“What happens until then?” Doreen seemed to accept his response.
“She lives her life. Finishes college and, until she’s ready, finds a job. I want access to all of her information. As of now, I’m her sole guardian.” With each word he said, Micah sensed the strings holding him to Charlotte tighten.#p#分页标题#e#
“You can’t be agreeing to this,” Frank said to his wife.
“What other choice do we have? The decision has been made. We’re lucky Micah didn’t kill her or let this other man take her. At least now she’ll have some form of a normal life.”
Micah watched the conflicting emotions on Charlotte’s parents’ faces. He was surprised Doreen had accepted her daughter’s fate. Because of that one act, he respected her far more than Frank.
“This is unfair.” Frank cursed and stood up from his chair, going to the back of the kitchen. Cade and his other two bodyguards blocked his path. “What? I’m not even allowed out of my own fucking house?”
“Watch your language.” Doreen was the strongest in their partnership, so Micah addressed the alpha of the house. “I’ve come regarding another matter”
“What else do you need to discuss?”
“Kim cannot go unpunished. She brought another alpha to my door and a pack of his strongest men into my town. They could have caused all manner of damage.”
“I said I was sorry—”
Doreen stopped Kim from saying another word by raising her hand in the air.
“If I let this slide, it means other townspeople could bring more danger here. I can’t let that happen.”
“I understand. What are you planning to do?” Doreen asked.
“She must be banished from Rock Wood. I don’t want her stepping foot in my town again.”
“This is scandalous,” Frank yelled, coming closer to Micah. “First you’re taking one of my daughters to mate her, and don’t get me started on how sick that is, and the next, you want me to get rid of my own daughter?”
“I suggest you calm down,” Micah ordered the irate man in front of him.
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do in my own house.” Frank pointed a finger at Micah.
The simple move was all it took for him to snap. Faster than any human could detect, he had Frank locked down in a chokehold, bent over the dinner table.
“In my world, I’d have the person in Kim’s position killed to make an example of her. Be thankful I’m only banishing the little bitch. Do you understand?” When Frank didn’t respond, Micah applied more pressure.
“I said, do you understand?”
Frank jerked his head in a nod.
“I want Kim gone by tomorrow morning. I’ll be by to check.” Micah walked out of the room and glanced up the stairs one final time. He inhaled a lungful of air, the scent of Charlotte distracting him.
Cade stood waiting until Micah built up the strength to turn away and leave his mate behind. Micah got into the car, and it felt like he was being kicked in the gut as the car pulled away from the house Driving away from the woman he needed more than the full moon was wrong.
“I hate to say this to you, sir, but you sure know how to pick ’em,” Jordan, the man driving, said to him.
Micah didn’t bother to respond.
“Do you think she’ll come to you?” Cade asked.
“I’ve got no choice but to hope. Either she comes to me, or I’ll have to go to her. The need within me will only be contained for so long. She’ll come to me, or I’ll have no choice but to go to her and claim her. Charlotte has become part of me. I pray she’ll accept me before then.” Micah stopped talking. He didn’t need to voice his concerns aloud. They all knew the result of claiming if the mate hadn’t already started relations. On the way back to his bar, Micah cursed his werewolf form, the full moon, and the claiming he knew he’d have to do.#p#分页标题#e#
Chapter Four
Two years later...
On the last day of college, Charlotte had mixed emotions. She was happy she’d passed all of her exams but saddened her sister wouldn’t be able to make her final ceremony. For the past two years, Kim had written to her off and on about her travels—Italy, Spain, Romania, Egypt, all wonderful places Charlotte had only ever read about, let alone thought of visiting.
Charlotte thought back to the morning after Kim had taken her to that bar on the edge of Rock Wood. When she’d woken up the following morning to see her mom and dad standing over her panicked, she’d been in shock. The events from the night Kim took her to that bar on the edge of town were still fuzzy. One face kept coming back to her—short dark hair and eyes as gray as the moon, a handsome man, but one who excited her. And yet, at the same time, she sensed fear inside her whenever she thought of him.