“That woman who was just in here?”
Mally chuckles. “God, no. That’s the witch’s daughter. She’s useless. Barely has powers of her own. Her mother gifted her to us.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand. Why would a witch do this? Why would she help you?”
“Because she wants what we want.”
I bring my fingertips to my temples and rub. My head is killing me. The pain throbs and seems to only be getting worse. “And what do you want?”
“To stop the monsters from revealing themselves to the humans.”
I inhale a sharp breath.They know?
“It can’t happen, Farrah. These monsters are evil. Dangerous.”
“They’re not.”
“They are!” My father stands, and I cower at his threatening stance. Mally is a big man, and I no longer believe he won’t hurt me. “They’ve tricked you. You’re under some sort of compulsion. That’s all a fated mate bond is… compulsion… a spell. I can help you break the bond—”
“No! Why would I do that? I love him—”
“Yourmatekilled Ethan!”
I jerk back at my father’s words.
“What?No. He…”
I always feared he was the one who took my brother’s life during the attack at the warehouse after Vara was kidnapped. I couldn’t ask though. I figured Locheran would tell me once he realized I was an O’Hern hunter. If he’d been the one to kill my little brother…
“I saw it. He chased Ethan to the roof of that warehouse. He tore his throat out with his claws and sent him over the edge to his death.”
My eyes fill with tears. My throat aches with grief.
“It was self-defense,” I whisper.
If it hadn't been Ethan, then it would have been Locheran. One death for another.
“Monsters manipulate. That’s all there is to it. They need to be eradicated. All of them. If they reveal themselves to the human world, they’ll take over. They’ll be on top of the food chain. Innocent people will die. They’ll keep us as slaves—”
“Like you’re doing now with that woman?” I spit out.
My father backhands me. Any tears waiting to fall now spill down my cheeks. I glare at the man who raised me. I won’t show him my fear. He was supposed to be my protector. He was supposed to love and support me, not force me to hate something he can’t understand.
He’s never hit me, and I fear there’s no turning back. There’s no saving him.
“If you will not break the fated mate connection, I will force it to be broken. I will have your memories erased and replaced with ones where you choose to join us. I’m tired of your disobedience!”
I sit frozen on the bed, my palm on the cheek that stings from my father’s hit. I refuse to look at him.
“It’s five p.m. You have until midnight to decide. That’s when they’ll be here to try and save you.”
With that, he storms out of the room. I flinch at the metal groan of the door locking.
I fall back onto the bed then curl into a ball. The throbbing pain in my head is getting so bad, I can hear it pulsing.
Locheran? Loch? Can you hear me? I’m alive, but please don’t come. They’re going to ambush you. Please! I’ll figure out how to escape.
I’m not sure if my message is going through our connection. Locheran said he’d be able to find me through it, so why haven’t they busted in yet? If they’re waiting to move in tonight, they’re going to be faced with my father and however many hunters they’ve managed to gather for this asinine plan to capture powerful monsters. Except, now they have a powerful weapon.
