Chapter 4
“Screw this. If you are just going to hand him control of the city,
then I am done here,” my father snarls abruptly, making me
jump.
“Sit down, Joseph, my men on your borders are the only thing
keeping the rogues off your land. So sit down and shut up!”
Alpha Zayn growls, and his fist comes down on the table with a
loud thud: the wood creaks and groans, a crack slivering right
up the middle of it makes my eyes widen.
My father laughs and shakes his head. “I have no alliance with
your pack!”
“Regardless, if you bothered to go out to your borders for once,
you would see my patrols. Every pack here is under my pack’s
protection, and I will revoke it if you don’t sit down!”
“Samuel’s men help patrol my pack borders, not yours,” my
father snaps, gripping my arm and yanking me to my feet.
I curse, hitting my knee on the table. Great, why am I involved?
Flinching, I’m nearly tossed to the ground, at the force of which
my father grabs me and pulls me up beside him. My chair tips
over, and I stumble over the top of it. A menacing snarl leaves
Chapter 4
Alpha Zayn’s lips.
“Samuel, would you enlighten this old fool,” Alpha Zayn growls
murderously, and my father stops, his grip on my arm.
becoming crushing.
Now I wish I paid attention. My father never puts his hands on
me, but something has really got under his skin for him to grab
me like this.
Alpha Samuel shrinks in his seat as my father’s gaze turns to
him.
“What he says is true. I haven’t had the numbers after the last
attack, so I asked Alpha Zayn to patrol the pack’s borders,” he
explains, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Alpha Samuel’s pack is the second largest and usually runs the
city’s protection and the border patrols. That is what my father
pays him for: his protection.
“Excuse me? I pay you every month,” my father spits at him, but
it is Alpha Zayn that answers.
“Now, you pay me. So sit down and unhand your-” he pauses,
looking me over, having lost his train of thought.
“My daughter, Cleo,” my father answers. The Alpha nods once,
Chapter 4
his eyes on my father’s hand that is still locked onto me in a
death grip. What is going on here?
“I know who she is.”
My father growls, and I cry out as his grip crushes my arm. The
other Alphas stare in shock. Alpha Zayn’s eyes blaze, a snarl on
his lips.
“Dad,” I plead. “Let go! What’s going on? What are they talking
about?” I say, feeling like there’s something big I’m missing out
- on.
“Let her go,” he commands, voice holding a deadly lilt. “You’re
hurting her.”
My father blinks, glancing down at the bruises and scratches
already forming on my skin where his claws had slipped out
and scratched me. Horror floods his face, and his hand falls
away.
My cheeks burn a brilliant shade of scarlet. I am frightened and
embarrassed as my father released his vice–like grip on my arm,
the intensity of it leaving behind the clear outlines of his fingers.
“Cleo? Crap, I’m sorry, sweetie,” he apologizes, the tone of his voice changing abruptly from venomous to remorseful. I can’t help but feel like some sort of prize or trophy, one that he nearly
damaged with his careless actions and temper.
“I’m fine. Just leave me,” I whisper, trying to hide my
humiliation from him and the others in the room.
Swatting his hand away, I sheepishly try to hide the bruises on
my arms. The weight of their gazes bear down on me, making
me acutely aware of how much attention has been placed on
me at that moment, but I refuse to look at any of them. Instead, I
focus on keeping my thoughts and emotions in check,
remembering the countless lessons I have taken about
controlling my reactions.
“Now sit down. We must finish; I haven’t got time for another
meeting later,” Alpha Zayn snaps, my father’s head whips in his
direction, and he growls, not liking being spoken down to by
someone younger than him.
“You are all fools, giving this lunatic control of the city and our
packs,” my father snarls at Alpha Samuel, then turns to glare at
Alpha Zayn. “Shove your protection up your behind. I will not bow to the likes of you!” he growls, glaring at the young Alpha before tugging me from the room.
“Dad!” I hiss, still majorly confused about what’s going on. He growls daringly at me, but even I know the importance of having those patrols.
Chapter 4
“We need his help,” I grit out, but he isn’t hearing it. Instead, he
rips me away from the meeting room and toward the stairs
leading to the restaurant.
“Dad!” I snap when we reach the bottom and are out of earshot.
“No, Cleo, I am not leaving my pack in the hands of that
monster,” he growls, stopping so abruptly that I slam right into
his back. He grips my shoulders and looks at me with a sigh, and
drops his head.
“Look, one day you will understand, but for-” Sirens suddenly go
off, ringing from everywhere. My dad straightens up, his eyes
darting around as the sirens grow louder, signaling the city is
under attack. My eyes widen, and I glance around as people
panic and screams ring out from outside. My father shoves me
behind him.
“Cleo, go, find somewhere to hide!” my father screams before
shifting into his huge gray wolf. My heart beats like a drum in
my chest, panic, and fear filling me, and I take off only to be
knocked down by the stampede of panicked humans. I crawl to
a nearby table, ducking under the tablecloth, when the
windows all around suddenly shatter. Gunshots ring out
deafeningly, and the roars and growls only get closer and
louder.
“Cleo, run!” my father screams through the mindlink when a giant malt–colored wolf upturns the table. I scream, scrambling
back on my hands and knees, only for my father’s wolf to attack.
the wolf. Turning, I try to get to my feet when teeth rip into my arm, sending jarring pain through me.
