Page 4 of Bound to Enemy (Wolf Billionaire #3)

CHAPTER 4

ALESSANDRA

I sat across from the asshole who had a dagger pressed against my neck less than an hour ago.

My father's study was thick with tension.

My father kept staring at the now-healing wound on the side of my neck. He would have questions after this, I was sure. And I would tell him the truth: I tried to kill my fiancé but failed.

That was sure to get his blood boiling.

My father still believed that Daxton and his pack were like an answered prayer, but I knew better. Blood Born only ever served themselves.

Why now? They had managed to keep the wolves at bay all this time, so why did they suddenly want to broker a deal? Something didn't make sense.

Elliot, Daxton's beta, cleared his throat. He looked from me to my father and then back again. He was the one I had to blame for all of this. He was the one who convinced not only my father but his alpha that this arrangement would prove fruitful for all parties.

He was on my list.

"As per our agreement, Alpha Ezekiel, we will offer the bolstering of your shield with the moonstone. And in addition, you will give us the archives of the moonstone and access to some of your senior healers."

"Excuse me?" I looked at my father in disbelief. "They want to take our history too? No, absolutely not."

My father raised his hand in a motion to tell me to calm myself. But how could I be calm when this savage had come into our home and demanded not only me as his mate but our history as well? A history that had not been tainted by their lies and self-absorption.

"They will not take the archives forever, Ale. They only want to research about the moonstone."

"The same stone that they took from the sacred place?" My wolf was livid, and I agreed with her sentiments.

But my question went unanswered when my father looked to the alpha to continue speaking.

"After the rogues are dealt with, we will require a slight expansion of land. I think we can use part of Lake Rova that just touches our southern borderline."

"No," again, I replied to him without hesitation.

Daxton's eyes cut back to where I sat. "Quiet, Alessandra, the adults are speaking right now."

"Watch your tongue, Daxton," I sneered his way. "We are already giving you access to some of our best healers, not to mention the old texts of the moonstone. We will not give you our land."

"I'm not asking you," his green eyes took on a darker hue. "You are here as a favor. I didn't want you in this meeting; your father requested you be present, but only if you were silent."

I ground the back of my teeth together. The pressure was so intense I felt the crack of my enamel.

"Daxton, watch yourself. She is my daughter and heir."

"My son will be your heir." Daxton whipped his head in my father's direction. "She is not your heir anymore."

"As long as I'm alive and have not given birth, then I am still the heir to this pack. Watch yourself, Vale, before I rip your tongue from your mouth." From the moment I had laid eyes on this man, he had been nothing but patronizing. He was trying to push me over the edge, and I could see the little glint in his eyes every time he dug his knife a little deeper.

Daxton removed his eyes from my face and turned back to my father. "As I was saying, we will require the land by Lake Rova."

My father stared my fiancé down. His face showed me that he wanted to speak, but my mouth opened on its own accord before he could even speak.

"We give nothing to murderers."

This caught everyone's attention. Elliot's eyes narrowed on me, and Daxton looked like he was ready to hurl me right across the room.

"Excuse me?" Elliot spoke up for the first time. "We are not murderers."

I scoffed, "Of course you would say that. Your entire pack is complicit in the massacre of my people all those years ago."

"Alessandra," my father was trying to de-escalate the situation, but the only thing that would make any of this better was if this man left my land immediately.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

My eye twitched. It was the fact that he refused to acknowledge the terror he and his father allowed to happen after we begged them for aid. Had they shown their kindness then, maybe, just maybe, my family would be whole.

"There is blood on your hands, Alpha." I spat in his face.

"Your lack of strength in your pack is not my problem, Alessandra."

I gasped at him, my nails dug into the wood of the chair. "You have some nerve saying that when you know what you and your father did to my pack."

"We did what we needed to for our wolves."

I didn't know if it had been the culmination of all that had transpired before we got into the meeting room, or if it was the fact that he blatantly denied his involvement in the massacre of my people. Whatever it was, my wolf seemed to be at her wit's end, and she surged forward, taking part of the control away from me.

I stood up abruptly, the chair behind me falling to the ground with a loud clatter. My claws elongated, as well as my fangs.

I bared my teeth at my fiancé and readied myself to attack.

"Alessandra," my father remained seated behind his desk. He didn't bother to get up from his seat. "Hold yourself, daughter."

His words were merely nothing but background noise in my ears. All my mind could focus on was sinking my teeth into the neck of Daxton Vale.

"Oh, the pup wants to play?" His lips tilted into a smirk, only adding to the raging emotions inside of me. I could see from the look in his eyes he was daring me to do something. He wanted me to take action because then it would provoke him into taking action. "Are you feeling feisty, froggy? Then jump."

I took a step forward, and his beta came into view quickly. He stared me down with a hard look in his eyes.

"Unless you want to die, I suggest that you move, beta."

"I'm protecting my alpha," Elliot crossed his arms over his chest. "Now unless you want to start a war within here, I would suggest that you step back, please. I don't want to have to touch you."

I growled, and my wolf felt challenged by his stubbornness. But even though the anger was pouring into my system, I held her back.

Taking Daxton on, one on one, was like wishing for a death sentence. He was a fully realized alpha and I was only but a fledgling compared to him. However, his beta, on the other hand? I knew I was more powerful than him simply because of the blood that coursed through my veins.

"Ale," this time my father did stand up. I could see him lean over the desk in my peripheral vision. His heated gaze penetrated the side of my skull, willing me to look at him.

The alpha authority in his tone compelled me to submit, but my own pride kept me rooted in my stance.

"Alessandra," this time his authority penetrated right into my skull. My wolf whined and settled to the back of my mind.

I broke my stare-off with Elliot and stepped away from him, trying to give myself enough room to breathe. I turned my head to face my father and inclined it to show my submission to his command.

"That's enough now." He spoke into the thick silence. "Regardless of what has transpired in the past, we are looking to the future now. Daxton and Elliot are our guests and should be treated as such."

"Of course, Alpha." I rarely called my father by his title. And when I did, it usually signified to him that I was upset. I lifted my head and met his gaze. "Forgive me. I let my emotions get the better of me. It won't happen again."

He didn't want to scold me, I could see the conflict reflecting brightly in his eyes. But he also had to show his acceptance of his new son-in-law and the agreement he had garnered.

This was bigger than just me and my emotions. It was about the greater good of all wolf-kind. This alliance was our last Hail Mary in an attempt to keep the traditions and values of our people. I needed to think of the innocents who were depending on me to make this union work. I could not be selfish.

"You will leave with Daxton in the next three days when he is scheduled to return to his home. They will then send their warriors here to help bolster our shields and boundary lines."

"Three days?" My chest tightened. "I thought I had more time."

"The rogues grow stronger by the second, my child. Waiting these three days is all I can offer you."

So I had 72 hours to pack up my entire life and leave the home I had known since birth.

All I knew were the borderlines of Blood Moon. I had never left the lines for 23 years, and the first time I did, it was because I was being banished by my father.

Were my words a little dramatic? Yes. But I could not help but feel so despondent. I had been raised to be this leader who stood up for her pack and faced adversity with courage and bravery. Why did it suddenly feel like all my years of training meant nothing? I was simply being given off to be a bride.

"I understand." I was desperately trying to understand and come to terms with the new reality that I faced. I was trying to keep a level head and remember my pack and her people. This was what being a leader was. It was sacrifice and selflessness. It was to be a servant to those you lead.

And even with all this reasoning in my mind, I still could not help but feel sad. I was losing something, and I deserved the right to mourn it. I had woken up in the morning as the sole heir to the Blood Moon pack. It had only just passed noon, and not only had I had my inheritance ripped from under my feet, but I also had all my freedoms ripped away.

This alliance had barely begun, and I already felt like I had given away a huge piece of myself. I feared how much more of myself I would have to surrender.

This marriage was going to kill me, I just knew it.