Chapter 303

I can see her mind working as she stares into her tea. | stay quiet, waiting her out. “My father was a great father and Alpha for the first ten years of my life. | was his only child, the Alpha heir. When | didn’t get my wolf at age 10, he was patient at first. But then, over time, he became angry and he changed. Eventually, he began taking it out on my mother, trying to get her to conceive another heir, one worthy of being Alpha.” She stresses the word worthy, and I’m guessing that was his word.

“He banished me when | was 12. My mother refused to let me leave alone. | would have died on my own, and she knew it. We ran and found this place. For the first year, we watched every move we made, every person we saw. We were ready to run at any moment. Mom was working as many hours as Benny would give her so she could stockpile cash in case we had to run again.”

She stirs her tea, pulling her tea bag out and putting it on her spoon, setting it aside. “Eventually, he began having sexual relations with other women. | didn’t completely understand it at first. Mom just said he was cheating on the mate bond. But as time went on, it happened more and more frequently. My mom became weak, unable to shift into her wolf anymore.”

She takes a sip of her tea before continuing. “On my sixteenth birthday, something happened. Whatever he did, it killed my mother.” A sad smile crosses. her face, her eyes unfocused with her memory. “We had spent a wonderful day together. We’d gone hiking in the forest and were having dinner together when it happened. I’m sure he knew exactly what day it was, since he’d ruined several of my birthdays at that point.”

“What do you think he did?” | ask quietly, trying not to pull her out of this state she was in, caught in her memories, speaking and remembering at the same time. “I think he marked another she—wolf, taking another mate, knowing it would kill my mother.”

“So, that’s why you don’t believe in the mate bond?”

She looks at me, the faraway look clearing and a fierce resolve replacing it.” Would you? I’ve seen what the mate bond does.

I've seen it at its best and I’ve seen it at its worst. | have no intention of ever letting you or any other man have that kind of power over me.

me.

| nod, because what can | say. Her story isn’t the only one where someone abused the mate bond. Many Alphas feel that they are above the pull of the mate bond or that it is a binding that chains them, making them weak. However, I've seen what a positive mate bond looks like. I’ve seen the relationship between Rik and Cara, as well as Liam and Angel. There is nothing about the mate bond that made those Alphas weak. If anything, it made them stronger, better Alphas.

“Not everyone is like your father.” | say quietly.

“But how would | know if they were or weren't. If you would ever become like that.”

“How about you agree to spend time with me and get to know me before you assume that I’m like your father.”

She's already shaking her head. “My dad was different until | didn’t get my wolf. If | had, | may never have known what he was really like.”

“Your father is an asshole. Not all men or werewolves are like that. | can tell your now, even if | was a complete jerk, Louis, my wolf, would never let me treat my mate or pup like you have been treated.”

“You don’t know that.” She says quietly.

“| do know that. I’ve lived most of my life without a father and all of my life without a mother. | would never wish that on anyone, especially not my own child.” | tell her.