Page 11 of Bound to Enemy (Wolf Billionaire #3)

CHAPTER 11

DAXTON

I sipped on the bitter liquor and allowed it to soak my throat as it traveled down harshly.

I looked out at the back of the estate where they were setting everything up. The stage went up three days ago and the seating had been put down last night. When I went to bed, the entire place had been bare and lacked any sort of beauty. But now, there were white and blue roses decorating the entire area. It was a complete transformation, and I couldn't quite believe my eyes if I was being honest.

I had known that this day would come, but now that it was here, I would be lying if I said I wasn't shitting bricks. It had been a day that my mother had told me would stay with me for the rest of my life.

There was a subtle ache in the back of my chest.

My parents should have been here, but the war had robbed me of their presence. I sipped on the bourbon some more.

If I was going to get through this day, then I needed to add a little something to my system.

"Your goal is to walk up that stage alone, right?" Elliot came up beside me by the window.

He was dressed in all-white and blue attire to represent the colors of my pack. But unlike the rest of my male wolves, he wore a white sash with the cygnet of the beta. While mine had my family crest and my alpha cygnet.

"I'll be fine. I just need to make it through." I sipped on the bourbon, successfully draining my glass. "Could you get me another?"

He took the glass from me but made no attempt to refill it. When I turned to question him, he shook his head. He gave me this pensive look that was more like a father trying to reprimand their child.

"Have you spoken to her?"

For the past week and some days, he had been asking if I had smoothed things over with my wife-to-be.

"Like I told you, no." I grabbed the glass from him and made my way to the bar cart I had in my study. "And why should I? The incident is past, and she is healed."

"She may have healed physically, but she clearly holds quite a bit of resentment toward you." Elliot walked over to the bar cart and grabbed the bottle of bourbon from my hand. "Enough, Daxton. I understand that you don't like this union and you would much rather do away with this marriage, but a lot of people worked very hard in order to set this up. This has to do with more than just your wants and needs. The fate of our kind rests on our shoulders."

I hated that he was right. I ground my teeth together in annoyance but allowed him to place the bourbon back on the tray.

"You will need to speak to her eventually, you do know this, right?"

I nodded before I sighed heavily. "I do. I just don't know what I'm going to say to her. She is not my favorite person in the world, but what I did was unacceptable. I could have..."

I couldn't even bring myself to say the words. I was far too ashamed.

"I know, brother." Elliot placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me the slightest bit of reassurance, but it did nothing to lift my spirit. "You made a mistake, and these things happen to the best of us. Don't allow it to get to you."

How could I not? I had looked her father in the eye and promised I would take care of his daughter, and I had almost killed her.

My word was my bond, and I had gone back on it.

"Her father just got here."

My heart skipped a beat. Fuck.

"Where is he?"

"From what I was told, he is downstairs waiting to meet with you."

"Does he know?"

My beta shrugged, "I can't be certain he does and I can't be certain he doesn't. But he does want to speak with you. He's been waiting down there for some time. I had wanted to give you a minute before I allowed him to come up."

I nodded and looked back out the large floor-to-ceiling windows. The wolves were all beginning to file into their seats to prepare for the ceremony.

The time was near, and even if I wanted to back out, I couldn't.

"Bring him up."

Elliot nodded and made his way out of my office, leaving me to my silent thoughts. My head had always been a safe space for me, but within recent days, I felt trapped there.

This union had been nothing but a nuisance that had to be overcome in the weeks leading up to today. But now that the day had finally arrived, I couldn't quite sit still. My bones were riddled with nerves, and I was a person who didn't get nervous easily. So why was I now getting frazzled?

I walked over to the chair behind my desk and made myself comfortable. All too soon, a knock came at my door, bringing my solitude to an abrupt end.

I leaned into the expensive leather of my chair and took in a few calming breaths that were needed.

I closed my eyes and willed whatever composure I had inside of my body to unleash itself upon me.

I opened them, ready to face my father-in-law. "Come in."

Ezekiel walked into my office looking every bit the alpha he was in his all-black attire for his pack. He wore a metal crown made of iron as did most alphas during traditional events such as this.

"Welcome, Alpha Ezekiel." I stood from my chair behind my desk. He walked inside and closed the door behind him. He didn't say anything at first; he simply walked toward my desk ever so slowly.

"Alpha Daxton. I trust you have been well." The eyes that were strikingly similar to his daughter's bored into the very depths of my soul. "Congratulations are in order; the day has finally come."

I swallowed hard, the nerves that had riddled my body returned slowly. "Thank you."

"May I?" He gestured to the chair on the opposite side of my desk.

"Please."

A thick silence fell over us, no one speaking at first.

"How has she been?" He broke the tension. "I trust you have taken care of her, and handled any mishaps that may have occurred."

He knew. This was his way of telling me without actually having to tell me.

"Yes, of course."

One side of his lips tilted upward. "You know that I had two sons along with Ale."

I nodded my head, leaning back into the chair.

"Alessandra was my little princess, my precious little flower that had to do no more than simply exist in her goodness. But then the rogues robbed her of her future. They robbed her of a chance to have a choice of what kind of future she would have. Sue was never meant to be alpha. She was not built for it.

To be what she is today, she had to kill certain aspects of her soul to become hard, brutal and precise. She made herself the efficient killing machine she is today. She sacrificed a lot to become what I and the pack needed. She has served me and so many others well."

I took every single word he said in.

"I know how you feel about my people, and your views on us may never change. But what I do ask is that you look at my daughter as more than just where she is from. She has suffered much pain and had to claw her way out of darkness. You don't have to love my daughter. But I do ask you to respect her."

"And respect her I shall," I agreed almost immediately. "I gave you my word before I left your land."

"And yet you nearly killed my daughter." The ice in his voice resembled the deep tundra of the Arctic. "I know and see all that happens here, Daxton. I don't care for your resources or your wealth. They pale in comparison to the value my daughter holds. She is my most precious thing."

The tenderness when he spoke of her was evident. Alessandra was his world, and he had entrusted her to his historical enemy. I understood his unease and wariness. And with the recent events that had unfolded, I would have expected him to launch at me. But instead, he sat opposite me speaking calmly.

"She is my daughter, Daxton. She is the only one I have left in my life. My sole reason for breathing." His eyes held mine; I could see the hidden message behind. The next words he was about to say weren't a request but rather a threat. "I am giving her to you, and I am placing her under your care. Should anything happen to her under your watch, then there will be some reparations that will need to be paid."

I understood the message loud and clear.

'If you hurt her again then I will end you'.

"Believe me when I say this, Eziekel, I will protect her with my life. You have my word."

"You better, Daxton. Otherwise, the rogues will be the least of your worries."