Alpha Protector (Shadow Sentinels World #3)

Chapter 22

S tone.

“Marriage? You can’t be fucking serious.” My boots clicked on the highly polished floor of my father’s office as I paced in front of his desk. I cracked my neck, trying to release my cramping muscles. I was going to kill my father the moment Shannon was safe. My fury was a living, breathing thing under my skin. He needed to stop fucking touching her. My palms stung, and it took all my self-control to force my claws away and unfurl my fists.

Shannon’s gaze was lowered to the floor, her face pale and her hands trembling as she knelt beside my father. My wolf’s rage, combined with mine, was becoming more difficult to control the longer my father kept his hand on the back of her neck.

I shouldn’t have left her. I’d known something was wrong, sensed danger from the moment we’d arrived at that godsdamned cottage. I should have known better. Even if I’d not sensed any life, I’d known something evil was nearby, though I’d not considered it might have anything to do with my father. He’d always used a significant force when hunting me down, so I’d expected news to reach me through Ventry’s spies. It had been a stupid mistake to ignore that my father’s influence had always exceeded his borders.

“You were the one who always told me I didn’t belong, who didn’t want me tainting the blood of the Fae with my wolf. Now you want to marry me off to some Unseelie female? An enemy we’ve fought for centuries? For what? What do you get out of the deal?”

My father had always been a selfish, power-hungry bastard, but a deal with his enemy was pushing it, even for him. He’d spent hundreds, possibly thousands of years fighting this war, so he had to be getting something vital from them. Unless… Was he reaching the end of his life? Going mad?

Behind him, a pale and yet eerily beautiful creature stood quietly observing. It was Fae, yet not, malicious darkness seeping from it into the air. It said nothing, yet I knew it was taking in everything.

Unseelie, maybe?

It appeared neither obviously male nor female, dressed in dark yet expensive clothes unlike anything I’d seen before, a mix of flowing skirts over the functional fighting leathers of a warrior. But the ancient runes embroidered on them gave me pause. They were a sight I’d not seen since I was a boy in school, and my memory couldn’t pull out the information I wanted that would tell me what they were. The faint scent of death surrounding it was just like what I’d sensed in the forest. I strained my ears but couldn’t hear its heartbeat, which was...strange. As shifters, we could detect the heartbeat of any living thing. But most worrying was a primordial essence of power that put every instinct on alert. It was so very wrong. As if the creature shouldn’t be here, in this reality.

A twitch of its lips was the only outward sign that it knew what effect it had on me, yet its black, fathomless eyes glinted with amusement, giving me the sense it was more dangerous than anyone else in this room. Me included. I snarled, yet it merely looked at me, no sign of fear as those black orbs held my gaze with steady confidence and no small amount of disdain. My wolf rose to the surface as I instinctively wanted to fight this ethereal foe and get Shannon far away from it. My father thought himself the most powerful in the room. He wasn’t. Not by any stretch. This being was.

This was what, or rather who, I’d sensed in the forest. The creeper that had been watching me and Shannon. The chuckle he gave was enough to confirm his gender. And I wanted to slash his eyes from his skull, knowing he’d watched us together, had seen Shannon come as I fucked her within an inch of her life.

“Sit down, Stone.”

My gaze snapped to Vilderon’s, and I snarled at his commanding tone. “Fuck you. I stopped taking orders from you a long time ago.”

His cold smirk sent ice through my veins. “Is that so?” He ran his fingers through Shannon’s hair, letting the silky strands slip through his fingers before grabbing her neck again. My heart skipped a few beats. It was a warning. His gaze held mine as his hold tightened. Shannon’s jaw clenched, her eyes closing. “Sit. Or I’ll hurt her.”

My heart squeezed. Immediately, I took the seat he indicated, my body coiled and tight.

“Just so we’re clear, my informant here is off-limits.”

Informant? That creature wasn’t an informant, and he sure as shit wasn’t under my father’s control. But that kind of arrogance could work in my favour…

“And you, son, have always been under my control. You may not have been in Faery, but that doesn’t mean you were beyond my reach. Who do you think sold your whereabouts to Doherty? Who do you think gave the order to have your mate killed?”

My spine straightened, my stomach roiling even as ice filled my veins. “What?”

“I’ve always known where you are. You are my blood, my heir. My only male offspring. Did you think I’d just let you go forever? You’ve had your fun with that fucker who thinks himself King of Shifters, but it’s time for you to return home and do your duty to your bloodline. ”

“My bloodline?” Was he fucking serious? He’d made it perfectly clear how tainted my blood was and that he didn’t want me to produce any children, not if they might possibly carry a shifter spirit.

“Yes, your bloodline, your true family. You are a high-born Fae, not some pet for a beast of Hell.”

A bitter laugh escaped me before I could stop it. Connor was the Shifter King. He housed the spirit of the most powerful Hell Hound in existence and had been chosen by the Mother Wolf to protect our kind. He was not just some beast from Hell. Still, it was probably to my advantage that my father either hadn’t found that out or, more likely, hadn’t acknowledged Connor was more powerful than he ever could be.

I glanced at the dark stranger and suppressed the urge to snarl at the fucker. His coal-black eyes stared unblinkingly, cunning in his gaze, his face still impassive. Alarm bells rang in my head. Why, I didn’t know, but instinct told me he wasn’t here for anyone but himself.

I focused back on Vilderon and Shannon. I’d left this house to protect my mother and sister, to stop him from using them to discover my true name. I hadn’t yet seen my mother, and there had been no mention of her. Something told me leaving hadn’t kept her safe at all. A wave of sadness hit me even though my feelings for my mother had been coloured by resentment and disappointment. I’d wanted her to be my champion when I was young, to help me stand up against my father and his expectations of me. She never had, and over time, that had made me resentful. As an adult, I’d become more aware of her downtrodden demeanour and lacklustre approach to life. That had made me as angry as it had saddened me that her life had turned out like it had. After all, she’d been saddled with my father and never had a chance to meet her mate or find happiness—even in her children. Yet there had been nothing I could do about it. However, changing my life had been within my reach, so I’d left.

I fixed my gaze on Shannon, willing her to look at me, my heart plummeting when she didn’t. Her throat moved when she swallowed, and she kept her face impassive and her gaze down, looking beaten, yet I knew she was anything but. She was a warrior, a Shadow Sentinel who worked for our king. A king whose blood and magic I carried in me. A king who was my brother and who would come and annihilate this place to save both of us, which was why I couldn’t call him for help. Such destruction could mean war with Faery. Ventry and his father were our allies, but I doubted even they would ignore such an act of unsanctioned violence in their world, and there was no time for talks or asking permission.

Vilderon pulled Shannon into him, commanding her to lay her head against his thigh. Again, I hid my fury. He smirked and raised a brow. I just stared back, but it was clear he enjoyed making me feel so fucking powerless. Another reason to kill the despotic fucker. His death would send this area of the Winter Kingdom into turmoil and leave the border open to invasion by Unseelie forces, but if it got Shannon out of his clutches, I didn’t give a shit.

My sister stood behind me, and I was more than aware she was nothing like the sweet girl I’d left behind. She’d become my enemy as much as my father had. And damn if that didn’t make my heart ache. She was so far from the person I remembered that it was surreal. I resisted rubbing my face. More failures to add to my list.

“You aren’t my family. Not anymore. If you ever were. Where’s my mother?”

My tone challenged him, and his eyes narrowed, his mouth tightening. Clearly, she was a sore spot. His gaze darted to Airling before settling back on me. “You will not speak of her again, but you will do as you are damned well ordered, or Shannon will become more than a one-time plaything to me. She will stay here permanently as my pet, and I’ll torture her in depraved ways she, and even you, can’t imagine. The way she reacted to my touch, her sweet, sweet taste? Her life force as I dragged it from her human flesh? Fuck me, I remember them so well. They’re addictive. I couldn’t persuade her father to sell her to me after I first fucked her, but now she’s all mine. How she gets treated and what she is compelled to do depends on your good behaviour.”

I was almost glad Shannon wasn’t looking at my face. At least I couldn’t see the condemnation and fear that was surely in her eyes. My stomach churned, my fists curling as my claws pierced my skin. My father, my own flesh and blood, had been one of the disgusting monsters who’d bargained with her own father to rape her? He was the one who’d hurt her, that she thought was Fae, and that visited her nightmares even now.

Mother Wolf, I’d thought nothing in this life could shock me. But I was so damned wrong. Red seeped into my vision, the need to rip his throat out uncontrollable. I shot to my feet, my chair toppling over with a clatter.

“Ah. Ah.” Vilderon’s fingers tightened on Shannon’s neck, even as a blade cut into the back of mine. Shannon hissed as her eyes took in the weapon resting on my neck. Her eyes flashed, and her nostrils flared. I shook my head a fraction; enough that the blade cut me, but not enough that it was obvious to Vilderon. For once, I was almost glad of the compulsion. At least it meant she stayed still and couldn’t antagonise her captor more by fighting to protect her mate—me.

“Now, now, brother, calm your tits,” Airling purred. “I’d love to kill you, but now isn’t the time. You are of too much use to us.”

Vilderon chuckled. “As timely as always, Airling.”

There was a grunt of acknowledgement from my sister.

“Sit,” she instructed, even as her blade stayed on my neck. The slice in my skin stung like a bitch, warmth trickling down my neck. Still, I hesitated, calculating whether I could kill him before he could snap my mate’s neck.

Vilderon raised a brow. “Sit down, son, or I’ll instruct my pet to take my cock out and suck it while you and the rest of the room watch.”

Nausea rolled in my stomach. He’d do it. I could see it in his eyes. I wanted to throw myself on my knees in front of her and beg her forgiveness. I thought I’d fucked up before when I’d tried to keep some distance between us, when I’d allowed her pain to almost destroy her while I stood back and watched, but this was beyond anything I could ever ask forgiveness for. No, I could no longer look at Shannon with anything other than shame in my heart. Yet, getting her out was my priority. I had to keep her alive and unharmed. Even if it was too late for me—for us, she came first. A Fae marriage was a deal, a contract, and once it was complete, there was no going back. I’d never be able to leave Faery again. I had no doubt that my father would weave such a clause into the contract. If I did, even Ventry couldn’t stop my fate. I’d be hunted down as an oath breaker and executed.

I forced myself to look the male who had sired me in the eyes. He wasn’t my father. Hadn’t been for a long time. But right then, he held all the power. I tuned back into his voice, forcing my wolf down deep inside and my rage to settle. I was a warrior; keeping a calm head when everything had turned to shit was what I did. And I’d do anything to keep Shannon safe. Even marry someone else if I had to. My wolf rumbled his agreement.

“I’ve let you have your fun since you escaped Doherty’s little project prison. He was never going to allow you to die there because I paid him to ensure you lived. Everything else he did was up to him. Four moon cycles ago, I completed a deal with a sect of Made vampires to bring you back here by force. So imagine my surprise when you saved me the trouble and arrived in Winter on your own, with only a human in tow. A human I could never forget.”

I cocked my head. It didn’t surprise me he had spies in the Winter Palace. Ventry had told me there were spies everywhere. Shit, he probably had spies of his own in my father’s house. What did surprise me was that Vilderon kept calling Shannon human. He knew about Connor, but perhaps because Shannon’s wolf was so weak, he couldn’t sense it in her, and she’d been too young for her first shift back when he’d first abused her. If Doherty hadn’t admitted that his daughter was a shifter, maybe this fucker didn’t know. It meant she was more difficult to enchant and control. He’d need more magic to keep a hold on her free will. If she fought it, perhaps she could break his hold.

“You are mine, just as your mother was and your sister still is. You belong to me. And you will do as you’re fucking told.”

“Which is?” I needed to find out exactly what he had planned and the timeline. Once I knew, I could plan a way out of this shit storm.

“Tomorrow, at noon, you will wed the daughter of the Unseelie lord who rules the Orth lands that border my own. Your joining will seal an alliance between our houses and make me as powerful as that upstart who sits upon the throne of Winter. You will consummate the marriage at the ceremony in front of both houses. Once that is done, the deal will be unbreakable. The Unseelie prize their virgin brides above all else. It is blasphemy against their dark gods and the Goddess of Faery to break a deal for such a union.”

Shannon’s snarl wasn’t missed by me or Vilderon. He smirked and caressed her cheek with his fingers. I was going to slice those fingers off for touching what was mine. Yet the hatred I saw in Shannon’s gaze as she looked at me told me she wanted it more. Unless that hatred was for me… Bitterness flooded my mouth. If it was, I deserved it.

“Don’t worry, pet, I’ll make sure you have a front row seat. Seeing him take another while we all watch will be exquisite torture, no doubt. But be happy in the knowledge that even when he comes inside her, he’s doing it to keep you safe.”

Coldness filled my heart as I shut down my emotions, forced my wolf to stay buried and gave my father a blank look. I would never fuck another in front of my mate. I’d end my own life, and everyone else’s, first.