Chapter Four

Seline

I feel like my heart is going to beat clear out of my chest as we make our way along the twisted driveway that leads to the palatial monstrosity my father calls a house. I have never liked this place but today feels worse somehow. It looms ahead of us waiting to pull me back inside and keep me there until I die.

"Will you please relax?" Liam asks lowly.

I don't reply. He doesn't know what it was like living with my father. After my mother passed there was no buffer between me and him. I was only twelve when the abuse started. Little things at first, mostly verbal, but after a while it was just the norm. Getting pushed around, belittled, broken down.

Liam kills the engine before turning to me. "You're clearly uncomfortable being here, and we won't stay here any longer than necessary. I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

I nod. It won't make any difference what I say. Once an Alpha has made up their mind there isn't much that can change it.

He gets out and rounds the hood to open my door. I watch his long jean-clad legs carry his large frame and I can't help but admire him. Broad shoulders, a muscular back, and thick thighs are all part of the package that makes Liam Virago the perfect specimen of male virility. Stepping out of the vehicle I stare up at the front door. Twelve steps between me and the entrance to my own personal hell. A shiver of fear works its way down my spine, and I must fight the compulsion to flee from this place.

"You need to be strong, Seline," Liam says as he places his hand on the small of my back and leads me to the steps. "We need to show a united front. Your father will be punished for what he has done."

On the sixth step, the heavy oak door above us swings open, revealing my father. He stares at us, a smirk crossing his handsome features.

"Welcome, Alpha Liam," he greets, gesturing us inside once we reach the top . "I wondered where my daughter had gone." He chuckles and I want to gag.

"Alpha Gregor," Liam replies, his voice low and deadly.

For the first time since walking inside, I turn to look at them. My father is standing a few feet away from Liam in shock. Liam is glaring at my father, the magic of his shift already shimmering around him. His dragon is fighting for dominance, his scales visible just beneath his skin. I run my hand down his arm and twine my fingers with his. If I need to stand strong, he needs to stay in control.

His fingers flex around mine before his dragon allows him full control once more.

"Is … is there a problem, Alpha Liam?" my father stammers, staring at us.

"Seline, why don't you gather your things while I talk with your father?" he asks, placing a kiss against my temple.

My father frowns but I don't argue with the big Alpha. Instead, I let my feet carry me away as calmly as possible, disappearing up the stairs and into my room before closing the door. I don't want to be anywhere near either of them. Liam is intent on putting my father in his place and I don't want to be in the vicinity when my father figures it out.

I saw the way he looked at Liam the moment he saw us. My father thinks Liam is here to discuss claiming me as his female and he thinks this will only strengthen his position as one of the top Alpha Nobles in the realm. Little does he know how wrong he is.

Liam isn't here to bind himself to my family, he wants me, and he intends to take me away. It all feels too good to be true, and it probably is, but I have no other choice.

I take a moment to look around my bedroom one last time. Pale yellow walls with a few magazine pictures, remnants of my schoolgirl days. The flowery curtains my mother hung float in the breeze, a matching accompaniment to my bedding. I never had the heart or the inclination to change it after she passed. Now I wish I had. Everything in here just makes me sad.

Lifting an old duffle bag from the bottom of my closet, I grab a few things I love, including my mother's jewelry and some of my favorite books, before heading back downstairs.

I follow the sound of my father's raised voice all the way to his home office, where I find him glaring at Liam, rage scrolling across his features.

"What do you mean, I am being ranked down?"

****

Liam

"What do you mean, I am being ranked down?" Seline's father yells at me, spittle flying from his mouth as his face turns an angry purple-red color.

It took me a few minutes to get my dragon under control, but Seline's touch seemed to soothe him some. And now that he is letting me run the show once more, I have a job to do. Gregor will regret the day he decided to mistreat his daughter.

"Like I said, forcing females to be part of the annual hunt is against the law. Not to mention that Seline was being abused in your home. It sickens me to think how you treated your daughter, your only child."

"You have no foundation for those accusations!"

Seline walks into the office and I pull her down onto my lap, her bag falling to the floor. She sighs softly before snuggling deeper into me. I realized quickly that any time I touched her, the tension seemed to leave her instantly. I wonder if that is the bond at work or if she simply enjoys my touch.

"Gregor," I sigh. "My physicians saw Seline's wounds. Either you inflicted them, or you allowed another to do it. Either way, the abuse happened on your watch. As for the females and the hunt, I have been in contact with some other Alphas and their females are more than willing to testify against not only you, but others as well."

"Are you insane?" Gregor rages, causing my mate to stiffen. "Do you know who I am? This will not stand."

"It has already been done. Your business, home, and other assets will be folded into the Virago portfolio. Your clan is no more, and Seline belongs with me now."

"You're going to send me to the poorhouse over a female whore?" he sneers, a glare fixed on the woman in my arms.

"Let me say this slowly so you understand every word. You are done, Gregor. Your accounts have been frozen, and you have fifteen minutes to gather your personal belongings." I stand and place Seline beside me before leaning into Gregor's personal space. "And if you ever, ever speak to or about her in less than a respectful tone or look at her the wrong way, I will kill you with my bare hands. Consequences be damned."

Gregor balks at my words. "I'm her father!"

Seline snorts, drawing both of our attention but remains quiet.

"Your father is leaving the Capital," I say, tilting her chin back so I can look into her eyes. "If you have anything you want to say, do it now."

She stares at me before glancing at her father. She takes him in, tracing his features with her gaze before frowning.

"I don't care what happens to you," she says softly. "Just like you didn't care about me when you burned me and left me unconscious in the forest for the Alphas to find. But I do hope you feel the fear I did, it's what you deserve."

She steps out of my embrace, grabs the duffle bag on the floor, and walks out with her head held high. I watch as pride warms me from the inside. She may not know it yet, but she is perfect for me. Strong and defiant but she has a good heart, I am sure of that.

"That ungrateful little bitch," Gregor seethes as he rounds his big ugly desk, making a beeline for my mate.

I grab him around the throat, my talons elongating and digging into his flesh as I slam him against the nearest wall. His feet lift off the floor and his hands push against my chest as he tries to fight me off.

"Get the fuck out of the Capital. The only reason you aren't dead right now is because you are Seline's only living relative and she might regret letting me kill you some day. But if I see you again, I will kill you."

I drop his wheezing form to the ground where he sits in a puddle of his own piss before walking out.