Forty Six

"Oh really? Tell me with that anger you showed earlier —can you kill your father for it? Can you kill your whole pack with that anger?" Aiden threw out a question I had never once asked myself, and it stunned me, leaving me completely speechless.

Yes, I was angry at them. Yes, I wanted my revenge.

But could I actually do that to them?

Could I kill my father? Could I slaughter my entire pack?

The answer stuck in my throat like a stone I couldn't swallow.

I shifted my gaze and focused on my fingers, trying to massage the paralyzed hand—an action that took over because I couldn't answer Aiden's question.

Couldn't even look at him.

"You didn't disappoint me. I thought as much," Aiden said, and there was something almost like bitter satisfaction in his voice.

He turned to Nathan. "I can't mark her, Nathan. That's final. You know about the curse. And I gave my word."

My head snapped up. Curse? What curse were they talking about?

But Nathan's response made my blood run cold.

"Well, that's on her. The plan is more important, remember? Her fate is all hers from here on out—after you mark her."

The words landed in the room like stones dropping into water.

Sinking deeply and feeling heavy and serious.

Aiden went silent, his expression stilling as if he was doing some serious thinking.

What plan? What are they talking about? I asked myself

"I'm not asking you for anything," I said quietly, my voice steadier than I felt. "She is. And she can find another way to ask."

I pressed my fingers to Stephanie's pendant against my chest—the only piece of home I had left, the only thing that still felt real.

"I've spent my whole life being used as a tool in other people's politics. I'm not doing it again—not even to save my own life."

I meant it.

Every word.

"So if the answer is no, say no. I'll figure something out."

"You won't, little April. Keep shut or beg like your life depends on it," my wolf said cheerfully, almost gleefully.

"I know there's no way out,"* I thought back. “But I still have some dignity."

Even if dignity was all I'd die with.

The room was quiet.

Then Aiden turned around and walked back to me.

He crouched beside the couch, eye level, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off him. Close enough that the mate bond pulled tight between us like a string that had always been there, waiting for someone to acknowledge it.

Waiting for this moment.

"If I do this," he said, and his voice was low, dangerous, "you don't get to leave. Ever. The bond goes both ways, April. You'll be tied to me as much as I'm tied to you."

My breath caught. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying if I mark you, you become mine. Forever." His eyes held mine, unblinking. "You stay in my territory. You answer to me. You don't run back to your father, and you don't betray me."

His eyes flashed red—Alpha red, pure dominance.

"Because if you do, the bond will make me hunt you down. And I won't be gentle about it."

"Oh, I like him even more now," Zara purred inside my head, practically vibrating with approval.

I ignored her, struggling to stay conscious, to process what he was saying as she had refused to shut the hell up. "You think... I'd go back? After everything?"

"I think you're Howard Quinn's daughter," Aiden said flatly. "And I think desperation makes people do things they regret."

He leaned closer, and I could smell leather and smoke and something wild underneath.

"So here's my condition: You want me to save your life? Fine. But your life becomes mine completely. No more running. No second-guessing. No going back."

Then his expression shifted—something darker moving underneath.

"And let me just remind you…be aware—I don't forgive easily," he said quietly, and there was steel beneath the softness. "And I don't forget. Your father destroyed everything I loved."

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"So trust me when I say this: I will destroy everything he loves too."

The threat hung in the air between us.

But I knew at this point I only had on option…. nothing else.

I knew he meant me, I realized with a jolt. I'm what my father loves. Or loved. Or should have loved.

Second to that was his pack and my sister May.