“Where would you like for us to start?”

I found my eyes focusing on Isaac’s mouth, my mind trying to memorize the shape of it. The thought of kissing him assaulted my mind, and I could feel the heat creeping onto my face. I looked away, my eyes roaming around my fathers office, as I prayed silently that he had not noticed my stare.

“Well, I think a good place to start would be why you kidnapped our Alpha. No, actually, that’s a great place to start.”

I could not recall a time where I had been more grateful for Zee’a interruption than I was now. Despite his sarcastic comment at the end, he had chosen a pretty good place to start. I knew that he had picked up on the fact that I was otherwise preoccupied with my thoughts. I found my eyes returning to Isaac on their own accord, hoping that I had composed my features adequately.

“Which Alpha are you referring to, because you seem to have two? Alpha Luciano, or Luciana?”

“I’m sure that he’s referring to my father, Isaac.”

I knew that my interruption was well timed, because I knew that Zee would have had something snarky to say in response, and I didn’t have the energy to get us out of a pickle. There was no filter between his mouth and his mind, and that tended to be a problem at times.

Isaacs’ attention turned to me, all emotion removed from his face. If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed him to be some robotic life form in that moment. I got the impression that what he was about to tell me, was something that I wasn’t going to like.

“I kidnapped your father to torture him for information on your whereabouts. The intention was to kill him once you had been found.”

His words slapped me harder than any backhanded blow I had ever received. It felt as if my body had frozen. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t. Even sure if my heart was beating.

“So, what you’re saying is that you killed our Alpha?

Zee banged his fists down on my desk—I was unsurprised by his actions. His anger was something that he struggled to control. I was thankful that the desk separated us from them. I knew how impulsively he acted, and I didn’t want us being slaughtered by a pack of hostile wolves.

“Zee. That’s enough.”

He turned to me, his eyes blazing the bright gold color that all wolves shared, his chest heaving aggressively. I knew that it was only a matter of time before Dev arrived and then we would have a problem on our hands.

“Don’t you think you should go find Dev? Especially since you’re in this state. No one can control your wolf except for you.”

I could tell by the way his jaw clenched that he was unhappy with my request. I also knew him well enough to know that the last thing he would do was disobey me, despite his obvious lack of willingness to leave me alone with them. What he didn’t know was that I was safer with them than with anyone else. Isaac wouldn’t let anything happen to me, would he?

“As soon as I find Dev, I’m coming right back.”

“And then you can be my co-host and escort our guests to the dining hall for dinner, while I get a few wolves to help me prepare their beds.”

“You’re allowing them to stay the night?!”

“I am. Is there a problem with that?”

His jaw clenched even more, making me wonder how long it would be before we needed to take him for braces. He shook his head, before turning around and leaving the office, his footsteps echoing loudly in my ears.

“This is the part where you start explaining yourself.”

I redirected my attention to Isaac, my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I found it odd how he was able to have this effect on me, even after the betrayal he had gifted me.

“As I said, the plan had originally been to kill your father once he confided your location and it turned out to be correct.”

My eyes dropped down to the desk, the feeling of disbelief, laced with betrayal settling within me. I was finding it difficult to look at him.

“Of course, his loyalty to you was a lot stronger than I had originally thought it was. He didn’t tell us anything other than the fact that you were still within the borders of your pack, after we had drawn that conclusion ourselves. I couldn’t kill him without having found you, which is why he is still alive.

My eyes closed on their own accord and I found myself sending a silent prayer of thanks to the moon goddess for keeping my father alive. Hope fluttered within my chest, as I realized that his safety needed to be secure now, especially since I was Isaacs’ mate. He should know that killing the father of your mate wouldn’t be good for your relationship.

“What made me important enough that you’d kidnap my father to find me? Did you already know that I was your mate?”

I didn’t miss the way all heads snapped in my direction after I had asked my last question. Deciding to ignore them as best I could, I returned my attention to Isaac, expecting an answer as fast as he had given the previous one, but instead the silence between us continued to stretch longer and longer.

“The answer to that is a lot more complicated than you think it is. I had no idea that you were my mate.”

I clenched my jaw, my irritation at his lack of willingness to answer making the hair on my neck prickle in awareness.

“If it’s complicated then break it down. Simple terms are easy to come by.”

He remained silent still, staring at me blankly as everyone else’s focus remained on us, even more so than before.

“I came to find you because the resistance is planning to exterminate us all.”