Bound by Fate (Moon Bound Series Book 1) (26 page)

She started to protest but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.  “I understand,” he croaked.  “I truly do.  And I love you just the same, but I cannot do it.  Please understand, as I do.”

“
I’m sorry,” she replied, sobbing.  “I’m sorry I can’t be who you want me to be, but please…” she trailed off, hating herself for what she would say next.

“
What?” he demanded roughly, hand freezing on the doorknob, steadfastly glaring at the frame.

She sighed at the back of his dark head and whispered to him.  “I need you.”

“No Beth, you don’t need me,” he answered, brokenly.  “You will always have a place in the pack.  But it is no longer by my side.”

“
Where, then?” she demanded roughly.  “Where is my place?”

“
Your place is as it was always intended.  By my father’s side.”  He pulled the door open violently and strode though it.  Beth stared at the empty doorway in despair.

Of course, Beth realized.  The sole motivation for the meeting was to hand her over. 

  The Alpha gets what the Alpha wants.

“Wait!” Beth cried, running so fast she almost barreled right down the stairs.  “You don’t understand.” 

The sound of his shirt sleeve tearing as she whirled him around seemed unnaturally loud in the empty hallway.  “It’s you that doesn’t understand, Beth.”  He cupped her cheek tenderly and she frowned, gazing into his sad eyes.  “He won’t Bond you.  But he
will
breed you.”  Donovan sighed.  “It’s the only remaining option.”

“
But, how can he avoid Bonding me?”  Shelving her imminent status as brood-mare for the moment, she focused on the facts.  How could she mate with another without breaking the Bond she had with Gareth?

“
Because he’s the Alpha,” he replied harshly.  “Because he’s at no risk of becoming emotionally attached.  And I don’t think you are, either.  Because,” he carried on, shaking her hand free of his sleeve, and turning away once more.  “He’s done it before.”

He seemed to hunch in on himself then, as if a great weight rested on his shoulders.  Beth put a hand on his back, between his shoulder blades, but removed it when he tensed.  “If we’re going to have this conversation,” he said, not turning around.  “You’re going to need to be dressed for it.”

“
A long time ago, before my father mated with his first wife, Lissa.  There was another.”  Donovan’s eyes moved from place to place, never settling on anything for more than a second or two.  “My mother, Lenora.”  He heaved a great sigh and met her eyes for the first time since she’d pulled on her sun dress and curled up in the bucket chair by the bedroom window.  The evening sun was hanging low in the sky, sending dappled shadows to the corners of the room, and as Donovan sat in a shroud of them, his eyes seemed to shine all the brighter. 

“
My father has always been a man of particular tastes and appetites.  He was never content with just one woman, even if she was his destined mate, and while Lissa was busy playing hard to get, Lenora was satisfying those appetites.” 

Beth wondered how many people had heard this version of the epic, but ultimately tragic romance of Lissa and Bradley. 
Not many,
she guessed.  While Donovan spoke, and the sun sunk lower in the sky, and the shadows deepened, she got a sense of the real Alpha of the Tall Grass pack.  Not a man who had lost his mind when his love left him, no.  Rather a controlling and angry man who had lost whatever power he thought he had over her, and went mad with rage, not sadness. 

“
Just before he rose to Alpha status, he told my mother that their arrangement had come to an end and that he had to be seen as an upstanding member of the pack.  For her part, my mother begged and pleaded with him not to leave her.  She had fallen in love with him, you see, but since it was all one-sided, there was no Bond.  I think she knew that it would never result in anything other than misfortune for her, but she had to try, you see?”

Beth nodded.  She did see.  After all, hadn’t she tried and tried herself with the object of her own affections, even though she knew it would never work?

“He would have none of it.  Even the mention of her being pregnant would not sway him, and so he left her, and officially mated with Lissa.”  He shook his head, spilling a dark lock onto his forehead.  “Soon he had become our Alpha, and though he continued to act honorable, at least outwardly, he quickly reverted to his true nature and began to meet my mother in secret.  I was very small, and don’t remember much of those times, but I remember enough.”  His face darkened, and Beth got the feeling that those meetings weren’t always romantic or amicable. 

“
Did Lissa ever find out?”  Could that be why such a devoted woman turned her affections to someone more worthy?

“
I’m sure Lissa knew before they’d even mated,” he said harshly.  “It’s not easy to miss the scent of another on your beloved.”

Beth cringed.  “I’m sorry, Beth, I didn’t mean that…”

“Yes,” she replied softly.  “You did.  But I understand.  Go on…”

“
Why she ever mated with him, I’m not sure.  Maybe she felt threatened, or maybe she just loved him that damn much.  All I knew in my child's’ mind is that she took my father away.  And I hated her for it.  Silly, really.  It was only as I grew older that I realized the only one who took him away was him.  It was his choice.”

Beth couldn’t take it anymore; she could practically taste his hurt in the air.  Quickly rising, she knelt in front of him and took his hands in her own, feeling their soft, un-calloused palms, dry and gentle.  “You’re right, Donovan.  He decided to miss out on your childhood.  But you must have worked things out?”

He snorted.  “You mean because here I am, living in the Great House, heir to the Alpha?”

She nodded slowly, feeling less sure. 

“Not really, Beth.  When it was discovered that Lissa had been meeting someone else in secret - much the same as my father was, actually - he went wild with rage.  He damn near tore the entire village apart in his wrath, until he found them both.  Declaring them rogue, he attacked them and forced them to flee from the territory, but he wasn’t content with that.  He had to run them both down in the many months following, only returning to the pack once his grisly business was finished.”  Donovan slipped his hands free from Beth’s death grip and rose, strolling slowly to the window, gazing at nothing but the past. 

“
By the time he’d returned, I had lost my mother to a fever, and was being shuffled from family to family.  He really didn’t have a choice, knowing someone, at some stage would find out I was his son, so he took me in and raised me, which was a mixed blessing, to say the least.”

Tears had started trickling down Beth’s cheeks at some point, and she brushed them aside quickly.  “I’m so sorry, Donovan.  She didn’t deserve any of that, and neither did you.”  She tried to comfort him, but he once again shook her off and strode to the door, all anger drained from him, leaving him a disheveled and pain-filled wreck.

“So you see, Beth,” he whispered with his back to her.  “This is the way it has to be.”

Hours later, eyes bloodshot and swollen, Beth lay on the wide bed, wondering how everything had gone so wrong. 
But at least Gareth is safe,
she told herself.  The Bond would not break, and he would not be at risk.  But what sort of life would she have, now?  Much worse than any she could have imagined mere weeks ago.  It seemed childish now to worry about which of the two handsome suitors she would pick, when she ended up with neither, and worse, was destined to be a breeding machine for a lunatic Alpha Werewolf in a foreign pack, in a different territory.  Quite how things could get any worse, she couldn’t imagine.

“
I see you’ve heard the news.”  Bradley casually leaned on the jam of the door, watching her with an intensity that was unsettling.  He seemed smug and gloating.  “I was so hoping to inform you of your new status, myself.”

“
New status?”  Her mind was numb.  How could he just stand there smirking as if he hadn’t just torn her entire world away from her. 

“
In a couple of days, you will officially become the Alpha Female of the Tall Grass pack,” he told her, smiling.  “And you’ll be obedient, and wonderful, and perfect.”

It seemed more a threat than a compliment, and Beth took it as one, meaning if she wasn’t obedient, and wonderful and perfect, she would be dead, just like poor, tragic Lissa and Jake.  “I will,” she replied carefully.
“And then,” he growled, his lust scent permeating the air.  “You’ll be well and truly mated.”

“
What will you tell the pack?” she asked, raising her head slowly.  “How will you explain to them that I am now your mate, instead of your son’s?”

“
We’ll tell them the truth,” he snapped, his eyes narrowing before he broke out in a great guffaw.  “We’ll tell them you just can’t decide which man you want for your mate, as evidenced already, and have finally agreed to be mine.  Obviously,” he went on smiling.  “We’ll have to be careful not to cast any blame or scorn upon my dear son, but I’m sure once things settle down and you produce a cub or two, they’ll all realize how perfect for each other we are.”

“
Perfect, yeah,” she replied, stupefied.  This man was deranged.  She had to find a way to escape from here before the mating ceremony.

Not knowing where Donovan had disappeared to since his mind-shattering announcement, Beth was literally on her own.  It was hard not to be angry with him for abandoning her to her fate, but she couldn’t say she blamed him.  She really had been nothing but trouble and heartache for him since the night of her ceremony, and this latest development must have pushed him over the edge, but she was the one who had reverted to a commodity here, and damned if she’d go down without a fight. 

Her morning was taken up by Herb Lore as she had promised to attend, and not wanting to appear unpredictable, she had to wait until after lunch to seek out the weaver ladies.  Finding a quiet spot in the forest around the village, Beth nibbled on fruit and cheese, trying to work out where she went from here.  If she bolted, no doubt they’d track her to the ends of the earth.  She shivered, remembering the story of Lissa.  And if she stayed, she’d be reduced to a child-bearing trophy-mate.  If she went back to the Loam Floor pack, they’d just send her right back, and then there’d be hell to pay.

How long could she make it, on her own?  Could she run far enough and fast enough to find a different pack, far away from here, willing to take her in?  She did have her pure-breed status to bargain with, an enticing prize for any pack, but she would bring a universe load of trouble on her heels.  And could she get away, in any case?  She wasn’t stupid enough to think she didn’t have her shadows here in the village, and if she were to venture too far, they’d probably show themselves very clearly.  While searching for a particular herb that morning, she’d gone a little too far into the surrounding woods and caught the scent of two distinctly different males that she’d never met, and she was pretty sure they’d been following her.

If Bradley had put guards on her, he would know every move she made, probably before she even made it.  Taking a thoughtful bite from her apple, she weighed her options.  Her only real options.  She could run, and be hunted.  Or stay and be bred.  Both options were unthinkable, but one at least afforded her a measure of freedom.  The apple felt like chewed up glass as she swallowed.

“
Beth!” Marybell exclaimed in delighted surprise.  “I am glad to see you, dear.”

“
Not as glad as I,” intoned Margo in a decidedly chilling voice.  “I hear all sorts of gossip these days, you see.  There have been strange snippets of gossip for the past twenty four hours.  When exactly did you decide to take Bradley to mate?”

“
I didn’t!” she protested savagely.

“
I rather thought not,” the old woman replied, reaching for a cup of tea, her hands shaking.  “It’s time for my tea, then?”

“
No, Margo,” Marybell protested loudly, putting two hands on her ample hips.  “It’s far too dangerous–”

“
Nonsense!” she cut in shrilly.  “If Bradley Tall Grass even remembers my existence, and puts two and two together, what can he do?” she cackled.  “Put me on trial?”

“
No, she’s right,” Beth interjected.  “It is far too dangerous.  If he should ever learn of it, well, you wouldn’t have to worry about a trial, let’s put it that way.”

Marybell flinched and sat down abruptly, but Margo - tough old goat that she was - merely shrugged a bony shoulder.  “And so what?  If it will help, I am glad to do it.  And if Bradley, or any of his bullies come calling late at night,” she shrugged again, taking a slurp of her tea.  “I have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“I can’t let you take that risk,” Beth said, shaking her head so hard that her blond locks fell about her face in disarray.

“
I will make the tea, in any case,” Margo told her sternly.  “And I will not take no for an answer.”  Her bony hand slashing the air put a stop to anything Beth had planned to say.  “In an emergency, it could be helpful.  And who’s to say you didn’t make it yourself, hmm?”