The Half-Breed Who Found His Other Half (6 page)

intrude, the two parts of him had stopped warring each other, both yearning for Chantay. “Me, too, baby,” he replied and kissed Chantay’s forehead. “Me, too.”

Alas, his idea that this place wasn’t exactly the most appropriate one for a little sex fest proved to be correct. The second level might not be as busy as the main ballroom, but there were still plenty of guards around. Unfortunately, they seemed to have heard Chantay and Isaac, as Isaac suddenly felt a presence close in.

He released his mate, eyeing Chantay in a mix of lust and horror.

“Someone’s coming,” he told his lover. “We need to get dressed.”

It was easier said than done. Their carefully chosen outfits had been ripped off in the rush of passion. Buttons had flown off and material had torn. And of course, both of them smelled like sex and the room itself probably bore the scent of a brothel.

Right on cue, a knock sounded at the door. “Mr. Wade?” the voice of a guard asked. “Your father is looking for you.”

Again? Jesus.
Couldn’t Isaac get a moment’s peace? He’d promised his father he would do his assigned task. What more did the man want?

“Just a moment,” he told the guard. “I’ll be right there.”

“Right.” The sound of a cleared throat. “I’ll let him know you’ll be slightly delayed.”

The comment essentially told Isaac that he’d been right about his first assumption, and they had, indeed, been overheard. Chantay looked dismayed. “Oh, no. I can’t believe they know about what we did.”

“It can’t be helped.” Isaac kissed Chantay’s temple. “Don’t worry about it.”

“You don’t understand,” Chantay fumed. “I’m always judged by the standards of others. Both incubi and Sidhe find me lacking. What will they think about me now?”

“I do understand, baby.” Isaac hugged his mate tightly, shushing him. “I’m perhaps one of the few people who gets you. And that’s
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why I’m going to give you one piece of advice. Stop asking yourself that question. Stop worrying about other people’s opinions.”

Chantay arched a brow. “Have you?”

Isaac shook his head. “I haven’t, and that’s why my father and everyone else still have the power to hurt you. But not anymore, baby.

From now on, you and I stick together. We’re not going to care about what others think. We found each other, and that’s what matters.”

For a few moments, he thought he might have rushed things again, but then Chantay beamed at him. It was blinding, as if the sun had finally appeared after a cloudy morning. “You’re right, Isaac. Those who judge don’t know anything about us. We’ll show them the truth.

Together.”

Isaac had never heard more beautiful words in his entire life.

“Yeah, Chantay. Together.” He heard the guard outside walk away and heaved a sigh. “I have to go, baby. I don’t know what he wants to tell me that we didn’t go over during our first conversation, but it could be important.” He paused, thinking back at his father’s comments. “Before I do that, there’s something I should mention. He told me to team up with you to find the identity of our would-be killer.” He’d also ordered Isaac not to get emotionally involved with Chantay, but Isaac had known up front he would ignore that particular part of his supposed mission.

“King Sterling told me something similar.” Chantay’s face scrunched up in a frown. “I hate this, Isaac. I hate that Rhys is missing and they’re using us. Most of all, I hate that I don’t understand what’s expected of us.”

“We’ll figure it out, baby,” Isaac said as he got up. “Together, remember?”

Chantay offered him a weak smile, and they started to prepare themselves for facing the world. They cleaned up as well as they could and got dressed with their formerly elegant clothing. Isaac grimaced, realizing that he’d have to make a detour and stop by his
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room before he went to see his father. There was no way his current outfit qualified as appropriate for polite company.

The hardest thing, though, was leaving Chantay’s side when everything inside Isaac screamed to never let the other man go. They shared a brief kiss, and Isaac watched his mate go, longing to follow and steal Chantay away from all those who would hurt them. But alas, he could do no such thing, and after Chantay was gone, he, too, headed toward his room.

Fifteen minutes later, finally clean and changed, he was ready to meet with his father. The elder wolf was waiting for him in the same office in which they’d talked earlier. Isaac knocked, and his sire’s voice urged him to enter.

Unlike before, Soren and Brody weren’t present, and there was no sign of the other werewolves the elder had recruited for the purpose of finding Rhys. Instead, in the room, Isaac found his only niece, Melanie.

Due to the difference in age between him and his brothers, Isaac had four nephews and one niece, out of which two—Brody’s adoptive sons, Angel and Clark—weren’t his blood. Soren’s children, Melanie and her two brothers, Jace and Derek, were the only ones who shared his genes. Not that it mattered. Isaac had told his mate the truth when he’d spoken about his family. Their group had been inseparable as children, and in many ways, they still were.

To a certain extent, Isaac felt more kinship to his nephews than to his much older siblings. In fact, Melanie had always felt like a sister, not a niece. Of course, this was probably because he was the youngest in their group, the runt of the litter, so to speak. At any rate, he was pleased to see her. He hadn’t expected her to be at this meeting as well.

Isaac wanted to ask her why she’d come here in the first place, but pack etiquette dictated that he had to focus on his elder. “You wanted to see me, Father?” he asked.

“Yes. Please come in and close the door.”

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Isaac obeyed and, as his father gestured him closer, advanced toward the desk. He scanned the elder wolf’s face, trying to guess what the other man wanted. The only thing he could come up with was that he’d heard of Isaac sleeping with Chantay. But then, that didn’t explain Melanie’s presence here.

Finally, Isaac’s father took a deep breath and began to speak. “As you know, we’ve been dealing a lot with magical creatures lately. As such, I’ve learned some things about their habits and customs, and one particular aspect of Sidhe culture got me thinking. I want you to mate Melanie.”

For a few seconds, Isaac couldn’t believe he was hearing correctly. “Pardon me? Could you repeat that? Because I swear I thought I heard you asking me to marry Mel.”

“Don’t talk back at me, pup.” His father’s voice was nearly a growl. “You might think yourself very smart now, but you will do what I say.”

Isaac couldn’t help it. He laughed. “You can’t be serious, Father.

Mel is my niece.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” the elder wolf replied. “I haven’t asked you to produce heirs with her. You would just be in a partnership, a platonic union, if you will. It would give both of you the authority you need to lead our people.”

While those words were somewhat relieving in the sense that they told Isaac his father hadn’t completely lost his mind, they still didn’t change the fact that there was no way he would obey this particular command.

He turned toward his niece, curious as to what she thought about all this. “And you agreed to it, Mel? It doesn’t strike you as weird at all?”

Melanie looked a bit doubtful, but nodded. “As long as we don’t have to, you know, have sex, I don’t see why I couldn’t be Alpha bitch. I mean, my mother was supposed to have occupied the position before my dad mated Daniel. It’s only fair, right?”

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Isaac’s eyes widened. Where was this coming from? Isaac had heard the story many times from his brother, and he knew all about Melanie’s past. It was true that her mother, Carlie Denning, had been Soren’s beta before her tragic death. In fact, originally, Elder Wade had planned for her to be Alpha bitch—Soren’s mate. But after Soren had found Daniel, she and the squirrel-shifter had become great friends. In fact, Daniel had nearly given his life while trying to save hers. In the end, she had died, but her pups had lived.

All this time, Isaac had been convinced that Soren’s pups loved Daniel like a second father. But judging from Melanie’s words, she almost seemed to resent him. It was strange, and very much unlike the generous, loving girl Isaac knew. Yes, Melanie had character, and yes, she would probably be a great Alpha bitch, but she shouldn’t be so resentful toward her adoptive dad. It simply didn’t fit to what he knew of her.

“Does Soren know about all this?” he asked his father. “What did you tell this girl to get her to agree?”

Mel flushed red, obviously not appreciating the fact that he was suggesting she’d been manipulated. “It’s my decision,” she said mutinously. “I don’t need to ask his permission.”

“I didn’t think you had,” Isaac said without missing a beat. “But I expect it wasn’t your fault. Come on, Father. Answer the question.

How did you convince her to play along? How long have you been turning her against her parents?”

“Don’t presume to judge me, Isaac.” The elder wolf shot to his feet. “My agreement with Mel is none of your business, and neither is her relationship with her family.”

“I disagree. Soren is my brother, and as such, Daniel is like another sibling to me.” Isaac didn’t remember ever standing up to his father in such a way, and God, it felt great. “You’ve gone too far, Father. But I guess people never change, huh? Brody and Soren might have thought you stopped your controlling ways when they found mates, but you’ve only changed targets.”

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“Isaac, our people need a leader,” his father answered. “I’ve been around for a long time, and I don’t plan to leave any time soon. But that doesn’t change the fact that soon, I’ll need one of my sons to take charge of my affairs.”

Isaac knew his father would never confess to needing a break, at least not in so many words. But this was clearly about that, about the elder wolf’s need to find someone else who could shoulder the burden of a nation. Obviously, Isaac couldn’t do it alone. With Melanie by his side, he might be able to, but that was out of the question. In fact, he didn’t even know why his father had approached him with this and not one of his brothers.

“Pick Soren,” he said. “He’s Alpha and your eldest. He’s the best choice, not me.”

“Soren has a different life, with his mate, with his pack. So does Brody. You don’t have any responsibilities yet. You can stay by my side and learn how to lead our people.”

So this what it all came down to. Isaac didn’t have a mate or children, so he could be at his father’s bidding whenever the elder wolf said so. But then, that wasn’t exactly true anymore. He hadn’t wanted to reveal Chantay’s importance, at least not yet, but it would seem that he didn’t have a choice.

“I’m sorry, Father, but you are mistaken. My first responsibility is to my mate.”

“Your mate.” Kevin arched a brow. “And who might that be?”

“Chantay,” Isaac replied proudly. “We might just have met, but I already know he’s the one for me.”

His father grimaced, not looking very surprised. “I heard you were quite taken with him. You can fuck him if you like, Isaac. I don’t care. Hell, you can keep him after you mate Melanie. I don’t expect you to be a monk. But make no mistake, I don’t trust incubi as far as I can throw them. I still can’t believe Morgan Cunningham mated one.

For all we know, it’s all magic meant to mess with your head.”

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Isaac controlled his anger that coursed through him at his father’s callousness. Kevin seemed to have no qualms in using them all. Isaac, Chantay, even Melanie were only tools for him. “You know what, Father? Believe what you want. I don’t care. You can’t change the truth or the fact that I’ll never mate Mel.”

Was it his impression, or did Melanie looked grateful to him?

Perhaps she hadn’t changed so much after all. He concealed his relief and fixed his gaze on his father’s stern face. The elder wolf glared daggers at him, and Isaac half expected him to come up with some other way to force the issue. He didn’t. Instead, he said, “Get out of my sight, Isaac. Find out who that killer is, and we’ll deal with this later. Once we’re back in the pack, you’ll see reason.”

Normally, Isaac would have allowed his father to have the last word and just left. But now, things were different. Now, he had a mate to defend, and he wouldn’t allow anyone, not even his parents, to speak against Chantay. “I already have, Father,” he said. “I’m finally happy and free, and you can’t do anything about it.”

And with that, Isaac turned on his heel and left the room. He needed to tell his brother, and preferably Jace and Derek as well, about his father’s idea. They had to find a way to protect Melanie from the elder wolf’s machinations. Since Isaac had refused to comply with the man’s plan, Kevin would undoubtedly find something else.

Isaac sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. Why couldn’t he just be allowed to court his mate in peace? Why did his family always have to do things the hard way? Couldn’t they, for once, simply be left alone? Couldn’t his father accept the course of destiny and stop trying to control everyone’s life?

It was quite apparent that no, none of those wishes would come true just like that. If he wanted to be happy with Chantay, Isaac would have to take things into his own hands. And he knew exactly where to begin.

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He found his brothers outside, talking in low voices with Liam and Anson. “Hey, Isaac,” Soren greeted him. “What’s up?”

Isaac wished he had a better way to tell his older sibling the truth.

In a way, it sucked that he had to be the messenger of a betrayal. But Soren needed to know. He deserved to have the information that could help him protect his pups.

“Father wants me to mate Melanie and become elder after he steps down,” he said bluntly.