Page 12 of Alpha's Forbidden Bond

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” said Sarafina, throwing daggers at her brother across the table with her eyes. “I spoke to Dad this morning, and he said he was really enjoying himself so far. I really think Becc is just trying to make life hard on all of us because he’s perhaps a little bored.”

“There’s that patronizing attitude of yours,” Becc said. “And here I was worried you might’ve left it back home, but now, you brought it along. How fun for me.”

“You’re calling me patronizing.” She scoffed. “That’s rich.”

Becc shook his head in response and went back to eating. Mikeal, meanwhile, still hadn’t said a word. The sibling tension at that table was building by the second, and I feared what might happen if we didn’t wrap up our meal as soon as possible. I ate quickly, then excused myself to get everyone refills of water, and was delighted when I came back into the dining room and found only Sarafina sitting at the table.

“My brother got a phone call,” she said. “He took it outside and I think it’s probably safe to assume he won’t be returning after he’s done. I’m not exactly sure where Mikeal ran off to. He made some excuse about throwing away an old tire or something, and then was gone.”

I laughed. “Honestly, I’m relieved. I wasn’t sure where things were going with the four of us, but I know it was nowhere good.”

“Same here.” She sat back in her chair with a sigh. “I’m sorry about Becc by the way. I fear I will be apologizing for him a lot while the pack is staying here. I wish I could say that he isn’t usually like this, but that’s not true. He’s been like this since we were kids.”

“It’s okay. I understand where he’s coming from. He wants to do what’s best for his pack, and so do I. I just have to find a way to get him to trust me. That’s why I think I will go into town tomorrow and get some new beds—as a gesture of goodwill.”

“You’ll be feeding right into his ego,” she warned me. “And in a way, admitting that the accommodations you prepared for us aren’t up to his standards, even though they absolutely are.”

“But if it makes him happy, what’s the harm? Maybe if he’s getting better sleep, he will be better company the next time we all sit down to eat together.”

“I doubt it. Besides, he’s not going to stop at the beds either. If he thinks he can get more out of you, he will.”

“Then let him. What do I care? I’ll throw around a little bit of money to appease your brother if it means that the union of our two packs goes smoothly. What’s most important right now is building our packs back to their former glory. We need numbers now more than ever before.”

She furrowed her brow. “What does that mean? Is there a threat I’m not aware of?”

“There are always threats. Just today, someone drove right up to our property like it was nothing.”

“Does that happen often?”

“No,” I said. “But this incident was unusual. The woman said it was an accident, but she would’ve passed at least two different private property signs on her way. I don’t know how she could’ve missed them unless she’s actually blind, and I just didn’t notice.”

“I don’t think she could drive if she were blind.”

We shared a stunted laugh, and I went on. “Yes, well, she had my brother fooled, but not me. After lunch, I’m going to track down Nira, our head of compound security, and make sure we’ve got a good group of people patrolling the perimeter tonight, just in case the woman comes back after dark.”

Sarafina smiled, but I could see a bit of worry behind her eyes. “That’s probably for the best.”

“But I don’t want you to be afraid,” I quickly added. “We’ve never been attacked here on the compound, and nobody in town has any reason to suspect what really goes on here. They might think we’re a cult or what have you, but those rumors generally work in our favor. If the townies think we are this scary, Satan-worshiping religious sect or whatever, then they stay away out of fear.”

“If you say so.” She folded her napkin and started to get up from her chair and pursed her lips.

“You seem unconvinced.”

“It’s just that I’ve heard stories. You know about the incident on the compound down in Alabama, don’t you?”

I furrowed my brow. “I don’t think so. What happened?”

“Their pack ended up being raided by a documentary film crew. Apparently, the rumors about them being some sort of crazy religious fringe group grew to be a little too juicy, and someone decided they wanted the inside scoop. Nobody was caught shifting, thank God, but it was a close call. You gotta be careful with the stories you spread about your own people.”

I would be lying if I said that piece of information didn’t give me pause, but I fought through my nerves and tried to appear confident. “I’ll—uh—keep that in mind. The good news is that this woman didn’t have a camera or anything, and if she comes back again, we’ll be ready to stop her at the far side of the road. That way, she doesn’t stand a chance of seeing anything we don’t want her to.”

Chapter 6

Diana

The delivery went as well as expected, considering I arrived late and was flustered the entire time I spoke to Jan behind the desk. I couldn’t stop thinking about my encounter with those two brothers from the compound, and I had to ask Jan to repeat herself multiple times because my mind had completely wandered off.

When I drove back into town with an empty trunk, I reviewed the entire interaction in my head again. Mikeal was the first person I’d ever met who lived in that part of town, and contrary to what I would’ve expected, he was nothing but nice. More than nice, he was extremely helpful, and the only reason I was able to get out of there without having to call a tow truck. If he hadn’t reminded me so much of my pseudo-brother Leo, I might’ve even thought he was cute.

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