Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

A pair of glowing irises drilled into me from across the large desk, the clicking of the secondhand clock on the wall the only sound in the roomy office. Wood, leather, citrus cleaner, and scotch permeated the air along with my unease.

Why was the head alpha of Georgia so damn interested in my safety?

I remained upright in the chair opposite Barric as alpha power oozed out of him and weighed on my shoulders. Beads of sweat developed across my forehead while my muscles burned with fatigue, but I didn't break eye contact or budge. The first time Barric tried to overpower me, Fane said we were different. We didn't have an alpha, and no one controlled us. We were stronger.

Even though he didn't remember it, he spoke those exact words into my mind as his phantom form stood in the corner near a bookshelf of pack photo albums.

"You bow to no one, Teague," Fane said, Barric unaware of his presence .

"Does that include you? I'm sure you'd prefer it if I bent the knee for you."

His husky chuckle had me sweating for another reason. "Oh, fiera mika, you can get on your knees for me, but you don't have to submit to my power. You can just suck me off."

Barric's brows furrowed as he studied me. Was he perplexed because I was withstanding his alpha power, or did he detect the quick burst of lust Fane had produced in me?

The head alpha sighed, finally released the flow of his invisible influence, and leaned into the back of his cushy leather chair. "I just don't know what to do with you, Tate."

My shoulders dropped, and I resisted the urge to fall to the ground or cry in relief. "You're not the first to say those words." Many a social worker proclaimed that after another foster family returned me.

"You sneak away from the compound and nearly get yourself torn apart by sub-demons." He motioned his scarred hand to my disheveled, blood-covered appearance. "You really could have been hurt."

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and rubbed it on my jeans. "I'm not a helpless kid. I can take care of myself." In fact, I might be one of the most dangerous creatures in Savannah because of the Infernal Sol. Of course, Barric didn't know that. "Plus, Fane was with me."

Barric grumbled and dragged his hand through his dark locks, the overhead lights gleaming on the red and copper strands. "Fane is also enchanted to kill you, so I worry he won't always protect you."

A threatening growl curled between Fane's teeth, and he pushed off the bookshelf. "Does this prick really think I'd let someone else kill you? "

I choked back a snort. "Fane wouldn't let anyone hurt me. Trust me." He'd rather do it himself. Or so he claims.

"Still, you can't just leave the compound. It's not safe." The head alpha tilted his head toward the window overlooking the courtyard where strands of tiny lights dangled from tree branches. "Venna is after you, and I'm pretty sure she'll kill you by any means necessary. There will be no captivity or torture. She'll simply end you."

"Why do you even care?" I blurted, shooting to my feet as an invisible pressure tightened my chest. It wasn't his alpha power but my own feelings of suffocation. I'd already been imprisoned. I didn't want to do it again. "Why does it matter to you if I live or die?"

Barric stood, took a few steps to the minifridge next to the small bar, and drew out an ice-cold bottle of water. He gingerly passed it to me, probably sensing the erratic tension coiling around me. "I care because I'm the head alpha, and you're a shifter. I protect my own."

"I'm a demon shifter hybrid who can't shift, and I'm not even part of Silver Ridge or any pack." My fingers crushed the bottle, moisture leaking down the sides as I turned to one of the walls holding framed photos. "I'm not part of anything," I muttered as loneliness hit me like a sledgehammer.

"You're part of me."

Fane's words were so faint in my mind I wasn't sure if he'd said them or if it was just wishful thinking. When I peered over my shoulder, his lips parted while he blinked. He had said them, but he didn't know why.

My heart thumped at the glimpse of Fane beyond the spell. Was there still hope for us?

"Maybe it's more." Barric's voice stole my attention from the demon shifter. "I'm sure it is. "

"What do you mean?" My pulse raced for a whole new reason. Did Barric know about the Infernal Sol? Or did he know who my parents were and the reason they hid me?

The head alpha slowly closed the distance between us, his large body dwarfing mine, and pointed to a photo of a beautiful woman with strawberry-blonde waves flowing around her narrow shoulders. Laughter emanated from her green eyes as she stood in a stream, holding a bouquet of flowers.

"This is my mate, Tamara." His throat bobbed as he explored her picture. "I'm sure you know I lost her a long time ago."

I nodded. Knox, a wolf shifter, had told me in the Underworld prison.

Barric broke away from his fated mate's image and dragged a hand down his face as if trying to rub away the pained expression. The scar slicing his eyebrow and grazing his nose was much more distinguishable this close. "We had a son, but he died shortly after childbirth. He just… stopped breathing."

The thought of losing your fated mate and your child within the same day had my heart squeezing into a hard knot. I swallowed and blinked away the tears as I recalled the unfathomable pain I felt when Mykel dragged Fane off that bridge and back to Heldrok. And he wasn't even my fated mate or my mate at all. He never claimed me like a shifter would.

Fane's phantom gaze burned into the back of my head. He'd felt the burst of agony that memory caused me, and anger swelled through our bond. He didn't like me feeling this way but wouldn't admit it.

"Our son, Anton, would have been about your age." Barric palmed his nape as he stared at his boots, his broad shoulders slumping. He seemed to shrink into himself, shortening his over-six-foot frame. "I guess I just feel like maybe the gods put you in my path to give me a chance to protect you like I couldn't do for Anton."

"Oh." His words left me speechless, and the hand clutching the bottle of water slowly lowered as the tension faded from me. Any animosity I'd held for Barric drained away at his confession. Coltrane had once tricked me into believing she viewed me as part of her family just to gain my loyalty and trust. Of course, I was wary of Barric, but you couldn't fake the waves of anguish infiltrating the air around him. My shifter senses picked up on it.

He shrugged, his cheeks reddening. "It's kind of stupid, right?"

"No, it's not." Was that why he'd wanted me in his pack from the beginning?

"You're strong, Tate. You can withstand my power, and Anton would have been exactly like that. Headstrong, stubborn, and he probably would have grown to be more powerful than me." Barric gave a dry chuckle. "I'm sorry if this is weird. I just wanted you to know why I feel protective of you."

I took a shaky breath and set the bottle on a small table. "I don't mind. But I've already been a prisoner, and I can't do it again. Besides, there's been no sign of Venna or Mykel."

Instead of arguing or pushing back, Barric nodded. "I'll try to lighten up."

"So I can leave the compound whenever I want?"

Before Barric answered, a knock at the door echoed, and he strolled across the room to answer it. "Ah, Roman, come in."

A tall, thin male witch with platinum hair and a pale complexion strolled in, that perpetual crooked smile broadening when he noticed me. "Hello, Tate." The frequent visitor at Silver Ridge looked to be in his late twenties, but like most nightworlders, he could be decades older. "Seeing you is always a pleasure. I hope Barric didn't lecture you too harshly for sneaking out again. If he did, just let me know, and I'll turn him into a toad." He winked one of his dark, almost black eyes.

I ignored the growls seeping out of Fane as he glared daggers at Roman. "We can hold off on the toad thing as long as Barric lets me leave the compound whenever I want." It was a longshot, but I had to try.

The alpha lifted a hand to tamper my excitement. "You need to have a guard with you, Fane or someone else."

"Oh, Barric, give her a little more freedom than that." Roman wrapped his arm around the alpha's shoulders, or at least attempted to. "Tate's a big girl." He arched his pierced eyebrow as his gaze roamed over me, setting off another round of growls from Fane.

As much as Roman liked to flirt, he never gave off any slimy, creepy vibes that would have me longing to knock his teeth out. Besides, he wasn't serious most of the time, and I didn't get the sense that he would actually try anything with me.

Barric slipped out from under Roman's arm and gave me a wry smile. "Small steps, Tate. You still need a guard with you."

I tried not to pout. "Well, that's better than nothing." Plus, I could get away from any guard who accompanied me—except Fane.

"Oh, don't worry, Teague. I'll be the one escorting you every time."

My jaw clenched against the curses I wanted to unleash on the demon shifter. "We'll see about that."

His chuckle swooped through my mind like a soft, lingering caress. "There's no escaping me, fiera mika."