Page 13 of Fated to the Enemy Alpha

I scanned the hall for him. Urgency rang through me as I located his imposing figure in the thick of the crowd. He was engaged and oblivious. It wasn’t too late. If we slipped to the terrace, I could still get her out unharmed.

My wolf’s growl collected within me as he readied to defend his mate. I leaned toward Lina, my hand grazing her arm. My beast’s growl lowered into a contented rumble as my fingertips grazed her soft skin.

But my touch sent her recoiling, a spark flaring in her eyes. “You have no right to interfere in my affairs,” she shot back, her voice sharp and defiant.

Fire burned in those electric blue eyes, but their beautiful incandescence burned me as I absorbed the meaning of her words. I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of my lungs. She was right. I had no right. I’d abandoned any right the moment I failed to intervene on her behalf in her arranged mate ceremony. As far as she was concerned, I’d stood by, prizing my own standing with my father over her needs.

Frustration and regret pulsed through me. In a way, my self-preservation had been her destruction. Except those rogue wolves in the attack I’d orchestrated to make Magnus believe in me had set her free from the arranged mate bond.

Of course, I can never tell her that.

But the slaughter I’d caused, all to solidify Magnus’s trust in me and to save her from my father, was about to be in vain if she didn’t leave.

The defiance on her face, the fierce glint in her eyes, and the authority radiating from her all had my heart racing. It sparked a memory. I’d never been so alive as when I’d made love to her. The night we’d spent together still tormented me in my dreams. I recalled her bossy tone when I’d sank between her legs with torturous clarity. “Move,” she’d commanded, urging me to thrust as she’d bucked up to meet me.

I gritted my jaw, struggling to contain the storm her nearness was unleashing. How could she both infuriate me and send heat through my veins, making me want to abandon all reason and pull her out into the night, where I could silence her defiant mouth with my own?

I opened my mouth to argue, but she cut me off.

“Might I remind you to be more respectful?” Her beautiful lips curled in a taunting smile, and her eyebrow arched in a way that only she could make look so sexy. “After all, I am about to become your stepmother.” Her expression was a mask of audacity, her tone dripping with mockery.

Her words struck me like a blow, a betrayal that cut even deeper than my own self-reproach. I felt as if I’d stumbled into a nightmare instead of the beautiful dream her presence had ignited. The hall, with its glittering chandeliers, swam before my eyes, the very air seeming to vibrate with danger.

Suddenly, she’d pivoted away from me, her movements precise and purposeful, as she headed toward Magnus.

My heart, a violent drum against my ribs, screamed at me to protect her. But my carefully cultivated façade and my position as Magnus’s trusted beta bound me. My gaze tracked her, unable to look away.

Why is she doing this?

I watched as she sauntered up to him, her golden locks gleaming, her lavender dress a whisper of color against the formal black and white décor of the room. Everything about her was poised, from the way she moved to the way she held herself. Her gaze never wavered, and my chest felt like it was going to explode. Then, I saw the moment my father’s attention fell on her, and it took all of my control to master my wolf.

It was only a split second, hardly a blink, but I saw the surprise on Magnus’s face. His face had frozen, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly. Then, with a grace that stunned the room, Lina exclaimed. “Alpha, it’s so good to see you after all this time.” The greeting was designed to present the idea that she’d been invited here and hadn’t just caused the scandal of the year with her surprise return.

My father took her hand, his gaze never leaving hers as he brought her knuckles to his lips. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” he said, a practiced charmer.

A moment later, she smiled, looking up at him with an earnest expression. “It’s good to be home,” she replied, her voice soft yet with a seductiveness that made my blood run cold.

I gripped my glass tighter. I felt an urge to throw it. I didn’t.

The blood in my body started to boil with a mixture of rage mingling with the ferocious protectiveness still flooding me. Why was she flirting with him? Was this some elaborate game of revenge? Was she testing me? Did she really think she could manipulate me, provoke my wolf, and force me to claim her?

Tension thrummed through the hall. Gasps and whispers murmured under the guests’ breath, a mix of chatter about long-held grudges and unspoken desires.

Cold anger stole through me as I wondered how I was going to manage to maintain my composure when the man who was the architect of my mother’s murder now had his cool, calculated eyes fixed on my fated mate.

The scent of her perfume, that intoxicating blend of jasmine and danger, filled my senses. The desire to protect her warred with the bitter taste of betrayal. I wished more than anything that I’d succeeded in getting her out of here. Envy, a bitter, corrosive emotion, twisted within me, my wolf’s dominant instinct threatening to override my self-control.

Magnus stood before her, his attention wholly captured. He towered over her, a picture of confidence, and with each word he spoke, I could see her leaning in a little closer, hanging on his every syllable as if he were the only man in the room. The intimacy of their exchange stung.

Lina angled her body toward Magnus, every gesture effortlessly inviting.

“It doesn’t feel as if any time has passed. You look the same as ever, Alpha,” Lina flattered.

The expression of admiration playing over her face as she looked at my father had white-hot rage blinding me. My wolf stirred, furious at the way she seemed to be vying for his attention.

“And may I say that you’re even more beautiful,” Magnus said, his voice as smooth as silk.

“You flatter me, Alpha,” she replied, a teasing lilt to her voice that twisted the knife deeper into my chest.

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