Page 13 of Unwanted Bonds

Soon enough, we were seated in Chief Perez’s office after someone delivered some more chairs, which made Chief Perez’s office crowded.

Alpha Owen started speaking as soon as the door was closed behind the person who delivered the chairs. “I’m not kicking Aurora out of the pack anymore, and I’m no longer banning her.”

He locked gazes with me. “Consider that repayment for saving my life and healing me. Now, it’s your turn to tell me how you plan to find the murderer faster than my pack’s law enforcement. You know you can’t use magic in the Crawford Pack, right?”

“We’ll need to get permission from a higher-up, but we could try to speak to the dead with our instinctual magic,” I said.

“And there will be no life-changing consequences like losing a few years of your life or losing some of your luck or fortune?” Luna Eleanor interjected.

“No.” Levi and I chorused.

I stared at the side of Levi’s face as he explained, “It’s not a spell and it doesn’t have any long-lasting consequences if I don’t spend too much time connected to the dead. It’s . . . my instinctual magic.”

There was silence for a few seconds before Luna Eleanor nodded. “I see.”

“Fine. Talk to your . . . higher-ups. But you must turn on the speaker.” Alpha Owen said.

I turned to stare at Levi with a raised brow, asking him for his phone. He smirked as he reached into his jacket and pulled it out.

If this was a regular situation, we would have called Victoria or Rebecca for permission, but when the situation concerned Levi’s instinctual magic and raising the dead, Daddy Keane was the direct officer we needed to talk to.

The silent room was filled with a series of old-school clicking sounds that accompanied the movements of Levi’s fingers tapping on his phone screen before the dial tone echoed in the air.

A few dial tones later, someone picked up the call and Daddy Keane’s voice echoed in the room. “Levi, are you with Aurora? Send her back to Ni Daonni City now. Or just send her to the next city. Aisling will come get her.”

“Dad . . . you’re on speaker and we’re with the Chief of Crawford Town’s police, the Alpha of the Crawford Pack, the Luna, and his sons. He’s not kicking me out of the pack anymore.”

In the background, I could hear Daddy Aisling complaining. “What the hell? Who does he think he is? One minute, he’s banning her like she committed a crime when she was just trying to help. The next minute, he isn’t. I don’t understand Werewolf Alphas. I’m calling Reece. Let him deal with the Alpha of the Crawford Pack. And Keane, get my baby back home. She’s done her best. Let her just come back home. I’ll . . .”

Daddy Keane cleared his throat. “You realize they’re all listening to our conversation, right?”

“Aurora?” Daddy Aisling’s voice sounded closer to the phone.

“Dad?” I answered tentatively.

“Sit tight, little dawn. I’m coming to get you soon.” He said.

“Dad, I don’t want to go yet . . .” I said, but Daddy Aisling didn’t hear what I said because Daddy Keane was also speaking to him.

“What about her mission?” Daddy Keane asked.

“I don’t care. Get my baby back home and . . .” Daddy Aisling insisted.

As they argued, Caden’s sigh drew my attention from the phone before he asked, “How many fathers do you have?”

“Just three. Good luck with convincing them to let you date Aurora after the stunt you pulled yesterday,” Levi answered vindictively, looking incredibly childish as he had a stare-down with Caden.

Thankfully, before anything like an argument ensued between them, Daddy Keane moved away from Daddy Aisling. “Levi, what’s going on?”

Alpha Owen took the phone from Levi and said, “She saved my life once so I’m letting her go but Keane, I don’t want to ever find out that you have someone working undercover in my pack or Mac Tire City again.”

Daddy Keane sighed. “You do know that the Supernatural Council exists to protect all supernaturals, right? How could we just let you and the Mac Tire City council be king and lord over so many lives? I’m sorry, but I can’t make any promises. If there’s any need for the Supernatural Council to investigate something relating to any supernatural’s life or quality of life in your pack or your city, I will do this again.”

Alpha Owen’s jaw clenched with every word Daddy Keane said and I knew he was holding back a growl, so I changed the subject. “Dad, we have two dead pack members in the Crawford Pack. It doesn’t seem to be the murderer I touched before, but I can’t be sure because this would look as unskilled as it does if he had a psychotic breakdown from not getting to his desired victim. I haven’t been able to examine the body, but I was wondering if we could talk to the dead.”

“Aurora . . . you can try to talk to the dead, but . . . we’re going to need to talk after this. I’m not sure I want you in the Crawford Pack anymore.” He spat out his next words through gritted teeth. “Levi told me what the future Alpha of the Crawford Pack and his friend did to you.”

I closed my eyes for a second in embarrassment before turning to glare at Levi for telling my dad what happened and receiving a guilty smile in return. “Dad, I’m okay. We’ll talk about it later.”

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