Angel Blackwood(77)

“I can’t. I have to do something. I need to do it alone. I’ve got to go,” I say, wiping away the tears.

“No, come home, Angel. Please come…” I close the connection and her words disappear.





****





I head for the woods not knowing which direction to take or where to go. I eventually decide to just walk until I end up somewhere. Walking through the dense forest, I feel the moment I move out of my territory and onto the Crystal Bay Pack’s land; Alpha Caspian’s territory.

I walk along the boundary line in the deep woods, thinking about what happened this evening and how my father spoke to me - the things he’s expecting of me.





“Little she-wolf all alone in the forest at this time of night? Lucky I found you before another big bad wolf came across you.” I keep quiet when I hear his voice. Sub-consciously, I knew this is where I had to go and what I had to do here. I just didn’t expect him to find me so quickly.

“I knew the minute you decided to cross onto my land, lucky for you I wasn’t too far away.” Caspian closes in on me and I watch him make his way down the path and come into the moonlight. It’s the first time I’ve seen him without a suit on; he’s is a plain grey shirt and black gym pants. He looks as if he’s been on a run.

I stand my ground as he stalks up to me, his eyes never leaving mine.

“I’m not marrying you,” I spit out, meeting his stare. He doesn’t even flinch.

He lifts his hand up and brushes his thumb across my jawline. “I don’t think you have a say in the matter. Your father didn’t have to tell me what I already knew. It took me a while to research, to figure things out after I saw that you weren’t healing, but you need me. I can protect you,” he says, with the arrogance I have come to expect from him.

“I don’t need you!” My voice rises.

His lips curl up and he leans into me. I try taking a step back, but his grip holds me in place. I feel his lips on my ear as he whispers huskily, “You do, Angel. I know your secrets, I know all of them and I still want to keep you. You should feel honoured.”

I push at his chest and he moves away to give me a little space to look up at him.

“I don’t need you. I don’t need any-”

“Oh, I think you do. You need me and you know it. You don’t want to need me, but you do. What will you father do to the twins once he finds out about what they’ve been putting you through. What will he say about the first mate that rejected you? You think your father is going to accept that an inferior Alpha like Jackson rejected his daughter because he thought she’d make a weak Luna? I don’t think your father will take it lightly, this may start an entirely new war between the packs.” His solemn voice has me frozen in place.

How does he know all about this? He knows everything.

Only two people know this…

“No,” I whisper, when realization hits.

“Yes, Axel spilt the beans. Not like he had a choice in the matter though. He tried keeping me out of his head, he tried really hard, but I’m stronger than him and he wouldn’t dare disobey me, his Alpha.”

“Did you hurt him?” I blurt out, more worried about Axel’s safety than the fact that he didn’t keep his promise.

Caspian chuckles, his chest vibrating under my hands. “Of course I didn’t harm him, he’s still one of my closest friends. I understood why he kept your secret, and he understood me when I told him that I’m the only one that could keep you safe. It’s true, besides your father, I’m the strongest most powerful pack leader. Should your secret ever come out, Axel knows that I’ll be able to protect you no matter what.”

“Why do you want to do that? Why would you want to marry me and make me your Luna?” I don’t know what to make of all of this.

“It’s simple. Your father and I are the strongest leaders, I will never harm him to take his land. So the next best thing is to merge our territories, and that leads us to this conclusion. You marry me and we become the leaders of the biggest most controlling territory in all the states. You being a beautiful little trophy on my arm is just a bonus.” He brushes my jawline again with his thumb.

“I’m not marrying you,” I grit out, pushing against his chest once again.

“You will, Angel.”

I shake my head.

“Or your father and I will have another discussion and I’ll tell him all that I know, all that you have yet to tell him. Imagine all the people that will get caught in the crossfire.” His voice turns low as he ends off with a growl.

“You’re blackmailing me?” This time I manage to shove against him hard enough that I’m able to get space between us.