Her Broken Alpha - Isoellen Page 0,85

Annalise wishes see her children at peace so she can rest easy."

"How am I going to see her? You built a wall around my sector."

"I know you have ways to get people in and out,” Rhineholth admonished. “But you can come with me. See your mother. Your family."

Darre would see his mother. But the rest of them?

"Your mate can see her family too," Rhineholth added as an incentive.

Darre felt Naya's response through their bond. She would never settle here if she couldn't trust in her family's safety, and she would never believe that unless she saw them with her own eyes. Her emotions were all mixed up when it came to her family, filling her with worry, guilt, and fear. Seeing them would alleviate some of her distress.

Darre would not avoid the obvious. "Is all I've done forgotten, then?"

"Are you going to forget all I've done?" his father countered.

Darre snorted. "Not a fuckin' chance."

"Are you going to raise your family in a place like Sector 2? Keep them in this crumbling tower with no water, no electricity, nothing but salvage and mismatched pieces to fix it? Are you going to take her into the pit every time someone challenges you because you aren't sure who to trust? Will you take your children there? Are you going to raise your family—your daughters—in a place so dangerous?"

Darre growled. He already knew the answers to all those questions, knew that he'd burn the world down to make it safe for his own. But he could not align with the false-face politics of a corrupt Administration. He would never trust those arrogant, selfish bastards. They were as monstrous as people accused him of being, only Darre didn't try to hide his nature like they did.

"Monster," Naya breathed against his skin, tracing her fingers along arm as she filled him with loving reassurance.

"A bond changes an alpha’s perspective," Rhineholth murmured sagely.

"Didn't change yours when you bonded my mother."

Rhineholth sighed. "She never told you. I never told you. It's not a part of our great story," he said, emphasizing the story part of his comment with a sarcastic bite.

"Annalise is stubborn. I wanted her from the beginning. I chose her but she didn't want me. She didn't even bond me until after your younger sister, Katetellyn, was born. Annalise hasn’t told you children because she felt the truth would dishonor me. But keeping her choice a secret only poisoned you against me. The truth is better.

"I was half a man until she chose to give herself to me completely. Living with only half a bond made me a ruthless animal." He looked down at Darre's claws as they combed absently through Naya's curls. "All my worst traits intensified. I didn't begin work on the breeder laws until after she gave me her breeder’s blessing, until I understood how important a proper bond is for an alpha.

"We are a fabricated species, Darre—born in labs. We aren't human, but we are still trying to be. Your mother has been studying breed family dynamics. She believes that without a full bond, alphas can become quite unstable, and omega breeders often seem to die earlier than the average. They can still produce children together, but unbonded couples have more miscarriages and the children they do have are often feeble.

“But the balance is so delicate you can't force it, either. It has to be a true, instinctual choice. Forcing a bond without that primal connection is the same as having no bond at all."

Darre could sense that Naya focused intently on Rhineholth as he spoke. He wondered if it made sense to her. To him, his father's explanation provided little more than a convenient excuse for all the horrible things he'd done.

"You both followed your instincts." Rhineholth dipped his chin at them in recognition. "The bond has changed you. Made you whole. I can't forget all that you've done to this sector in your madness—in your spite for me—but Kane has agreed to give you time to change what needs to be changed, and we won't let the Administration interfere.

“You will be glad to know that your brother is forcing change within the Administration as well. You might consider working with him, or at least hearing him out. Your priorities align more than you think."

Darre's data pad beeped just in time to grant him a reprieve from all this talk of change. This sensitive bullshit irritated the hell out of him. He glanced down at the screen and saw a message