Page 5 of Bound By My Alpha Mate

“She wasn’t just any wolf shifter.”

David’s eyes narrowed to slits. He took a step closer, his presence imposing. I wanted to back up, but I held my ground before my father. “Do we know her?”

“In a way.” My fists balled up. “I believe she’s Muriel Vale’s daughter. She’s a white wolf with a unicorn horn.”

My father’s eyes widened at that. His brows rose up over his forehead before his nose wrinkled in a look of snide amusement. “Is that so?”

I nodded.

“You’re telling me that not only do we have Muriel Vale in our possession, but we have her daughter—a shifter possessing another unicorn horn—right on our doorstep? Things are turning out far better than I anticipated,” David said slowly.

He wasn’t as shocked as I thought he’d be. I would have argued that things weren’t exactly turning out great, but all that mattered to my father was getting our hands on a unicorn horn, so I supposed “far better than anticipated” was subjective.

“And you say you found her?”

“I came across her after she’d escaped the dragons. She was in the creek.”

“And?”

David was expecting me to tell him I’d caught her. I averted my eyes when I responded. “She fled before I could get too close.”

I didn’t see it, but I heard his frustration in a grunt. “Idiot boy.” The insult stung me. Then, he laughed dully under his breath. “No matter. I expected Kiara would follow her mother here. Now that I know she’s within reach, we can be more tactical about capturing her.”

“She’s more dangerous than you’d think,” I warned. “She impaled a dragon and killed him. I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about it when the Inkscales return.”

“Did she?” he laughed. “A unicorn hybrid, slaughtering my dragons?”

They aren’t your dragons, I wanted to tell him.

David’s laughter continued, gaining body and strength. “That’s funny. I suppose we’d better catch her quickly before she poisons herself, trying to fight back.”

“I can search for her again this evening,” I offered.

“Yes. You will. But I want you to go with the Inkscales,” my father said. “I can’t have you getting impaled, too.”

“Okay.”

David had begun pacing, rubbing his beard and turning his attention to some papers strewn on a folding table that had been set up in the room. The lantern light passed over him from different angles, highlighting his grubby appearance. He was a far cry from the polished man he used to be, just a couple of months ago. Machinations were unfolding in his mind—I could see it happening. But when he erratically came toward me, I didn’t expect him to reach out and grab my jaw, pulling me closer. “You are not to say anything about Kiara’s presence to anyone,” he growled. “Do you understand?”

“Lothair’s going to find out from the dragons,” I said.

“I’m not worried about Lothair. I’m more worried about the mutts in Grandbay and Eastpeak.”

My stomach soured. “You don’t still think I’m trying to talk to Aislin and Billie…”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” snarled David. He threw my head to the side, wrenching my body.

Staggering, I forced myself to stand upright and refrained from rubbing my jaw, where I could still feel the intensity of my father’s grip. “I’m not in contact with them. After what happened at the Mundy house, they have no reason to trust anything I say. Why would I waste my time on them?”

“Because you’re a sentimental fool, Colt. Don’t think I don’t know my own son.”

“I want nothing to do with them.”

David scoffed. “Good. You know what will happen if I catch you communicating with them.”

He would kill me. It wasn’t the first time he’d threatened me.

When my father marched over to me again, my body stiffened, expecting another strike. But he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Let’s save time and inform Lothair of what you saw, shall we?”

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