Page 11 of Unwanted Bonds

“Fine, let me . . .” She was saying, but I heard the phone getting grabbed and the exclamation, “Owen!”

“Under no condition am I permitting you to see the body. I’m coming over there right now to arrest you and throw you into the pack’s prison, where you will stay until my pack council has finished processing your permanent ban from the Crawford Pack.” The gruff voice definitely belonged to Alpha Owen, and he didn’t sound friendly.

I let out a sharp exhale and asked, “Even if it means allowing a psychotic murderer to run around in your pack? Just to slight the Supernatural Council?”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. If . . . you can’t explain why you think an eighteen-year-old could find the murderer faster than my pack’s law enforcement, then I’m going to get the Supernatural Council to deduct some points from your Supernatural Council positive points.” He threatened.

I took a deep breath at the vehemence and dislike in his voice. Why did he sound like he hated me when I’d never even met him?

But I still agreed, “I understand.”

I couldn’t understand his hatred, but I knew that very few people in the world could summon the dead like Levi without life-changing consequences. And no one else could connect with Levi and force the dead to tell the truth like me.

7

Aurora

After Alpha Owen hung up the call, we all sat in the interrogation room in silence for a few minutes before Aiden spoke, trying but failing to reassure me. “Aurora . . . don’t worry about my dad kicking you out of Crawford Town and Mac Tire City. I’ll talk to him.”

“No need. If it’s time to leave the Crawford Pack, then I’ll leave.” I said bitterly, refusing to look directly at any of the four men in the room so they wouldn’t see the tears welling in my eyes from that harsh and embarrassing conversation with the Alpha of the Crawford Pack.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds to make the tears and hurt go away before asking Chief Perez. “Don’t I have access to a lawyer or something? Can I call my parents?”

Chief Perez sighed, and his gaze carried a smidgen of pity as he answered my question. “No. You’re a supernatural living in the Crawford Pack territory, under the authority of Alpha Owen. According to Crawford Pack laws, as long as you’re eighteen years and older, you have no right to contact a lawyer unless we have detained you in the police station for over twelve hours. Alpha Owen said you should stay put, so just stay put. Come on, let’s go to my office so they can use this room to interrogate the others at that party. For your own sake, I hope you have a good reason for insisting on seeing that body instead of just getting out of the pack with a simple ban.”

I wanted to ask him or Aiden, Caden, and Mateo why Alpha Owen hated me so much, even though we had never met. I opened my mouth and closed it when I decided not to speak anymore.

When Alpha Owen came over, I would face that storm, overcome it, and leave the Crawford Pack and Mac Tire City. Then I would spend a month or two on Aunt Ciara’s private island, from which I would take the rest of my courses while licking my wounds.

When we got to Chief Perez’s office, we had to share the two couches in his office, and I somehow found myself wedged between Aiden and Caden on the smaller couch.

To comfort me, Aiden grabbed my hand and squeezed it in a familiar, comforting manner. His grip made me feel so much better and I couldn’t bring myself to pull my hand away. Caden covered my other hand, which was clenching my knees with his, and his gesture filled me with warmth.

“You’re not leaving the Crawford Pack. I’ll talk to my dad, so don’t worry about it.” Caden reassured me in a calm tone like he was already the Alpha of the Crawford Pack and thus had the right to make decisions for the pack.

I wanted to free my hand from his, but he wouldn’t let go. I was too drained to fight with him or Aiden, so I just sat there, pretending to stare fixedly at the door opposite us while staring at Mateo, who was seated on the couch next to ours, from the corner of my eyes.

His bangs were covering his eyes slightly and his hands covered the rest of his face as he leaned back on the couch, as if he was trying to take a nap right there in Chief Perez’s office.

It hurt to see how indifferent he was to me and how unapologetic he was for his actions the previous night so I gave my full attention to the door with a single thought flashing through my mind: If he was my mate, he wouldn’t treat me so lackadaisically.

I shook the thought out of my head and started thinking instead of my first undercover mission that was about to end in an utterly embarrassing failure. Not only had I been caught, but I was also going to be banned from the biggest werewolf city in the world. And if Alpha Owen had his way, my hard-earned Supernatural Council positive points would take a hit as well.

I had a lot of positive points from secretly working as a consultant for the Supernatural Council since we discovered how useful my instinctual magic was. However, having any part of it deducted still made me feel bad.

I felt that everyone would know what a failure I was when I arrived at the Supernatural Council with deducted points and I couldn’t help imagining my Camdine Academy schoolmates like Elle, Charlotte, and Ezra gloating at my expulsion from Crawford University.

I was getting lost in the throes of self-pity when Chief Perez’s office door swung open. A tall man with haunted coffee-brown eyes that looked almost black from where he was standing walked into the office straight toward me.

I could feel the heat of his gaze on our interlocked hands. I tried to pull my hands out of their grips, but they wouldn’t let go as we stood up to face Alpha Owen together.

I lowered my head and fixed my gaze on my shoes as Alpha Owen came to stand in front of me while saying in a mocking tone. “Well, isn’t this the daughter of the head of the Supernatural Council’s Intelligence Department?”

“I know your father can read people’s minds, so I’m going to ask you one question and I expect you to tell me the truth. If you don’t, I’m going to take this matter to the Blime Organization. I think they handle matters concerning supernaturals taking advantage of other supernaturals with their magic, right? I’m sure they wouldn’t mind investigating a little girl who is manipulating my sons’ thoughts and emotions to make them fall in love with her.”

I looked up sharply, my gaze locking with Alpha Owen’s, as I realized why he was so antagonistic toward me. “I don’t have that kind of instinctual magic. My instinctual magic . . . can only . . . it doesn’t even work on your sons.”

Alpha Owen stepped closer to me and grabbed my chin, holding my face in place so he could stare at my face intently.

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