Page 99 of Challenged Mate
I did the same. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Dad.”
“No?” His head cocked to the side as he surveyed me, then Asher. “Am I wrong, or have you been challenged, Wolfstan?”
“I have.”
My father nodded. “Then you will not be mating my daughter until your position is secure.”
“Excuse me?” I snapped. “Don’t act like you control me. Not anymore. You lost that ability the moment you guaranteed I be shipped off to Alaska.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Blair. You know why I did what I did. And you know you cannot mate anyone who is not the alpha of the Wilds Pack, or else you break the rules of the games.”
“Is thatstillall that matters to you?”
“Your safety is all that’s ever mattered to me,” my father replied vehemently. “And you will not be protected fromthemunless it is the alpha you mate.”
I honestly couldn’t believe him.
How could my father show up and immediately begin making demands of me, let alone Asher?
He was the freaking alpha of the Wilds Pack.
A magically gifted andpowerfulpack.
My father hadn’t spoken to me since I left Montana, yet he expected me to fall in line and do whatever he said.
He was delusional, and I was about to let him have it.
Asher stepped to my side, and I felt his power encompass our group. The magic muzzled the tongue lashing I prepared for my father before I could even utter a syllable.
“What do you mean,them, Benjamin? What do you know?”
My father stiffened. “You know damn well who I’m talking about, Wolfstan.”
Calmly, Asher dipped his chin and murmured, “Rogue sorcerers.”
My father nodded. “I heard they attacked here.”
“How?”
My father didn’t even look my way when he answered my question, “I have connections.”
“Connections within a coven?” Axel snorted. “Unlikely.”
“It’s the truth.”
“A name, Alpha Benjamin,” Axel countered. “Or we won’t believe you.”
My father looked like he chewed glass, but at Axel and Asher’s determined stares, he finally ground out, “Priestess Jocelyn of the Graystone Coven. She’s Blair’s aunt.”
“I have an aunt?” My mother had a sister?
My father nodded. His attention remained on Asher. “She’s the one who warned me of the extent of the danger Blair was in during the games. She’s given me protection spells and charms over the years, but once the rogue sorcerers found out about Blair’s existence, there was no more hiding. She warned me they would never stop coming.”
Hence, he shipped me to Alaska.
“They want my mom’s power.” I was proud when my voice didn’t shake despite the fear this conversation ignited within me.
My father finally deigned to meet my gaze. I was surprised to see the sadness swimming in his eyes. “Yes. And they won’t stop until they have it, or you’re dead.”
