Page 12 of What Binds and Breaks

Vanessa was never insane. More tears spill over my eyes, streaming down my cheeks at the revelation.

My father was not some monster who abandoned us, and my mother was not a deranged madwoman. They were just brave, broken people who'd loved each other against all the odds and had lost everything in the process.

How could something so pure have gone so terribly wrong?

"She pretended to lose her mind to cover everything up, so no one would ask questions if she started acting erratic or showing strange symptoms," Marco went on. "She wanted to make sure no one was suspicious when she disappeared. The plan was for her to carry out the pregnancy with the help of the pack's healers. She knew the birth would be dangerous, and she wanted to be among wolves until she was sure there would be no complications."

But there had been complications. I was born early, which Viktor always said was a bad omen. The irony is it wasn't bad luck but rather bad timing that became the undoing of my parents' plan. Vanessa was counting on more time to lay the groundwork and make her escape, but I arrived two months ahead of time.

And she passed away less than a week later.

"When the letters stopped coming, I went to the Banes' territory myself, traveling there in secret out of sheer desperation to see her again. I found out she had died, and there was no word of a new pack member or of Viktor having a niece. I assumed our child perished with her."

Of course, he did. He had no way of knowing I was born early, and he didn't anticipate the extent of Viktor's cruelty. I was never viewed as a part of his family, never treated as a member of the pack. I was an illegitimate, nameless orphan.

"I would have fought my way through the Banes if I'd known you lived," he said slowly, an unnatural and deadly calm in his voice. "I would have killed every last one of those wolves to find you."

As I blinked up at him in between my tears and looked at my father, I knew he meant it. He smiled down at me sadly, tucking a loose golden strand of hair behind my ear. His fingers were cold against my skin, his touch almost ghostly.

His wrath is different from Tristan's. When Tristan gets angry, he burns like the sun itself, and when he'd spoken about the Banes, he could barely contain the furious fire behind his amber eyes. But where Tristan is wild and fierce in his protectiveness of me, Marco is ruthless and calculating, his eyes cold despite their crimson hue.

"Tristan."

The name slips out of my lips of its own accord.

The thought of him hits me like a splash of cool water, and I stiffen in my father's embrace. Marco frowns down at me, the features of his handsome face drawing tight with concern. He looks ancient and lethal, and I quickly shake my head, trying to clarify.

"The Rogue Alpha from the territory you found me in... he's my mate. He'll be looking for me."

Marco watched me as I pulled away from him, a curious kind of sadness darkening his gaze. I wonder what he thinks of the mating bond. Is he skeptical and suspicious about it like Tristan? Do vampires view the laws of wolves as silly or superstitious? Or does my father resent the bond? Does he regret that he could not be that for my mother?

"You are Luna of that... peculiar pack?" he asks carefully, and I can't help but smile in spite of myself.

Yes, the Rovers are a peculiar bunch indeed. I cannot blame the Night King for being wary of them. I judged them once too. But I appreciate him not dismissing or condemning them outright the way others might, especially when they are not even his own kind.

As far as first impressions go, Marco left much to be desired. But I'm beginning to get the sense that there is more to this mysterious man than just whispers and shadows... and bats.

I'm still a little weirded out by the bats, honestly. And don't even get me started on the blood drinking.

But we can circle back to that.

"Don't believe everything you hear," I mumble, the affection evident in my voice. "The Rovers are more than they appear, and they have been good to me. But no, I am not their Luna. Things between Tristan and me are... complicated."

He nods thoughtfully. "I suppose I should know better than most that reputations can be misleading, and rumors cannot be trusted. I am glad that these... Rovers... have been kind to you."

"They have," I agree. "And they're probably worried sick about me right now. Tristan was already concerned after what happened during training, and.... oh goddess... Tristan.... he told me to wait for him. I promised I would never run away from him."

Realization and horror begin to sink in as I imagine what he must be going through. The last time I vanished, he found me undressed and unconscious by the edge of the lake. Does he think I broke my word? Or did he assume I went back into the lake and drowned?

A thousand scenarios play through my mind in a matter of seconds, and not a single one of them is good.

"You have to take me back. Now."

Chapter Nine

The Night King's frown deepens, his jaw clenching with distaste at my demand.

"But I've only just found you," he protests. "We have already missed out on so much. My baby girl is a grown woman, and I am a stranger to her. I lost Vanessa, and I will not lose you as well."

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