Denied by Destiny: Trapped in the Shadows of the Mate Bond

- Cleo ~

The world around me shakes, as if the very walls of this office were caving in on me.

They knew, they all knew...that Jace is the Father. Jaxon, he must have told them. "Hector I..."

"Well this is perfect." I cringe at Than's overly zealous laugh, he was taking joy from my own heartbreak, enjoying it too much. Enjoying his one-upmanship over Hector.

"Why didn't you tell us? Tell Jace?" Kaia's eyes pierce through to my soul, her stare holding me on the spot, regret surging through me from the way she was looking at me.

"It's complicated..." I tear my eyes away, my head lowering as guilt washes over me.

"When you said your baby was an alpha....you weren't kidding." His laugh grates through me, this time aimed at me.

"Than!" I seethe out at him.

"You need to come home, now." Dad demands out, his eyes alit with fiery fury.

"No, that's not possible." Than's laughter stops.

"This is a family matter..."

"Yes, and I'm her family now."

"How dare you." Mum screams out, her hands clenching into balls as she takes a step closer, away from Dad's protective frame.

"How dare I? The way I call it is you left a pregnant female alone by the side of the road."

"That's not..." I snap my head to Than, he did not just say that.

"Did you or did you not spend the night on the side of the road?"

"That doesn't matter..." I glare back at him, he has just used my vulnerability as a loaded weapon against my own mother.

"Luckily for Cleo, I was there to help her, I was there to offer her a roof over her head."

"Waiting in the sidelines preparing to attack more like it." Hector's voice rumbles out. "Cleo, we are leaving." Mum demands again, but it just isn't that easy.

"Like I said, that's not possible..." Than turns, his hands reaching for the painting on the wall behind his desk as he removes it to expose his hidden safe. He opens it, pulling out a document, before handing it out for Dad to take.

"What is this?" Dad takes it, reluctantly...his eyes looking only at me

"It's an agreement between Cleo and myself."

"Agreement?" Mum looks to Dad, with pure terror laced within her eyes. "Orpheus, what is it?"

"It's a contract...a contract between

the two of them. You signed this...you're telling me you actually signed this?” Dad has never once shown any disappointment in me, not even when he found me in the doctor's room waiting for the abortion. Never, until now,

"I had no choice."

"No choice? No choice... how about us, a fucking home that would have protected you and the baby no matter what." I flinch under the roar of his voice, his alpha command forcing itself onto me.

"No matter what...I don't think so?

You couldn't even handle it that my baby was human, let alone if I told you the truth. I made a

mistake....one mistake now I have to live with the consequeneces

en

"No, Cleo...none of that matters anymore, don't you see..." Mum is cut off by Dad, his hand raising to

silence her before he passes the document over to Hector.

Who in turn, flicks through it.noveldrama

"Oh Cleo..." His eyes find mine, that same disappointing look upon him.

"What Hector, what is it?" Kaia whispers, her eyes refusing to leave Than's.

"It's an agreement for her and the baby..." Hector starts but is cut off by a delighted sounding Than.

"No matter what happens to me, Cleo and the baby will remain on pack grounds, they will take on the pack. After all this time I've won...I've finally won."

"You've been playing a game on your own Than, how could you bring our children into this?" Alora seethes out, her hand refusing to take the document that Hector was handing to her to read. "Our children?" Than snarls back at her.

"I changed these children, I fed these children...they are mine as much as their mothers. How could you do this...to them...to me."

"Don't flatter yourself. Nothing I do is for you Alora, I thought you made that clear when you rejected our mate bond.

"Bullshit. You just couldn't wait to get your revenge could you." Ezra roars back, every person in this room trying to take a pound of flesh out of Than, and he of them.