Page 31 of Stolen Oath
Why was she defending me?
“I am your alpha. Step aside.” The old man barked at his daughter.
“Not anymore.” Angela kicked off her sandals and planted her feet shoulder width apart. “I challenge you for your position in the pack.”
“Oh shit.” Char breathed sagging in my arms.
CHAPTER16
“What in the goddess name happened?” I muttered urgently while Dimitri dragged me to the side along with Char who was still clinging to me like a spider monkey.
“Angela challenged her father.” He had the gall to mansplain things to little ol’ me and I jabbed my elbow between his ribs in retaliation.
“I heard that, I’m not deaf. Why? Why did she do that? She doesn’t even like me.” My voice rose with each word, until I was practically shouting at him.
“Something is off with her father so she reacted. She has no chance of winning this fight.” The grimness of Dimitri’s tone sent a shiver down my spine. “She’s not strong enough and I cannot get involved.”
“We must do something.” Char voiced what all three of us were thinking but we knew pack laws and we were not dumb enough to destroy what little chance Angela had by getting involved.
Just like us, many of the pack who were lingering around crept up closer to watch the standoff between a father and a daughter, forgetting all about the witch they wanted to destroy, for now. It worked for me as long as I get to keep breathing and no one threatened Char.
“I need the two of you to run.” Dimitri tugged on my arm to get my attention faster. “Go! Take my car and drive out of LA as fast as you can. I will find you later.” He shoved the key in my palm as if I was his trained puppy and I’d jump right on it.
I looked at him, unimpressed.
“Alaska, I need you to leave town until I can figure out a way to fix this.” He told me on a sigh and Char was already shaking her head. “What? It’s her life we are talking about here. This is not a game.”
“If you say so.” Char muttered, side-eyeing me like she expected me to foam up at the mouth and pounce on him like a rabid racoon.
“They will never stop hunting me now, Dimitri. That ship sailed the moment I threw caution to the wind and used my magic in public.” After helping Char to stay up by leaning her on the closest tree I wiped my hands off my slacks out of habit. Surprisingly, I was not nervous at all.
“What do you think you are doing?” He hissed at me and tried to grab my arm to yank me back no doubt.
“I’m going to help your girl win.” I sidestepped his attempt to hold me back. “If you think she’s not strong enough to win against him and she challenged him because of me, then I’m going to even the odds.”
“Allie, that is not our fight.” Char chirped in with no conviction in her tone. “We should go, he has a point.”
Angela and her father were still locked in their standoff, their stares practically tangible as a heavy tension crackled between them like an electric current. I felt the intensity in their impasse almost viscerally - my skin erupting with goose bumps as all conversation around us hushed to nothing but hums in the background between the trees. Sensing the gravity of the situation and what that would mean for them, everyone seemed to choose a side. Interestingly enough, it seemed the daughter was better liked than the father. With me stepping toward Angela more and more wolves glanced at each other and saddled behind her back. Surprisingly they were led by the majority of the males from the pack. Who knew looking like a bombshell could help a girl win in pack politics?
A chill ran down my spine as I glanced sideways at Dimitri and saw his jaw tightened in determination.
Not so he could go help his wife-to-be, but to stop me from getting involved it seemed.
Selfishly, I needed him to knock it off so I could help Angela win this fight because the universe offered me a blessing that night. One I had no intention of ignoring. He couldn’t be so self-centered that he wouldn’t see the gravity of what was happening.
If the oath for the union of Dimitri and Angela was taken unwillingly by their fathers, then if one or both old alphas died the promise will be broken. In theory, since the power involved recognizes them as the root for the magic tying everything together, with death occurring everything should unravel.
It made sense to me as I said, theoretically.
In practice? We were about to find out.
I was ready to do everything to stack the odds in our favor.
Insanely enough for just a moment I thought maybe that’s why Angela challenged her father. She wanted out of their engagement as much as I wished it didn’t exist.
Which was dumb. Dimitri might be hot as hell but I didn’t like him.
Yeah, I almost believed it too.
