Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

Chapter 31

Valerie's POV 1

The drive toward the territorial borders felt endless, made worse by the constant chatter coming from the back

seat. Adrian had been

asking questions nonstop for the past hour, his little voice bright with excitement and hope that made my teeth

clench with irritation.

“Are we almost there? When will | see my daddy? What does he look like? Does he know about me?”

Each innocent question was like fingernails on a chalkboard. | glanced in the rearview mirror at the child

strapped into Gabriel's old car

seat-a pathetic piece of safety equipment that had seen better days, much like everything else in my miserable

life. Adrian's dark curls

were messed from leaning against the window.

“Soon,” | said tersely, not bothering to hide my annoyance anymore. “We'll be there soon, and then you can ask

him all the questions you

want.”

Adrian bounced excitedly in his seat, pressing his small hands against the window as we passed increasingly

sparse neighborhoods. “Will

he like me? Mommy says I'm a good boy. | can tie my shoes now, and | know all my

letters!”

“I'm sure he'll be... thrilled,” | muttered, pressing harder on the accelerator. The sooner | finished this unpleasant

task.

The residential areas gradually gave way to industrial zones, then to empty lots and finally to the wild forestland

that marked the outer

boundaries of our territory. This was as far as | could go without crossing into rogue territory-dangerous, lawless

land where pack

protection didn’t extend and anything could happen to an unwary traveler.

Perfect for my purposes.

I'd heard the reports over the past few months about increased rogue activity in this area. Lone wolves and

outcasts who'd been

banished from their packs, desperate and dangerous, with nothing left to lose. They wouldn't hesitate to attack

anything they perceived

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as weak or vulnerable.

Like a four-year-old child who hadn't even had his first shift yet.

“Aunt Valerie?” Adrian’s voice had grown smaller as he noticed the changing landscape outside his window. “This

doesn’t look like where

people live. Where are we going?”

“We're almost there,” | said, pulling off the main road onto a dirt track that led deeper into the forest. The car

bounced and jolted over

the uneven ground, and I could hear Adrian's confused whimpering from the back seat as branches scraped

against the windows.

“I don’t like this place,” he said, his voice trembling with the first hints of fear. “It's scary. Can we go back to

Mommy now?”

“Not yet,” | said, my voice sharp enough to make him flinch. “We have something important to do first.”

The dirt track ended in a small clearing surrounded by thick forest on all sides. Perfect. Remote enough that no

one would find him quickly, but not so deep that I'd get lost trying to find my way back out. | put the car in park

and turned to face the child who was looking atwith growing uncertainty.

“Alright,” | said briskly, unbuckling my seatbelt. “Out you get.”

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“But where's my daddy?” Adrian asked, his eyes darting around the empty clearing. “You said he was here.”

“He’s waiting for you in the forest,” | lied smoothly, getting out of the car and opening his door. “Con. He's

been waiting a very long

tto meet you.”

Adrian hesitated, his small hands gripping the edge of his car seat. “I don’t see anyone. And Mommy said |

should never go into the forest

alone.”

“You won't be alone,” | said, my patience finally reaching its breaking point. “Your daddy will be there. Don’t you

want to meet him?”

The child's desperate desire to find his father won out over his caution. He unbuckled himself and climbed out of

the car, his small hand

reaching automatically for mine.

I led him to the edge of the forest, where the trees grew thick enough to block out most of the late afternoon

sunlight. The air was

cooler here, carrying the earthy scent of decomposing leaves and something else-something wild and predatory

that made my wolf

pace uneasily in my mind.

“He’s in there?” Adrian asked, staring into the shadowy depths between the trees. “It looks really dark.”

“Don’t worry,” | said, crouching down to his level and speaking in the ssweet tone I'd used at the school.

“Your daddy loves playing

hide and seek. He's waiting for you to find him.”

| guided him several steps into the forest, far enough that he wouldn't be visible from the clearing but not so far

that I'd have trouble

finding my way back. When we reached a small cluster of fallen logs, | stopped.

“There,” | said, pointing deeper into the forest where the shadows grew thickest. “I think | see him! Do you see

that movement between

those trees?”

Adrian squinted into the darkness, hope and fear warring on his small face. “I... | don’t see anything.”

“Look harder,” | insisted, already backing away from him. “He's there, waiting for you. Go find him!”

“Wait!” Adrian turned toward me, panic flickering in those distinctive blue eyes. “Don’t leave me! | want to go

with you!”

But | was already moving, my high heels clicking against the forest floor as | hurried back toward the clearing.

Behind me, | could hear

Adrian calling out-first to me, then to his imaginary father, his voice growing smaller and more frightened with

each passing second.

“Aunt Valerie! Cback! | can’t find him! AUNT VALERIE!"

By the t| reached my car, Adrian's voice had faded to a distant cry echoing through the trees. | slammed the

door and started the

engine, the sound drowning out whatever final pleas he might have been making.

The phone rang just as | reached the main road, Elizabeth’s nflashing on the display. | answered

immediately, eager for good news.

“Please tellyou have her locked up somewhere,” | said without preamble. “Because | just finished handling

my end of the bargain, and

| want my money”

“We have a problem,” Elizabeth’s voice cthrough the speaker, tight with rage and something that sounded

like pain. “That little bitch

attacked us! She hit Harold with a wine bottle and bit me-ACTUALLY BIT ME-and then she ran off!”

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31 Chapter 31

I nearly swerved off the road in shock. “What do you mean she ran off? How could you let one omega overpower

both of you?”

“She fought like a rabid animal!” Elizabeth shrieked. “Harold’s unconscious, bleeding all over my carpet, and my

arm looks like it was

mauled by a wolf! We had to call an ambulance!”

“That's my money bleeding all over your carpet!” | shouted back, my voice rising to match hers. “Do you have

any idea what | just

sacrificed to make this work? What | had to do?”

“I don’t care what you had to do! Harold might not even want her anymore after this! He's talking about pressing

charges, about how

dangerous she is-”

“Then MAKE him want her!” | interrupted, rage making my voice crack. “Tie her up, drug her, | don’t care what

you have to do! But | am

not walking away from this empty-handed!”

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