Chapter 347 347
Maurice POV
She glares at me like she wants to rip my throat out. If her wolf were closer to the surface, she probably would have tried.
The thought sends a dark spark of anticipation through me.
She would be a ferocious Luna untamed, sharp-edged, glorious in her defiance. And I would enjoy every second of coaxing her true self into the light.
“You have no idea what you just did,” she hisses.
“I do,” I reply calmly. “Now pack your bag.”
“Pack my bag?” Her arms cross tightly over her chest, fury radiating from her stance. For a split second, though just a flicker fear cracks through the anger.
She thinks she almost got away with it.
She didn’t.
“I saw it,” I think. The fear behind the fire.
“You’re coming home with me,” I say, softening my tone. “Back to my pack.”
“Hold on,” Damien cuts in sharply.
“This isn’t up for discussion,” I snap, turning toward him. “She’s mine”
“Maybe we should ask Bee what she wants,” Aurélie says, stepping past Damien. Frédéric rests easily in her arms as she comes to Bee’s side, calm and composed. Aurélie could walk into a warzone holding a baby and still come out victorious.
“Bee,” she says gently, “do you want to go to Maurice’s pack?”
“I want to go home,” Bee says quietly.
Her eyes shimmer not quite tears, but close. She refuses to let them fall, her chin lifting as she stares at me with stubborn defiance.
“I want to see Father.”
The words slam into me like a blade.
Her father.
She doesn’t know.
My breath catches painfully in my throat. I glance at Aurélie, who looks just as stricken as I feel.
Damien steps forward, his presence turning cold and absolute. “You’ll stay here. We are your home now, Bee. It’s time you accept that. Your training begins at dawn.”
The chill in his voice is unmistakable.
Bee watches him walk away, disbelief written across her face. Her body jerks when the office door slams shut behind him.
“Come on, Bee,” Aurélie says softly, breaking the tension. “Why don’t you help Caroline and me make some cupcakes?”
“Mummy! Can I eat the icing?” Delphine squeals, racing after her.
The room slowly empties, voices drifting away until it’s just the two of us.
Bee stands there, suddenly small. Lost.
More lost than when I first found her in the woods.
“It’ll be okay,” I say quietly. “We’ll figure something out.”
But Damien
Damien was starting to piss me the fuck off.
He seemed to forget one very important thing: Bee was my mate. Her safety, her future her were my responsibility now.
I don’t bother knocking as I shove open his office door.
“What the fuck was that?” I roar.
He’s pouring himself a whiskey, completely unbothered.
“Careful,” he says coolly. “You’re a guest here, Maurice not an alliance leader.”
“I thought we were friends,” I snap. “Hell, I’m your brother-in-law now. Drop the act.”
I knock the glass from his hand. It shatters against the floor as a growl rips from his chest.
“I’m taking her,” I say. “I’m not asking permission. She’s mine. You’d do the same.”
“She’s not going anywhere.”
“Fine.” I take a breath, reigning in my temper. “Then I want them gone. There are too many people here. I can’t help her if she’s being pulled in every direction.”
My thoughts flick to Gilles always hovering. Always too close.
“It’s harmless,” Damien says with a smirk. “I remember you flirting with Aurélie once. Even sent her flowers nearly killed me.”
“That was to remind you,” I counter lightly, “that if you didn’t want her, someone else would.”
He scoffs.
“This is different,” I continue. “They’ve shared a life for six months. They’re close Gilles, Didier, Caroline. They’d die for her. But protecting her is my role now. I can’t help her bond with her wolf while she’s tethered to everyone else.”
I pause, then add firmly, “They want to leave. Let them.”
Damien considers my words, silent for a moment. Then he opens the door and calls out.
“Didier.”
“What are you doing?” I mutter.
“Wait.”
Didier enters, nodding respectfully. “Alphas.”
“I hear you want to move on,” Damien says, gesturing for him to sit.
“Yes,” Didier replies. “I appreciate your hospitality, but my sister and I need to keep moving.”
“I have an offer,” Damien says, settling behind his desk.
Didier raises a brow. “Go on.”
“There’s a pack within my alliance without an Alpha. I can offer you protection, warriors, financial backing and the opportunity to take up the title of Alpha. Even if it’s not the pack you were born into.”
Didier frowns. “For how long?”
“Until we determine the pack’s future.”
“And I report to you?”
“Yes but not on trivial matters. You’ll have autonomy, support, and alliance backing. Your warriors will defend the alliance when needed. We protect each other.”
“What’s the catch?” Didier asks, eyes sharp.
“If you accept, you can’t tell Bee.”
“What?”
“You’ll tell her you and Caroline decided to keep moving. Overseas, if you like.”
A knowing smirk touches Damien’s lips.
Didier narrows his eyes, clearly realizing he’s been overheard.
“I don’t know…”
“You’d have an army,” Damien presses. “Security. Stability. You could give your sister the life she deserves.”
My stomach tightens.
There was only one Alpha-less pack in Damien’s alliance.
Black Mist.
Jérôme. Gaston. Betrayal. Blood. Death.
Clémence missing. Presumed dead.
Didier exhales slowly.
“Fine,” he says. “I accept.”
“Good lad,” Damien says, reaching into his desk drawer.
Didier hesitates. “What’s the pack called?”
Damien meets his gaze.
“The Black Mist pack.”