Page 7 of Bound to the Dragon (Wild Fated Shifters #3)

MADISON

“ M om, you have to calm down!” She’s getting worse by the minute, her body heaving with sobs, every word I speak seeming to make her condition worse. Nothing I can do or say is placating her, and her nerves are fraying mine. “The Alpha is going to be up here any second, and you’re a wreck!”

“The rogues came here for us!” Her wails reach a fever pitch and are starting to send me into a spiral. She needs to keep her voice down, but she’s not showing any signs of relaxing.

“What other reason would there be for them coming here today of all days?”

I don’t want to admit that she’s right, but I also don’t want to fuel her panic by giving her more ammunition.

“Mom, you don’t know it was them for sure,” I say, trying to sound reasonable. I hope that my low tone will encourage her to relax.

Virginia enters the bedroom area, my friend’s eyes wide and worried.

“What is it, Virginia?”

“The Alpha is at the door looking for you.” She scrunches up her face in concern. “He doesn’t look happy.”

Great. Also, what a shock. When does Blaze ever look happy? I haven’t seen the Alpha smile yet.

“Not now. Tell him to come back.”

Virginia stares at me like I’ve lost my mind, and I immediately realize how stupid what I just said was. She’s in no position to turn away the Alpha.

“I can’t do that, Maddi.”

She’s right, of course, and I’m already on Blaze’s bad side. I have to deal with him.

My eyes narrow at my mom. “You don’t move. Don’t say a word.” I extend my finger to get my point across.

She nods and lowers her head as I rise from the bed to find my mate stalking across the sitting room, his hands folded behind his back. He stops abruptly when he sees me, and I’m taken aback to see a look of relief on his face.

“You can’t do that!” Smoke emanates from his nostrils.

I stare back at him in confusion. “Do what?”

“You can’t just disappear without telling anyone where you went!”

Baffled, I tip my head back and peer into his conflicted face, trying to understand his anger. But it’s not just anger. There’s genuine concern plastered all over his face.

“I was trying to calm my mother down,” I explain slowly, careful not to rile him up any more than he already is. “She’s in the bedroom.”

His shoulders sag slightly, and he rights his body as if he’s collecting himself in recognition of his grave overreaction. “I’ve told the Silver Glade pack to go home. You should see your mother out, too.”

I frown. “She isn’t really in any position to be traveling right now. She’s very upset.”

“I don’t want anyone but my pack here.” He’s not asking, and like Virginia had just said, you can’t refuse the Alpha.

“She’s my mother!”

“She’s not a part of the Shadow Pine pack. I’ll have a car take her home, along with some of my enforcers. She will be safe. A car will be waiting out front.”

He gives me another once over before eying Virginia, lingering at the threshold of the bedroom and sitting room. “You, too. Collect your things. It’s time to go home. You can ride with Lynelle.”

“Yes, Alpha.” There’s no hesitation in Virginia’s response, and I give her a sad look. I had hoped for a little bit of resistance.

Blaze leaves, and I watch him retreat.

“Just like that?” I ask my friend sadly. “You’re leaving?”

She scoffs so loudly, it’s almost a cough. “Is that a joke? What do you want me to do, Maddi? Take on the Alpha?”

“No, of course not,” I sigh and turn to my mother, who is already gathering her things. “You don’t have to go,” I inform her flatly. “You should stay until you calm down.”

She keeps packing. “It’s not safe here. I’m not staying.”

“Mom, if it’s who we think it is, you’re not safe back at Silver Glade, either.”

She stops and looks at me with haunted eyes. “This was supposed to make us safer, all of us. How could they come here, on the day of your ceremony? They have been sitting in wait all along!”

Hysteria creeps into her words again, but before she can launch into another diatribe, one of the Shadow Pine enforcers hovers at the threshold. “Luna, your mother’s car is waiting at the front of the estate.”

I don’t acknowledge him. “Mom, I’m serious, you’re probably safer here?—”

“How can you say that after what just happened?” She secures her bag and grabs the handle, stalking out of the room without so much as a backward look at me.

I throw up my hands in disbelief.

Virginia trails after my mother, but she pauses to give me a sympathetic look. “I would stay if the Alpha would allow it.”

“Just go. There’s no point in antagonizing him. If he isn’t going to let my mother stay, he won’t let you, either.”

She steps closer and lowers her voice so the enforcer in the hall can’t hear us. “Do you think he’s worried about us? About our pack?”

I don’t want to create more unrest than is already floating around. I’m not worried that Virginia is going to start rumors, but it will still cause her unnecessary stress.

She knows my secret, too, and I trust her to keep it.

“No one knows anything yet.” That much is true.

This attack is too fresh to jump to any conclusions, and I won’t make any snap judgments, even though in my heart, I’m sure this has everything to do with what happened years ago.

I see them out into the hallway, but stop short of walking them down the stairs when I catch a glimpse of Blaze at the landing, waiting impatiently for the rest of my pack to leave the property. I’m not ready for the discussion with him, not yet.

“Text me when you get back home,” I tell my mom and Virginia. “It doesn’t matter what time. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”

As they disappear down the steps, I retreat to my suite to change out of the outfit I’d thrown together in the wake of my shift following the attack. My beautiful ceremony dress was ruined in my haste to follow Blaze when he took the wolf shifter prisoner, and it broke my heart a little.

This mating was doomed from the start. I should have listened to my instincts.

Stripping off the t-shirt and leggings, I dig out a modest V-neck green sweater and a pair of jeans from the armoire.

Lillian had organized everything perfectly; pants, shirts, sweaters, dresses, all aligned and color coordinated for me.

The rest of my belongings had arrived from home yesterday, and the assistant managed to find a place for everything.

Still, it doesn’t feel like my house, my room. I’ll be expected to share a bed with the Alpha starting tonight, but, gauging by the way Lillian placed everything, my belongings are staying exactly where they are permanently.

I turn to look out the balcony window and draw in a deep, shaky breath before dressing. A car door slams in the distance, and it gives me a sense of finality. They’re all going now, leaving me alone in my personal, gold-lined prison.

“Oh!” a male voice calls from behind me.

I spin, hair fanning around my bare shoulders. Still in my underwear, I catch the back of Blaze’s head as he ducks away from the bedroom door.

Furiously, I grab for my sweater and throw it over my head. “Don’t you believe in knocking?”

“I did knock!” he protests. “But the door was open, anyway. Do you always parade around naked? There are others in this house, too, you know?”

Wriggling into my jeans, I stomp out to confront him. “I wouldn’t expect people to come creeping in on me while I’m in my room.”

He bares his teeth. “I’m your mate. This is my house. I can come and go anywhere I please.”

A flicker of unease prickles down my spine, and it must reflect in my eyes, because his face softens, and he looks away. “But like I said, I knocked.” He sucks in a breath before continuing. “We need to talk about what happened today. Sit down.”

Swallowing, I fold my arms over my chest. “I’m fine standing.”

He glowers at me and sits on the settee. “I can see that everything is going to be an argument with you. Even the most basic things. Will it kill you to sit down?”

I ponder his request, and a wave of contrition washes over me. He’s right. I’m just being purposefully petulant now. Tentatively, I sit on the edge of one of the wing chairs.

“That’s better, isn’t it? Any reason we can’t see eye-to-eye on some things at least?”

He’s doing his best to make peace. Besides, I’m already exhausted from all of the fighting, with Blaze, my pack, and myself. It feels nice to not be on edge, even for just a minute.

“Your mother and friend have left in the same car. The driver will inform me when they’ve returned home. I’ll let you know right away.”

I blink at the unexpected kindness of his gesture. It’s not much, but it tells me he knows I’m worried about their safety, even if he doesn’t fully trust us.

“Thank you. My mother can be a little unpredictable.”

“I know. Your father used to say the same thing.” His answer surprises me.

My body stiffens at the mention of my father. “You knew him well?”

His astute hazel eyes linger on my face a little too long for my liking, as if he’s trying to read me. I shift my gaze away. “Well, he was the Beta of your pack before he passed.”

I arch an eyebrow. “Does that automatically make you best friends?”

I cringe at my thoughtless response. I hadn’t meant to sound so rude, but knowing what I do about my father and Granger, I’m suddenly annoyed to think of my mate and father having anything in common.

My response irks him. “Are you always sarcastic, or is it some kind of defense mechanism?”

“Are you always uptight, or do you loosen up once in a while?”

To my surprise, the question brings a smirk to his lips. “Attempted mass murder doesn’t put me in a lighthearted mood.”

Shamed, I hang my head. “I haven’t forgotten what happened today.”

“No? It seems like you’re taking it in stride. And it seems like you know more about it than you’re saying.”

It takes everything in me not to gasp. How could he possibly know that?

“How could I know anything? What are you accusing me of? I told you my pack got attacked, too! Why are you saying that?”

The questions and denials only make me sound guiltier, especially when they fire out in a torrent.

Blaze’s expression echoes my thoughts. “The prisoners looked at you like you knew something.”

Blood drains out of my face. “What did they say?”

“What do you think they said?” He leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees, and stares intently at me, the distrust palpable.

“I have no idea. I don’t know any of those shifters. I’ve never seen them before in my life.”

That’s all true, and Blaze must have caught a note of sincerity in the statement. “Fine. Let’s go find out for sure then.”

He stands, and I stare at him blankly. “What?”

“There are still two down there. One of them will talk if they want to live. I want you there with me when they do.”

Dread knots my stomach. Now is the time to tell him, to spill the entire sordid story and let him know what my father had done. But the truth sticks to the roof of my mouth like peanut butter, and I only stand, unable to formulate the words.

How can I possibly tell him gently that he has allied himself with such a treacherous pack?

“Are you coming?” He waits for me at the door.

My mind races with excuses. I discard them, one after the other. Sooner or later, the truth will likely come out.

But maybe this attack had nothing to do with the rogue shifters who have hunted our pack since my father’s unforgivable betrayal. Maybe this really is something unrelated. And I’m not going to reveal the truth until it’s absolutely necessary.

“Yep. I’m coming.” Squaring my shoulders, I hold my head high and remember who I am.

I’m Madison, Luna of Shadow Pine.