Chapter 15 - Conan
Though I remain fractured from everything that’s happened, it’s time Hannah and I talked without it turning into a screaming match between us.
Calling Heinrich and Annika over must have been a good decision. I was able to speak to the other alpha, get his perspective, and also realize that he’s always been on my side.
Even when I was being a hard-head and an insufferable member of the Bitterroot Valley Council.
I sigh as I pull out the bourbon from the cabinet and start pouring it into two glasses. I hadn’t realized how much of an asshole I was being throughout the years, all because my heart was broken.
It still is, made worse by Hannah’s deception. But just like Heinrich advised me this morning, I need to give her a chance to explain why she did what she did. Hear why she ran away. Listen to her.
Really listen, without becoming defensive.
It’s the only way we’ll ever get anywhere.
“Here you go,” I say as I pass Hannah the first glass and pick up mine.
She takes it, but I notice the way her fingers tremble around the glass, the way her bottom lip quivers with worry, and something inside me flips.
It’s my inner wolf, picking up on her nervousness and seeking a way to give her comfort. Despite the deception, the lies. Despite everything my mind tries to make sense of, it fails.
And I can’t take it any longer.
I want to reach out and wrap my arms around her and provide her with the comfort she needs to soothe her worries.
“About what happened last night,” she begins nervously without lifting her head. She remains staring into her glass, at the drink she hasn’t touched yet. “I think it’s best if it doesn’t happen again.”
I gulp hard, then take a sip of my drink to douse the flames of the anger that threatens to explode inside me.
I need to remain calm.
Listen.
“You’re right,” I finally relent with a deep breath, my nostrils flaring. A sharp pain crosses my chest, like my heart is being cut to shreds because I just agreed to something that doesn’t sit right with me.
“It shouldn’t happen again. But am I a brute for wanting it to happen again?”
Hannah looks up, brows furrowed, her expression surprised by my blatant admission.
“You saw what happened last night. You felt it, too, Hannah. There’s no denying it.”
“Conan, I—”
“I know what you’re gonna say, that it’s better this way. But is it, really?” I cock my head to the side, surprised at myself because this was not the direction our conversation needed to go in. “Do you really think that we can be under the same roof without that ever happening again?”
Hannah’s shoulders drop. “We hurt each other, Conan. And there’s no coming back from that. How do we erase what happened? Erase eight years of pain?”
“We can try.”
Somehow, I gravitate toward her until there’s nothing more than an inch between our faces.
We were supposed to talk, but here I am, victim to the clutches of her intoxicating scent, unable to think straight when the mate bond yells at me to claim what’s mine.
It’s so primal, so insensitive to the things driven by my ego, and I find myself reaching out to cup her cheek.
She doesn’t stop me. Doesn’t run from the feeling. And that’s my undoing. Her willingness to accept the mate bond even when the words she speaks try to deny it.
I drift forward, casually, half-expecting her to pull away.
And when she doesn’t, I close the gap between our faces and crush my lips to hers.
She moans on the kiss, and I deepen it, throwing caution to the wind.
Everything I wanted to say, ask, or speak to her about goes flying out the window as if none of it mattered.
The only thing that matters now is the way she responds to my kiss, her body reacting with heat as she arches her back and pushes her chest against me.
I slide my hand through her hair, drawing her closer, my tongue exploring the depths of her mouth as my pants become too tight.
I’m just about to curve my arm around her back and draw her closer when the strange, untimely sound of rustling in the bushes on the far end of the house triggers my alertness, and I break the kiss abruptly, frowning as my head snaps in that direction.
“Did you hear that?”
Hannah’s eyes widen instantly, all traces of heat vanishing from her expression as another sound echoes faintly through the hallway.
Glass.
Cracking.
My entire body goes rigid.
“Clarissa!”
Hannah bolts from the dining room before I can even react, panic flooding the mate bond so violently that it punches straight through my chest. I’m on her heels immediately, both of us rushing down the hallway toward the bedrooms. But the sound doesn’t come from Clarissa’s bedroom.
It comes from Hannah’s, and she doesn’t stop or hesitate to enter.
“Hannah—”
She disappears into her room. Then screams.
The sound tears through the house with enough terror to stop my heart.
I shove past the doorway and find Hannah standing frozen near the shattered window, her breathing ragged as moonlight spills across the bedroom floor through broken glass.
Cold air rushes inside, the curtains swaying violently against the wind that wafts through the broken window. And smeared across the windowsill is thick black residue that hisses faintly like burning tar. Demon corruption.
My wolf snarls viciously inside me.
“No…” Hannah whispers shakily, stumbling backward. “No, no, no…”
Her eyes dart frantically around the room as if expecting something to emerge from the darkness.
I move toward the window carefully, every muscle tense, my powers already stirring beneath my skin. The scent hits me instantly—sulfur, rot, decay.
So fresh, it’s as if the dark presence is right in front of me, though we can’t see it anywhere close by.
“They were here,” Hannah breathes, voice cracking. “Conan… they were inside the house.”
I crouch near the sill, dragging two fingers through the black residue. Smoke curls around my skin immediately, the corruption reacting to my alpha energy before dissolving beneath the force of my magic.
This wasn’t an attack. This was a search.
The realization hits me like ice-cold water running over my skin. My blood runs cold.
Behind us, Clarissa shifts faintly in her sleep in the adjoining room, completely unaware. Hannah hears Clarissa’s movement, too, and her panic explodes.
“She’s not safe here,” Hannah cries, rushing past me toward Clarissa’s room. “They’re after her—”
I grab her before she can spiral further, catching both her wrists gently but firmly.
“Hannah.” My voice is stern.
She’s trembling violently now, tears gathering in her eyes as fear overtakes every ounce of composure she had earlier.
“I knew it,” she whispers brokenly. “I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t make out exactly what it was. I should have known. I should have seen it coming. She’s not safe here.”
My jaw clenches so hard that it aches.
The demons are evolving. Learning. Strategizing.
And now they’ve found something worth hunting.
My daughter. My mate.
Rage, unlike anything I’ve ever known, detonates inside my chest.
“They touched this house,” I growl darkly. “They came near my child. They came near you…”
The air around me shifts violently with unstable currents of power. And for the first time since Hannah returned to the valley, fear flashes across her face—not because of me, but because she knows exactly what’s at stake.
“We’re going to deal with this,” I promise Hannah, clutching her shoulders tightly. “For now, we need to get Clarissa out of here. You two can’t stay here if you’re being hunted.”
***
“I can’t leave Hannah and Clarissa in the west,” I announce to Damian and Heinrich, along with their mates, after we’ve gathered in the Iron Breath meeting chamber, where I called on them for an urgent meeting. “I don’t think they’re safe there anymore.”
“I understand your panic, Conan.” Damian places a hand on my shoulder. “Have you reported the attack to Amos?”
“He and the other council members are going to join us soon,” I say, running a hand through my hair and glancing at Hannah beside me. “This matter is urgent, considering the wards aren’t keeping the demons out anymore.”
“Of course, they’re adapting again,” Heinrich grunts as he turns to his mate. “It appears Silver Stone is no longer a target.”
“No. But Iron Breath is a target now,” she says, and both of them turn to me.
I gulp as I look at Hannah, and she nods as if permitting me to speak freely.
“We have reason to believe that the stakes are higher in Iron Breath than they are in any other part of the valley.” I turn to Sophie and nod. “Apart from you being pregnant with the alpha’s child, which already puts Red Moon in danger.”
Sophie frowns, instinctively placing a hand on her very bulging belly. She’s a week away from giving birth to her and Damian’s child—a hybrid, just like Clarissa.
“Well,” I begin, “your unborn child is not the only hybrid in the valley, not the only child of an existing alpha and Ashclaw descendant.” I reach for Hannah’s hand, giving it a gentle but firm squeeze.
She returns the reassurance, and I proceed to say, “Hannah and I have a child together. Her name is Clarissa, and she’s almost eight years old. ”
The room goes quiet for a moment, but it’s mostly because this is new information to Damian and Sophie. Yesterday, both Heinrich and Annika learned the truth from Hannah and me. Now, the alpha of Red Moon and his luna have just learned the truth.
Sophie’s eyes widened. “So, you two knew each other before? Why didn’t you tell us about your daughter before, Conan?”
“Conan didn’t know about her.” Hannah steps in and explains. “I used to be a part of this pack, but I—”
Hannah is cut off when the door is pushed in, and the members of the council, along with Amos and his assistants, enter the meeting chamber. She suddenly slips behind my arm, peeking out from the side with her head bent.