Page 61 of Bound to Four Alphas

“Stupid fucking omega,” Damien snarled. “If you were my mate, I would grind you into submission!”

“But you’re not her mate,” said Phaendar, his voice detached, “and so we have to do things the hard way. Honestly, how difficult is it to follow simple instructions?”

“I didn’t get there fast enough, it was Ronan and his fucking wolves. They’ve been guarding the border like mangey hounds desperate for a bone. By the time I got past they’d taken her!”

“What are you talking about?” Selena said, unable to keep the quiver from her voice.

Phaendar glared at her, but Damien released a high, mocking laugh, “Did you really think the humans came up with the idea to sacrifice you? I ordered it.”

Her blood ran cold. “But you said you punished them, killed them for breaking the law!”

“I killed them,” said Damien through gritted teeth, his face coated in blood, “because they couldn’t follow simple fucking instructions and took you into the woods an hour too early.”

No. No, that couldn’t be, right?

But she remembered the sacrifice as clearly as if it was yesterday. The men had been so clear about their instructions, so scared of the first. If they had truly wanted her gone, why not just kill her in her cottage, or else force her to mate?

“Why?” she whispered, but the horrible truth was beginning to dawn on her.

“Your magic needed to be awoken. And for that, you had to be handed to the forest,” Phaendar replied, looking with distaste over at Damien. “Once that had happened, Damien was supposed to find you and mate you.”

Anger bloomed in her chest. She wasn’t some animal to be captured, bound, and bred. “Why didn’t you just do it yourself?” she hissed at Phaendar.

The Fae grimaced, and glanced over to Damien, who waved the crown in the air, “Because he needed this,” said the prince, “the crown of the Forest God. Left as an object of power when he abandoned his throne and slunk away from his duties.And yes, it is indeed powerful, but not nearly as powerful as the chosen vessel of the Forest God’s magic.”

Chosen vessel? Surely, he couldn’t mean…

“A daughter,” Phaendar said simply. “An omega, born from a mating bond with a human. The last action of a dying God to preserve his power, leave it safe and slumbering until it was time.”

And just like that, the mystery of her life clicked into place.

Why her mother never revealed the alpha who had left her alone and with child.

The magic buried within her.

Why the villagers called her a witch, sensing the difference in her very being and fearing it.

Why four of the most powerful alphas in the realm had bonded to her.

“I’m the daughter of the Forest God?” she breathed, unable to speak louder than a whisper.

“And you could have been a God yourself, if you so chose,” said Phaendar, “Alas, I have other plans for that power.”

“We have other plans,” interrupted Damien, narrowing his eyes at Phaendar. “You need the crown to contain the magic you take from her. And you can’t have the crown unless I give it to you. And I won’t give it to you unless you honor the terms of your vow.”

“Don’t remind me,” hissed Phaendar. “Caeda will be your mate. I will owe blood loyalty to you, and you to me.”

“And I claim the western territories, and you expand your eastern borders,” replied Damien. “We both get what we want.”

Selena ignored them, ignored the clear animosity between the males, the spike of tension in the air. Let them fight it out, she didn’t care. They could rip each other to pieces; it would be doing her a favor.

Tears welled in her eyes, her throat growing thick. She had had a father. One who hadn’t abandoned her like she had thought. He had died. After bonding to her mother.

Perhaps that was what had killed her in the end. The death of her mate.

She wondered what it might have been like if he had lived. Could he have taken on a human form? Helped raise her? Lived as an alpha and teach her his history? Taught her about the power inside of her?

But no. Of course not. He had been dying, and sacrificed the last of his power to an unborn child in the hopes that one day, she would bring peace.

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