Page 72 of The Wolf She Shouldn't Desire

A knock on my door breaks my train of thought. Danny hops off the bed and opens the door. My father completely ignore Danny and looks past him at me.

“I would like to speak to her alone.”He still doesn’t look at Danny as he vocalizes his demand.

Danny looks back at me to see if I’m comfortable with this, and I see my father finally look at him to glare at Danny’s display of referring to me in following commands rather than obediently listening to him, his coven leader. I nod at Danny that it’s okay, and he allows my father into the room before walking out, closing the door behind him.

Looking at my father, he stares at me in contemplation. I twitch in the bed in discomfort, but not from the pain this time.

“Danny brought you home in quite the state, but he won’t tell me what happened.”

He looks at me expectantly. I have to quickly decide if telling him Zander kidnapped me or not is a good idea. He’ll expect something believable and sticking close to the truth is always the best route with a few details twisted of course.

“Zander happened.”

He furrows his brow. “Explain.”

“He kidnapped me…I don’t even know how long ago since he didn’t have a calendar or clock hanging in the cell he held and tortured me in. He said I needed to learn a lesson in how to respect my future husband, not talk back to him, and a lot of other bullshit I tuned out.”

He stares me down with a calculating look. “Zander and his coven have been eliminated.”

I stare back at him silently, giving him no reaction. If he expects me to cry about it, then he really hasn’t been listening to me lately with his grand plan to marry me off to Zander.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” he asks when I say nothing.

“Do I look like I’m in any kind of shape to take out a whole coven?”

“No, but you could have had help.”

“I’ve been locked in a cell being tortured. And besides I couldn’t because I knew you would immediately look at me as the faulting party. What have our coven members and contacts been finding out about the incident?”

“That it was a rival vampire coven, but we don’t have any specific suspects yet.”

“That’s not surprising.”

He glares at me. “Meaning?”

“It’s not surprising that another coven would attack them, father. I told you the night of the engagement announcement that nearly no one was happy about it. So, they likely got rid of the competition. Everyone wants to be a part of our coven, and everyone wants to become leader once you’re dead. Only two ways of doing that: marry me or attack you in full force and take over the coven after they kill you. Marrying me is the easiest, and honestly no one could take on our coven. So, option two really isn’t even an option.”

He rubs the side of his jaw as he considers his next words. “Still seems suspicious that it happened around the time you escaped from being his prisoner.”

“I didn’t have anything to do with the timing. And even if I did, would you really have been okay with Zander kidnapping me before we were officially married? He took me before you were ready to hand me over. Also, how long do you think you would have been safe after the marriage before Zander tried to have you killed so he could take your position as coven leader for himself? That’s the only reason he agreed to marry me, especially since we couldn’t stand each other. He would have likely killed me shortly after your death or after he forced an heir out of me.”

His eyes flash with anger at the thought of Zander taking coven leader and his coven away from him. No concern flashes in his eyes though when I mention Zander forcing me to be a baby maker before killing me. He and Zander are the same in that they can easily be provoked when it comes to someone taking what they value most away from them: power. So much so, it pushes aside what other thoughts and feelings they were focused on, which effectively takes the attention away from me. He nods at me finally. “Very well. Looks like you don’t have to marry him after all.”

Thank god.

I fight the urge to say that out loud or let any expression come across my face of the satisfaction that fact sparks in me.

He walks towards the door and leaves me in my bedroom—alone—without a goodbye. The silence that greets me is comforting, but it allows my mind to run rampant with several thoughts. First being that not once did he ask how I was or if I am okay. He didn’t care about me and my wellbeing, and although I’m not surprised, it still stings a little. Father of the year ladies and gentlemen.

I snort at that thought. He never has been, so don’t even start hoping otherwise, Talia.

I gaze out the window and look at the stars. I immediately pick out several constellations and relax to where I become lethargic once more. My mind turns to thoughts of Jordan once more as my eyes close and how I wish he could wrap me in his arms right now. The ache for him right now to cocoon me in his arms while I sleep and heal consumes me causing tears to slowly leak out the corner of my eyes silently. I had one night with him, and it was enough to miss the absence of him with me in bed now. I didn’t have the opportunity to think about it or acknowledge the feeling when Zander held me prisoner. Not when I would pass out unwillingly from the torture and loss of blood. Now though, it hits me full force. As I continue to cry myself to sleep silently, I make a note in my head to remember to ask Danny to get me a new phone when I see him again so I can contact Jordan.

Chapter 30

Talia

Three days later, I find myself sitting in my secret garden. I completely healed the day before but couldn’t get away from the coven house as my father and several others demanded my attention in order to take care of things they could have easily handled on their own but refused to while I was “away” and then laid up in bed trying to heal. Heaven forbid they do anything themselves or if I ever go on a vacation when I find the time.

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