Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Everything was too quiet; only my heartbeat was audible over the silence.

I grunted as I tightened my magic around us. "I know you must hate me right now, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to keep this force field up if I don't have you by my side," I said. "I realize you no longer have reason to believe me, but your presence somehow strengthens my power, and I can't allow anybody else to suffer because of me. You must understand that, if necessary, I would defend you and your pack to the end of my life." I could feel the stress in his body and the tears spilling over.

If his job as an alpha required him to do this, then at least he would do it for me.

I said, "Please," as I observed my mother taking a leisurely stroll and patting the wild wolves she passed with her hand, treating them like her pets.

Derrick said nothing, yet he did not move. His silence set my body on edge. After all, this was his pack, and he would be the first to kick a menace that directly approached his door to the curb.

However, my mother was fundamentally evil and not at all like the rogues who came before her. She had slain royal wolves without feeling guilty and had restrained animals stronger than she was.

I was confident that she could take down Derrick because he was standing in her way. Although the alpha king has strength and muscle, my mother possessed magic, which was the reason they first killed us since we were too strong for a typical wolf to control.

It was better to destroy the competition than to allow it to continue, but in doing so, they had merely produced a different kind of monster.

Vera sulked next to me when Kyle stayed back, and my mother stopped in front of the wall I had built. Seeing her mate in front of her and yet so far out of grasp was as difficult for her as it was for me.

"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Her speech made me feel smaller than usual, and I could feel my already strong will weaken in her company.

My primal side was starting to take control of me as my wolf started to protrude itself through my fingernails and gums. My wolf understood that luck wouldn't be on her side for long, so she was bloodthirsty to protect all that mattered to her. She was on guard and ready to attack the moment my power failed me.

Her sly glance followed every inch of me. In response, my claws curled up against my palms, slashing at my skin and collecting my blood. As the wolves surrounding me became agitated in an attempt to keep me in my place, I pushed my body further into Derrick's in an attempt to get some space from the terrible energy she was releasing. The shouts of my pack surrounded me as they struck the force field once more.

Derrick's hands went to press against my hips, his own claws digging into my skin, and my breathing became labored. His form extended like something I had felt before—a hybrid of a wolf and a human, bound to me both by obligation and possessiveness.

The wolves ceased their attack when my mother raised her hand, demonstrating her command over the army she had gathered with her. She gave the feral wolves orders to move, and they would not be as vulnerable to danger as this pack's members were.

"Did you seriously think I wouldn't find out your secret?" She went on, looking at me with such intensity that my spell faded.

My mate link pumped fiercely, my heart pounding and my mind racing.

I had only one secret, which I kept hidden from my partner.

With his hand still around my waist, Derrick shoved me behind him and stood in front of me and his pack like a shield. Not wanting to give me the mind-link of mates or the pack link that would make me one of them, he had opted to remain mute while evaluating the scenario before him and formulating a plan that kept me in the dark.

"You are trespassing on my territory with the promise of war—this is an act of treason, and if you do not leave now, death will be your only reprieve." I wanted to hold on to him, but his dominant personality was radiating outward from him, leaving my mother untouched by the typical wolves' hierarchical system.

She believed that because of our magic, we were above the social structure and deserving of worship without having to look out for those who followed us.

In exchange for his commitment to defend the pack that was in his care, Derrick could destroy half of the army that my mother had gathered. My mother had an edge because of her position of power and her less than honorable intentions.

Her eyes lingered on his, as if the threat were a practical joke.

"Is that honestly the way you want to greet your mother-in-law?" With a snarl of rage that left a hole in my chest, Derrick was unable to contain his feelings. He despised my mother more than I did, since I had told him enough about her.

"This is your final warning." He declared that his claws were getting even sharper as he withdrew them from me. His wolf merged with his human side, covering my body while his warriors moved forward to form another barrier independent of my power, and Morgan settled beside his alpha.

The sound of his cunning plan made my spine tingle as my mother mocked him.

"Sometimes I wonder how I gave birth to someone so absolutely pathetic." She grumbled, "but then again, there's no one better suited to be the alpha king's mate—like meets like, weak meets weak." The color went out of my face, and she laughed dementedly.

She spoke words of devastation that gripped me and caused me to cry softly. I tried to keep my attention on Derrick, but it just made me feel worse as the force field around us trembled and shook.

I was on the verge of losing everything and the connection with my partner, and suddenly it was all slipping away from me.

Unless Kyle had lied to me, I had been sure to exercise caution when it came to him.

In what other way could she have discovered my whereabouts and realized that the wolf king was my partner? However, he had only learned that I was mated to an alpha, and I had deliberately kept my relationship with the last living king a secret.

My brother was standing back among the pack of wolves, and instead of appearing as arrogant as he should have, he appeared to be utterly defeated.

"There was a problem."

"Tell me, my sweet daughter—have you made the alpha king get on his knees for you yet? Have you made him fall in love with your lies?" Leaning closer to the force field, she felt the shimmering movement with her finger, and her touch cracked the border.