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Now, when I step up beside her—it seems I should be at her side in a moment like this—I have the displeasure of smelling Forrest on her. His scent clings to her like a cheap cologne, and it sickens me. The wolf stirs in my chest, and I’m barely able to keep him in line for all his straining and fighting. Mine is the only scent she should carry besides her own. This isn’t some nameless, unimportant piece of ass we picked up at the Full Moon or anywhere else females happened to be hanging around, looking for a quick fuck. I’m not interested in sharing this one.
And in a moment like this, when she verbally accepts me as her mate and then lies to her own father to protect me, it seems obscene that my brother’s scent should be what clings to her skin and hair. My wolf is nearly in a frenzy that determined to rectify things. She’s ours. No one else’s.
Benedict is still hesitant and regretful. I doubt his regret has anything to do with storming in here and making an ass out of himself. He regrets my being her mate. “She could do much worse,” I murmur, and the flash of anger behind his eyes at the way I can read his thoughts brings a smile of grim satisfaction to my lips.
“He only needs a little bit of time to come to terms with it,” Lili decides, still staring at him. “Right? It isn’t easy for a father to step aside and admit his daughter has grown up.”
She is downright masterful, the way she knows how to twist him around her finger. Now I understand why Daniel was willing to make so many allowances for her. It isn’t only that she is his beta’s daughter. The man clearly loves her and probably insisted his alpha protect her, even if her very existence left the pack vulnerable.
When I look at it that way, I can understand his ridiculous show of force.
Almost.
Clearly, my father feels the same way. “Now, Benedict. Is there anything you wish to say? Because from where I’m standing, what you did today is no less than a declaration of war.”
Benedict wears the expression of a man with his balls in a vice. I don’t envy him one bit. “Now, let’s hold on a moment here. It doesn’t have to go that far.”
“You stormed in here and held a knife to my son, the future alpha of this pack. Don’t tell me a beta isn’t aware of what that sort of action can lead to.” He’s downright apoplectic, teeth bared, his face dark with rage. “You expect me to let this go?”
“I expect you to understand where I’m coming from as a father,” Benedict mutters, reaching out to touch his daughter’s cheek. Even that is almost too much for my wolf, who wants to slap his hand away. “My daughter is kidnapped, and then I hear she’s nearly killed and hovering between life and death under some foreign healer’s care. How was I supposed to react?”
“You could have called.” Forrest snorts at this, and Dad throws an angry expression his way.
“As I said,” Benedict murmurs, turning to him. “I did what any father would do. And look, I got the answers I couldn’t get from you. Don’t act like I didn’t call.” A slight growl tinges his words. “All I got was a runaround.”
“What do you think your alpha will do when he learns of this?”
Enough is enough. I’m all about making this asshole feel small and pitiful for holding a knife to my throat, but this might be taking things a bit too far. I’m about to step up and speak on his behalf, but Lili manages to step between them.
“Wilde wasn’t hurt, was he?” she asks Dad, her voice sweet and gentle.
“Who’s to say if you hadn’t come in when you did?”
“You don’t think your son can defend himself?” she says with a little bit of a laugh, like it’s all a big joke. “I don’t believe that. He was acting like a concerned father. You can’t blame him for worrying about me. Why don’t we let this go?” I don’t know if she’s aware of it or not, or whether she does it on purpose, but she touches her hand to her chest while looking him in the eye. “Don’t we have bigger problems to worry about right now?”
That does it. Dad’s still frowning, but I watch as the outrage drains from him. “You make a good point.”
“I’m sure my dad will never do anything like this again.” She’s not so gentle or sweet when she turns his way, her eyes narrowing a fraction. “Isn’t that right?”
Look at this. The beta getting dressed down by his daughter. I have to wonder if he’d be this forgiving and easily cowed if he hadn’t just found out she’s alive and well. “That’s right,” he grumbles.
