“Yes, King Alpha we would be forever grateful,” her father blurted out. Would we though? He made it sound like this leniency would come at a price. She would be at his mercy. She eyed Ander wearily as he began to speak.

“A simple apology will suffice. Entreat my forgiveness and I’ll consider dismissing your transgressions as if they never occurred,” Easy enough he thought. If he could just get her to yield to him once, then he could continue to wear down her stubbornness from there.

She clenched her teeth fighting harder than she ever had to hold back a scream.

He wanted her to beg.

Fuck it. Not going to happen now, not going to happen ever. She had more self-respect than that.

She stomped directly towards him and his rock he’d been tossing up and down. The next time it went into the air she slapped it away so it would not be falling back into his palm. “ Listen here you mother fucking piece of shit, I. Am. Not. Sorry. I cannot be forgiven if I've done nothing wrong so I will not be apologizing for anything. Got it? Neither will you be sending my father to the stockade. If you have a problem with me, then send me and leave him out of it!”

He could tolerate this no longer. Now she was ordering him about, even after he gave her an out. Playing nice had only made her more enraged. He had never met such a woman. I don’t care how much alpha blood a female wolf had in her, she wouldn’t be able to insult him even if she wanted to. And they never wanted to.

Any other female would be glad to have him as a mate. This one would learn to appreciate what she’d been given. She was wild but he would tame her. It would just take longer than anticipated. He had waited so long and this is what fate dealt him. At least she was physically attractive. Which was an understatement.

With her standing so close he could hardly think of anything else other than tearing her clothes off and marking her. Hard. Yes, once he marked her things would be different. Maybe after he was rid of this intense frustration he could take the time to woo her over. Must get her home now.

He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity with an unreadable expression. Then announced,” We’re leaving,” with a monotone voice, not angry, not threatening, just stating a fact. Then resumed dragging her by her arm.

She punched and thrashed to no avail. She knew he felt nothing when she kicked him but she at least hoped it would slow him down. It didn’t. No step out of place, he carried on past where her father was standing as if he was carrying a basket of bread, not his flailing daughter.

She watched from behind as her dad turned and followed them. She understood this must be hard for him. Being born and raised in the pack meant that he would submit to the established order of dominance. And she was fighting the man who was the highest authority in the land right now.

She let up on pounding him deciding to save her strength for a more opportune moment. For now, she’d walk willingly without a fuss. Perhaps she should try to get more information on what was occurring. “Where are you taking me?”

“We’re going back to the Taabe. To our home,” Our home? What did he mean by that?

“Uh, my home is here,” she stopped in her tracks and this time he didn’t force her onward. He turned toward her, seeming to study her face for a long moment. “No longer,” was all he replied.

“Oh….oh,” The first ‘oh’ was a shocked sound coming from her father. The second one was said with the settling sound of realization. Ander nodded at her father and it was clear they both knew something she didn’t. “ Oh, oh, what? Is someone going to let me in on the big secret?” Mara looked to her father and then Ander imploring either of them to respond.

“Sir, might I suggest we go back to my office? We can sit and explain things to her properly. I think it will do much to calm her, smooth some things out,” It wasn’t exactly what she had expected him to say, and she had an alarming feeling that whatever they weren’t revealing to her was something she would not be happy about.

She didn’t object to the suggestion seeing it as an opportunity to escape this terrible, awful man. Once inside she would excuse herself to use the restroom and then find someplace to hide. With Kota’s help, she should be able to avoid him long enough for him to give up and go back to wherever it was he came from.

“ Very well, please, lead the way” Ander motioned for her father to guide them. They had already made it out of the forest and were headed in the direction of the house.

“You know I’m perfectly capable of walking myself. Manhandling not required,” she looked at his hand on her arm, giving a slight tug to show him it wasn’t necessary. She was cooperating.

The half grunt, half chuckle he gave in response indicated that was not going to happen. He had however loosened his grip, which might have been worse. Now it looked like they were walking as if they were a normal couple, his hand placed where it was only to steer, not to imprison. It reminded her of the way he had gently threaded his fingers through her hair, as a lover would. And the feeling he gave her when his lips brushed across her ear with his whispering. That same spark was ignited again with just the touch of his hand where it was now.

She needed to get away from this man, and fast. It was way to close a call last time and she shuddered to think what she might have let him get away with had they not been interrupted. Clearly, the repulsion she felt for him did not extend to the way her body wanted him. That scared her more than anything else. How could being with someone so appalling feel so good?

She didn’t have much experience in this department - scratch that. She had no experience in this department. She had never even been kissed before! These new feelings and sensations were overwhelming her just as much as the events currently playing out. If only she could have a minute to get her bearings straight she was sure she could figure out a better way out of this than hiding.

As they came up to the main house she saw the men Ander had come with standing at attention guarding their SUVs. A man came out of one with a wolf and started to make his way over to us. Ander saw him and shook his head. The man looked surprised and then turned back.

Wonder who that was? Didn’t matter. If she was able to do as planned she’d never have to meet any more alpha’s. There was only one King Alpha, usually - present situation excluded, but there were others that lived in the capital city who had pure Alpha blood as well. Any of them could challenge the King Alpha at any time. They would then fight to the death. Whoever won would then be recognized by the Conclave as King.

She didn’t know how it would work since now there were two King Alpha’s alive at the same time. Not her problem though. With the foretold Returned Alpha here the shields would be brought down eventually and she planned on being amongst the first to leave. She loved her adoptive family but she needed answers. For those answers, she would have to leave the life she lived behind.

Once they’d arrived at her father’s private office Ander directed her to sit on the sofa in the lounge area. He sat on the chair across from her and motioned for her father to sit next to her.

It wasn’t his office but you wouldn’t know that by looking at him. No one would doubt who was in charge here. His presence in a confined space was even more commanding. Now that she was settled a bit she could see he was much larger than she’d realized. She felt the size of a fly compared to him.

“Okay, so what is it? Can we hurry up and get this over with because I need to use the lady's room.” she braced herself for whatever it was they were being so dramatic about.

“ Mara, you’re my mate,”