Page 38 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

Will do. You okay though right now? Do I need to come to your father’s office?

I hear and feel the worry down the bond, and I know it’s because of what my father did the last time we talked, coupled with his guilt for not being able to prevent it.I’m good. Don’t worry.

I always worry about you.

That’s a really unhealthy habit and can be detrimental to your health. You should really stop that.

He chuckles.I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll go talk to the others now.

Thank you.

I nod to my father finally in acknowledgement of his answer. “Okay. Is Devin going to be reprimanded for leaving his post for no good reason?”

“I will talk to him.”

I furrow my brow in consternation. “He left his post, father, and tried to accuse me of doing the same thing when I was actually doing my job.”

“And I will do with him what I did with you and ask him to explain why he was not at his post. He could have been doing his job, too.”

“How? He was looking for me. Not chasing after someone who needed to be taken care of.”

“I said I will talk to him,” he says more sternly this time.

My lips tighten and roll inwards in aggravation to stop myself from arguing further.

“Now, back to the topic of our last conversation,” my father abruptly states.

And with that, my aggravation increases. “My stance on the agreement hasn’t changed.”

His face contorts in anger. “You don’t have a choice here.”

“You can tie me up and deliver me to their doorstep, but I will not go along with the deal you struck with them. I still have the right to refuse. And if you keep pushing me, you andI are going to have a difficult relationship in the future.” Not that there is much of a warm and fuzzy daddy and daughter relationship to begin with.

Staring directly at me, he picks up his phone and starts a call. After a split second, he says “Come to my office now,” and then ends the call.

We stare at each other in silence as we wait for whoever he called to his office to arrive. Neither one of us is willing to back down, but one of us will have to. I’ll be damned though if it will be me. He’s messing with my life and taking away my choices. I understand I have a duty to him and this coven but that doesn’t mean I blindly follow without question every single time, especially in situations such as this.

The door behind me clicks open, and I turn to see who it is my father demanded join us. I find Danny coming through and become a little puzzled and on edge as to why my father would want him here with the current topic of conversation on the table.

“Micah, join us please,” father calls out to the man in the hallway. Father always has two men posted outside his office on guard duty that I typically ignore, and Micah is usually one of the two. He’s a sadistic bastard and always makes me uneasy when he is around. My father found him years ago when he was torturing another vampire for “fun” as the vampire, come to find out, had done nothing but ask him for directions. Micah thought it was incompetent for the vampire to not think to simply look it up on his phone rather than ask someone else who could have led him into a trap if they wished in telling him the wrong directions. My father saw potential in that, apparently, and what he saw Micah had done to the poor fool. Micah is unstable, but my father has found use for him when it comes to torturing people. So, his presence followed after Danny coming into theoffice ramps up my anxiety and everything in me tenses up, going on alert.

Micah follows Danny into the office and closes the door. Danny comes to stand beside me while Micah remains behind us, but a little too close for comfort.

What’s going on?

We were discussing the Timore coven agreement when he called you in.

You refused him again?

Yep.

I’m getting a bad feeling here with Micah being called in here too.

Me too.

“Now, if you want to throw out threats towards me dear daughter, I can do the same. You will go along with the agreement with the Timore coven, or else, not only will I make your life miserable both here and when you go to their coven, which I will absolutely be able to accomplish, Danny here will pay the price of your disobedience.”

Suddenly, a shift in the air behind me has me turning but not quick enough.

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