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“Explain, please,” I said.
“The moment your father traded his life for yours, he had a witch call on ancient magic that bound you to his opponent.”
My stomach twisted. I didn’t like where this was going. “To Luke?”
She nodded. “Your life and his are connected. If anyone kills him, it’ll also kill you.”
“You do realize that my dad has no reason to want me alive.” It hurt to say those words out loud, but it was the truth.
“Unfortunately, we discovered that after we agreed to take you in.” She sounded disappointed. “We were hoping you’d have dirt on your dad.”
“Sorry you got played,” I said. “But I still don’t see why that means I have to stay here. I’ve got a life at home. A bar I run, a friend who’s probably worried sick about me.” Guilt squeezed around my chest at the thought of Jasmine. I should have been thinking about her sooner. What if my dad did something terrible to her?
“You don’t get it,” Zoe shook her head, “It’s not a one-way bond. You are basically two-halves of the same whole now. If anyone kills him, you die. But the same goes for you. If they kill you, he dies.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “So, you’re saying my dad wants Luke dead for some reason and then he used some magic to bind my life to his?”
Zoe nodded.
“My dad hates witches. He never leaves the pack. Your pack has wards. How did he even get in? How did he even find you if you really are the Lost Pack?” The questions were endless. None of this made sense.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. What we do know, is that if you go home, there’s a good chance your father is going to kill you himself,” she said.
ChapterNine
Morgan
I stopped breathing,and it felt like the whole world froze in place. As if time stood still.
“You get it now,” Zoe said. “Why you can’t go back.”
Slowly, I made myself take a breath. The world was moving again, but everything had changed. I understood completely.
My dad had played them all. He’d made it even easier to win. He couldn’t defeat a younger, stronger shifter but he could kill me.
I stumbled backward and fell onto the bed. I knew I wasn’t important to him. I knew he’d seen me as a burden. But I never realized he’d use me as a pawn this way. How long had he planned this? Was it a last-minute thing? Had he thought he’d win? Or had he intended it all along?
“You know you have to stay here,” Zoe said gently. “We can’t lose Luke. He’s too important to the people here.”
“So I’m a prisoner? I just spend the rest of my life like this?” I asked.
“Not forever, no,” she said. “Just until Luke kills your dad.”
That was not what I expected. “Can’t he just fight him? He almost won before.”
“We can’t yet,” she said. “There are complications.”
“Like what?” I insisted.
She cocked a brow.
“Don’t judge me,” I snapped. “My dad beat my mother. He traded my life for his. I am not going to pretend I’d rather he live and me die.”
“I’m not judging. I’m just surprised that you’re willing to admit that rather than play pretend like most people.” She shrugged. “But trust me. His time will come. In the meantime, we have to keep you and Luke both alive.”
“What could possibly be worth letting him off the hook?” I asked. “Why didn’t he just end him in that fight?”
“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that. You might be stuck here, but you’re not pack,” she said.
