Chapter

27

I was still comprching what she meant by equal comrades when Ignatius's. phone cra ckled to life and he placed it to his ear. "Hello? Hey Geranium. We've got an unwanted visitor on the property. Front car park. Yeah. Do you think you could escort her out?"

Ignatius hung up the phone and slipped it back into his pocket, he looked at Angie with barely restrained irritation. "You gave me no choice after you insulted my mate, Angie."

A man dressed in all black, Geranium I presumed, approached us from around the cottage. Angie looked from the beef security guard to Ignatius in disapproval. "You can't be serious? You won't even fight your own battles now, Ignatius?"

Ignatius shrugged and nodded to Geranium.

"Frankly Angie, I've had a sh it few hours, I've been driving all morning, I just got my rocks off -" he smirked at me as he said that and I blushed redder than before. "And all I really want to do right now is carry my mate through the front door of our new home and go for round two and maybe a nap."

Angie raised her eyebrow, folding her arms tightly.

Ignatius gave her a condescending smile and took my hand. "Geranium, please escort Ms. Rockbell off of the property, thank you."

He led me towards the cottage as Angie shoved the security guard away.

"I can escort myself!" she hissed before locking eyes with me, "See you around, runt."

I narrowed my eyes before turning my back on her and following Ignatius into the cottage.

After Ignatius had slammed the door closed behind us, he stomped up the stairs to the bedroom and I followed along after him,

"Who exactly is she? Angie?" I asked as I rushed up the stairs after him, taking two steps at a time to keep up.”

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"She's the head of arms and security. She trains the young shifters for combat." Ignatius said over his shoulder.

"That explains the muscles," I mumbled.

He flung open the doors of the wardrobe and pulled out towels and flip-flops.

"She's also the granddaughter of one of the elders so she's got some status behind her name. She has always been a good friend to me,"

Ignatius shoved the items into my arms and turned back to the wardrobe, curling a large leather jacket around his b*dy, "Although, it would seem Elliot has turned even her against you already."

I looked down, dumbfounded, at the towel, "What is this for?"

Ignatius beckoned for me to follow him back down the stairs, "Hot

springs. Follow the path to the right of the garden and you should replace them pretty easily. Geranium will make sure no one bothers you. I have to go."

"Go where?" I asked, irked at the way he was rushing around me, "Ignatius?"

He paused and turned to me, placing his hands on my shoulders a little. too tightly, his smile was strained.

"Angie has always been a good friend to me. But I do believe she had been holding onto the hope that one day I would choose her for a second mate, I think Elliot was planning this too. He's used her jealousy to turn her against you already. He's medaling more than I had expected."

Ignatius pulled me to his chest, "My father will be heading home soon. I'm going to confront him there where we can brawl it out without anyone bothering us."

I pulled away from him, "Do you often get into fistfights with your father?" I asked skeptically.

Ignatius shrugged, "Only when no one is around to stop us. I need to clear

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this up now."

He cupped my cheek in his hand and trailed his fingers down my "And as much as I'd love to join you and clean you up myself," waist,

My knees pressed together as he said this and I was aware of the c um still licking down my legs, "I have to take care of this first."

He planted a k*ss on my forehead as I struggled to understand the situation, before heading out the door. I stood there for a moment staring after him as his car sped down the driveway. Looking down at the towel in my arms and the state of my dress, I sighed. and went to seek out the hot springs.

-Ignatius-

Driving to my father's house I contemplated Angie's reaction to Dorothy. I had always been aware of Angie's interest in me, but I had never expected her to let her jealousy be so outwardly apparent. Above all else, Angie wast dedicated to the safety of the pack. So Elliot must have succeeded in convincing her that Dorothy was a threat to that safety.

I arrived at my father's house and let myself in with the spare key he kept. under the doormat. It was probably foolish to be so careless with the security of his own home, but I was of the belief that Elliot thought it to be. a sign of his true power. He was practically welcoming enemies to dare try and take him on.

My father and I had gotten along before the car accident. The way Elliot saw it, since Claire's death, I had gone soft. I didn't see it that way. I chose to abandon my reckless, brutal behavior and instead chose to focus on being a good leader - a good Alpha. I saw it as strength. We hadn't seen eye to eye since.

I knew there would be minor issues with my bringing Dorothy home. But the reaction from both the elder council and Elliot himself seemed a little

too overboard.

"Way too overboard," Tor growled, reminding me again of the insults they dared fling at my mate.

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"Agreed."

I leaned against the sofa inside, folded my arms, and proceeded to wait for my father to come home. Many a brutal battle had taken place within. these walls since I had gone "soft." Even with all of my strength and agility, I hadn't won any of them. Yet.

Elliot didn't seem at all surprised to see me upon arriving to an unlocked door. He strode inside without casting me so much as a glance and made straight for the fridge to crack open a beer. "What do you want?"

I resisted the urge to kick the can straight out of his hands.

"Angie just paid a visit to the cottage. She wasn't looking too happy. What have you said to her?"

Elliot took a while to answer me, shuffling through the contents of the fridge to pull out an old tray of leftover lasagne. For all of his authority and dominating image, Elliot was still just a lonely, single man who could barely take care of himself.

He peeled back the layer of tinfoil on the top and sat down at the kitchen island, digging into the contents with a dirty fork.

"I merely gave her a rundown of the recent events," he said between mouthfuls of cold lasagne.

"Bu Il s hit. It takes a lot to make Angie that aggressive. She wouldn't dare confront me like that unless she thought it was serious. I will ask a What did you say to her?"

Elliot sighed, poking at the mince in the tray. "You've really thrown wrench into things, taking that runt in like this."

I had no patience for his vitriolic slander. I marched to the opposite en of the island in a few steps and swiped the lasagne to the side before Ellio could stab another forkful.

It clattered to the floor, spilling the barely defrosted contents all over the

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place. Elliot paused with his fork still poised and frowned sadly at the spillage.

"Go dam mit, Ignatius."

"What do you all have against Dorothy?" My voice was booming and my knuckles pressed into the granite. "She hasn't done anything wrong. She's going to make a great Luna if you would just give her a chance."

Elliot finally lifted his gaze to look at me, his eyes were dismissive - disappointed. "Frankly, my son, I don't care about your new little pet. Despite the bad image she brings to our name, who you choose to bed isn't of any particular interest to me."

He raised a hand when I growled at him - threatening to dash more than just the lasagna into the floor.

"But her true mate was your old Beta acquaintance. Johan of the Khall Pack - our tense new allies. And you've taken her from him. Which is going to prove very bad for us."

His words confused me and I stared at him for a moment, my fury forgotten.

"What does Johan have to do with this? What does this have to do with any of the Khall Pack? They didn't give a da mn about Dorothy. Why would my taking of her suddenly be an issue now?"

Elliot rubbed at his temples, still stealing mournful glances at the ruined. lasagne on the floor. I could tell there was something drastically wrong though. He was trying to play it cool, but there was a tension in his jaw and his bushy brows were furrowed.

"The Khall are blaming us for the new rogue shifter on their hands.".

"What?"

I was not able to connect the dots. The answer seemed so far from my known reality that it did not even occur to me that he could be referring to Johan.

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Elliot locked his eyes with mine, and I felt the urgency in his stare. "Johan has killed his father. His previous partner, Mavis, has also been reported missing as of three days ago."

I was speechless, motionless. His words lay jumbled in my mind like they didn't fit together quite right.

"What are you saying?"

Elliot's face was grim, the lines in his forehead more prominent than ever. All of a sudden, my father looked tired my father looked old.

"Johan has gone rogue. He is likely going to come looking for his mate, and there's a very good chance he will kill again."

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