Page 103 of Challenged Mate
“You don’t understand. This isn’t easy. For your entire life, I managed to honor your mother’s last wish. I kept you safe.” He stared out at the skyline, looking like a man who’d lost his way.
“No one knew about you,” he went on. “But then I insisted on naming you my heir. I put a target on your back. By entering you in the Alpha Games, I broadcasted your existence. Now, the sorcerers your mother left us to protect you from have found you. And it is all my fault.”
My lungs squeezed. I inhaled deeply, forcing them to relax. “Rabid shifters roamed our territory before I entered the Alpha Games,” I countered. “The sorcerers controlling them sent them to Colorado. They already knew I existed.”
“No.” He jerked his with a snort. “I’m afraid I am solely responsible for that threat to our pack.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Graystone Coven leader has spent the past two decades searching for the shifter who mated with his coveted Mother Goddess. Because of my foolish correspondence with Jocelyn, he found me.”
My eyes widened. “You’re saying the coven leader is the one responsible for the rabid shifters? Not rogue sorcerers?”
“I have no proof,” my father confessed. “But yes, I believe he has orchestrated the attack on our pack as payback.”
“But he didn’t know about me?”
“No. Not until the games.”
The memory of the sorcerers’ attack played in my mind. The cloaked figures had wanted to kill me to take my mother’s magic, but that wasn’t true of the sorcerers who’d attacked a couple nights ago.
“The sorcerers who attacked the other night.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “They wanted to take me with them.”
“I know. Asher sent word.” He sighed. “That’s why I came.”
At least we were beyond the lie of him being here for my mating ceremony.
“Why?”
“Jocelyn sent a letter.” He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his front pocket and held it out.
I debated not taking it, but my fingers accepted the paper and unfolded it before I could decide.
Benjamin,
Graystone has sought out an oracle. It is only a matter of time before he discovers the truth. The matter must be resolved before he finds her. If not, we will all be doomed.
Hurry. Before it’s too late.
J
Foreboding washed over me as I read the cryptic, ominous words one more time.
My hand shook as I lowered the letter and met my father’s waiting stare. “What does this mean?”
He pressed his lips together, then asked again, “Have you managed to use your magic?”
I blinked. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I will explain. Just… please answer me. Have you used your magic?”
“Yes.”
“What color is it?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. My heart raced, knowing my answer would be significant, but not understanding why. “Gold.”
“Mother.” The word passed my father’s lips in an almost sob. His head fell forward. I stared at the side of his face, not knowing what to say. I’d never seen my father look so defeated.Never.
