Page 64 of Chained By the Alpha (Claimed Duet #1)

· Cleo ·

The next morning

My father promised me an answer today, and all night, I was up trying to find the reasoning behind his decisions and why he needs me to play along, yet I came up empty. The moment Lydia and Linda leave for the day to go Goddess knows where, I go hunting for my father.

I don’t have to search long before I find him in the study.

His yelling at someone over the phone is a dead giveaway.

My heart sinks when I see his face. He is wearing a serious expression, and I know something is wrong.

There’s a faint scent of coffee and cologne lingering in the air, overpowered by the smell of stress and tension emanating from my father. It’s suffocating.

He hangs up when I enter, and I fall into the seat across from him while he runs his fingers through his hair and sighs heavily.

My father’s face is tense and drawn, his brow furrowed with worry. I can see the exhaustion in his eyes, the lines of stress etched into his features. His shoulders sag as he exhales heavily.

“So?” I begin, and he leans back in his chair, his dark eyes watching me.

He steeples his fingers under his chin like he is trying to work out where to begin.

“You promised me answers,” I remind him, he nods reluctantly.

The air is thick with the musty scent of old books and secrets.

“Why am I suddenly engaged to Boyd? I don’t understand.

Why would you even agree to that in the first place? ”

He shuts his laptop screen, a silent signal that he’s giving me his full attention—an act so rare it heightens my anxiety even more.

“Cleo, I know this is a lot to take in, and I wish I could have protected you from it for a little longer. But you’re my heir, and you need to know the truth.” His words hang heavily in the air like an ominous storm cloud, dampening the musty scent of old books and secrets that permeate the room.

“What truth? Why me? Why not Lydia?”

The look that flashes across his face is equal parts pain and fury. It’s gone as quickly as it came. “I should have told you earlier, prepared you better for this day. I was selfish. I wanted to keep you innocent for as long as possible.”

“Wait, how long has this been planned for?”

“Roughly two years now,” he answers, and my brows raise. Two years and he never said anything?

My breath catches in my throat at his admission. My father was never one for displays of affection or vulnerability. The seriousness in his eyes tells me he means every word he says.

He gets up and pours himself a glass of bourbon, gesturing to me with the bottle. I shake my head no; I can’t stomach it right now if my life depended on it. He takes a long swig before placing the glass back down on his desk with a thud that rattles its very foundation.

“Cleo, if your mother was alive, she would have killed me for the mess I’ve made.

I’m supposed to keep you safe no matter the cost, and this is part of that.

Not only that, I can’t risk the pack.” His voice trembles slightly with emotion, as though even after all these years, losing her still affects him just as much as the day it happened.

“I never wanted this for you, and I will try to find a way out of it.” His voice is gentle, but there’s an undercurrent of steel in it. My hands clench the armrests.

“Your engagement to Boyd was never suggested initially. It is the only way to ensure we don’t lose the pack.” He pauses, rubbing his temples as if to ward off a headache—or perhaps the guilt gnawing at him. “If you back out right now. We will lose the pack, Cleo.”

“The pack?” I echo, incredulous. “How can marrying Boyd be keeping the pack? It’s our pack.”

He leans forward, clasping his hands on the desk. “Alpha Dane has… leverage over me, Cleo. If we do not comply with his wishes, he will use it to destroy our pack and my position within the council; the pack will be dismantled or taken as collateral.”

“You’re being blackmailed?” Fear and anger swirl in my gut. “You would trade me to keep your secrets?”

“Secrets,” he murmurs, almost to himself, “that date back years before you were even born, until not too recently.” There’s a haunted look in his eyes now, one that chills me to the bone.

“Years?” My mind races, trying to piece together the fragments of overheard conversations and whispered rumors, however I come up empty. “What did you do?”

“Some more pressing and recent than most. It’s not just what I’ve done, but what could be revealed.” His gaze holds mine steady and imploring. “Cleo, I need you to trust me. Marrying Boyd is the only way to ensure the safety of our pack, your future, and your mother’s legacy.”

“And what of my happiness? My choice?”

“Choice is a luxury we can’t afford right now.” He stands, coming around the desk to place a hand on my shoulder. “I know this is hard to accept, but it’s necessary, at least until I find some way out of it or something to use against Alpha Dane.”

“And if you don’t, I’m what? Just stuck and married to that fool?” The question hovers between us, with heavy implications. “Or is this just another sacrifice on the altar of power and politics, another leg up for you?”

“Both,” he admits, and the honesty in his voice stings more than any lie. “Mostly, it’s a father trying to protect his daughter from the fallout of his own mistakes.”

“Protect me by marrying me off?” I stand abruptly, knocking his hand away. “By binding me to someone I barely know, let alone love? Someone who isn’t my mate?”

His expression softens, and for a moment, I see the burden he carries—the weight of leadership, of decisions made I’m not privy to. “Love can grow, Cleo. And Boyd… he’s not a bad man, an idiot maybe, but not bad.”

“Maybe not, but he’s not…” I trail off, realizing who I am going to say is the one person I want to be with and can’t. My thoughts drift momentarily to Zayn’s touch, the way my skin sings under his caress, the heat of his skin against mine. Those memories feel like a world away now.

“Cleo,” his voice is low and burdened. “What I’ve done, it was to protect us, to shield our pack from an unseen storm. I made a mistake, at the time I was out of options.”

“I want to know what you did?”

He moves back to his chair and sits heavily in it. “I’ve been the treasurer of the council for over a decade until that was handed over to Dane, not long before Zayn took over from his father.”

I know exactly what he’s done.

“You stole the council funds, and Dane caught you, didn’t he?” I ask him, and he turns his gaze away from me.

“Among other things, yes, Alpha Dane put the money back. I couldn’t keep up with the bills or payment arrangements I had with him and…”

“You did it again. You wiped out the council treasury for the city.” He nods, looking at his hands.

“It’s also why I refused Zayn’s pack protection; I couldn’t afford it.

We needed protection, so I went to Samuel.

Linda convinced him. I didn’t realize Samuel was also paying the extra to put our borders on his patrol list. Samuel became another person to whom I owed money. I was trying to protect the—”

“Don’t! You weren’t trying to protect us! Stealing from the very community we vowed to serve?” My words are sharp as claws, unsheathed by betrayal.

“Every Alpha faces trials that threaten the fabric of their pack. Sometimes, survival demands difficult choices.” He stands, moving closer with the predatory grace that commands respect even now.

“Difficult choices?” I echo incredulously. “Or reckless gambles? How is it possible to blow through that much money?”

“Just listen to me! Let me try to explain.” His command slices through the tension.

“The treasury funds were meant for emergencies, for development, for aiding others. What of our own people? Our pack was bleeding, Cleo. We faced a crisis that demanded I do something, so I used the funds. The council was defaulting on taxes to the human government. I thought I could recoup the money in time.”

“Then why hide it? Why not seek counsel?” I demand, fists clenching at my sides.

“If the council knew the depth of what I owed, they’d strip us of our land and appoint overseers.

I couldn’t allow that. The werewolf council came under fire for tax evasion from humans and their governments.

We have to pay a certain amount each year to ensure the council remains under pack control,” His eyes burn with anger that frightens me.

My mind reels at the revelations, and I’m torn between understanding his actions and feeling betrayed by all the secrecy.

“You should have told me,” I say, my voice shaking with emotion. “I could have helped you come up with a plan. We could have figured this out.”

“I couldn’t risk it,” my father replies, his voice a whisper now. “If the council found out, they would have taken everything from us. Our pack would be left with nothing.”

“You took everything from them,” I say bitterly. “You betrayed their trust.”

“I know,” he says, bowing his head in shame. “I had to do something. Our pack was suffering, and I couldn’t just sit back and let it happen.”

I can see the desperation in his eyes, and all my anger dissipates into worry for him and our pack.

“How much do we owe?” I ask, trying to sound calm.

“Enough that if we didn’t pay it back, we’d lose everything. Alpha Dane helped cover up the initial amount.”

“We’ll figure something out. We’ll come up with a plan to get the money back, then come clean, Dad. Zayn is on the council, Greyson; they’ll back us.” I tell him, he shakes his head. “Zayn definitely won’t if he finds out.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.

“I kept getting extensions. Eventually, they caught onto the fact that the city hadn’t paid in years. I had no choice at the time, Cleo, and I would have lost our pack’s place on the council. I can’t ask Greyson for help, the…”

“Is your pride worth more than asking for help?” I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks.