are looking to the future now. Daxton and Elliot are our guests and should be treated as such."

"Of course, Alpha." I rarely called my father by his title. And when I did, it usually signified to him that I was upset. I lifted my head and met his gaze. "Forgive me. I let my emotions get the better of me. It won't happen again."

He didn't want to scold me, I could see the conflict reflecting brightly in his eyes. But he also had to show his acceptance of his new son-in-law and the agreement he had garnered.

This was bigger than just me and my emotions. It was about the greater good of all wolf-kind. This alliance was our last Hail Mary in an attempt to keep the traditions and values of our people. I needed to think of the innocents who were depending on me to make this union work. I could not be selfish.

"You will leave with Daxton in the next three days when he is scheduled to return to his home. They will then send their warriors here to help bolster our shields and boundary lines."

"Three days?" My chest tightened. "I thought I had more time."

"The rogues grow stronger by the second, my child. Waiting these three days is all I can offer you."

So I had 72 hours to pack up my entire life and leave the home I had known since birth.

All I knew were the borderlines of Blood Moon. I had never left the lines for 23 years, and the first time I did, it was because I was being banished by my father.

Were my words a little dramatic? Yes. But I could not help but feel so despondent. I had been raised to be this leader who stood up for her pack and faced adversity with courage and bravery. Why did it suddenly feel like all my years of training meant nothing? I was simply being given off to be a bride.

"I understand." I was desperately trying to understand and come to terms with the new reality that I faced. I was trying to keep a level head and remember my pack and her people. This was what being a leader was. It was sacrifice and selflessness. It was to be a servant to those you lead.

And even with all this reasoning in my mind, I still could not help but feel sad. I was losing something, and I deserved the right to mourn it. I had woken up in the morning as the sole heir to the Blood Moon pack. It had only just passed noon, and not only had I had my inheritance ripped from under my feet, but I also had all my freedoms ripped away.

This alliance had barely begun, and I already felt like I had given away a huge piece of myself. I feared how much more of myself I would have to surrender.

This marriage was going to kill me, I just knew it.

CHAPTER 5

DAXTON

B

lood-red eyes stared at me through the dark forest. The wind blew, the coldness scratching the surface of my skin.

'You can't save them, alpha.' An eerie voice rippled through the dark night. 'They will all die and their blood will be on your hands.'

Fury raged within my body. 'Show yourself, you coward!'

I was surrounded by trees, the large trunks swayed with the heavy wind as it howled through the forest.

'They will all die!' The voice echoed through the darkness.

I tried to reach for my wolf, but there was a blockage. I couldn't reach him. It was like there was this massive divide between the two of us.

What the hell was going on?

I looked into the deep darkness of the night and made contact with the blood-red eyes that stared at me. Slowly, the beast emerged from the forest line. Its teeth were bared right at me, and its claws dug into the wet forest floor, creeping toward my direction.

It was much larger in size than I remembered it being.

The rogue alpha.

I came face to face with it once when I was a young man. Now I stood before him again as a full-fledged alpha riddled with bitterness from all he had taken from me.

They had coined him to be the merchant of death, seeking to destroy the natural balance of the wolf world. He perverted the connection between beast and human and sought to control the power that linked us.

He was not only an enemy to me but an enemy to the goddess.