there in a world that's terrified of us, you will have no one to turn to." He paused. "You feel that? The fear building? That comes with this disease, and it only goes away with a pack. So don't ever bite anyone."
"Yes, Alpha," she said, faster this time.
"That's my girl," he praised. "So long as you can manage those two things - obeying us, and not turning anyone - we will deal with everything else." Then he reached down and caressed the top of her head. "You did good, Gabby. You still have a lot to learn, but you're going to be a strong wolf."
"I hope so," she told him, finally looking up.
"Go shower. We'll make you something to eat."
Gabby slid out of bed still wearing the blanket Lane had carried her back in. I passed her the clean clothes I'd found while Ian gave her rules. Then she hurried up the hall to the bathroom, more obedient than she'd ever been in her life.
"So she's ok?" I asked.
He blew out a heavy breath and dropped onto the bed my daughter had just vacated. "Yeah, I think so. That doesn't mean it's over, Elena. She'll realize that she has new limitations and that this isn't the fix for all her teenage problems, and she'll rage against it." Then he caught my hand, pulling me down beside him. "But we'll get through it, ok?"
"We?" I asked.
He nodded. "She's going to be strong. As a wolf, she'll even start to think and react differently, and she's smart enough to use all of that to her advantage. Especially with you. We'll make sure she doesn't."
I scooted a little farther away, putting some space between us. "We. Us. Just stop. That girl is my daughter. Not yours. She could've died tonight. Has that made it through your head yet?"
"She didn't. We made sure she was ok."
I waved that away. "But that doesn't negate the danger you put her in! You and everyone else here! You all act like this is no big deal, but I've been sick with worry for two days straight! That's my daughter, and maybe it doesn't mean anything to you, but losing her would kill me. Don't you get that? You aren't safe for her, and you didn't say a damned thing. Over and over, you lied to us."
"Elena," he tried.
"No. She's ok now, and I'm going to take care of her." I took a deep breath. "And I'm going to need some time, Ian."
He clenched his jaw and stood. "You don't get time, Elena. She's not going to go back to being a normal girl. Like it or not, she's my responsibility now, too."
"It was one damned night," I told him. "Fucking you doesn't make you her father."
"No, but the moment she became a wolf? I became her alpha, and that trumps everything else." With a snarl, he struck out, his fist hitting the door. "She's as much mine now as she is yours. Just like Olivia, Roman, Xander, and every other person living inside these gates. I get it, you don't know what an alpha is, so let me explain. I'm the one who stands between them and everything else. My job? It's to take care of everyone in my pack, and there's a reason no one's tried to take it from me. Because I'm good at it."
I nodded to show I heard. "And after all that, you still haven't realized that you lied to me. You never asked me to be your mate, or whatever. You never told me about this! You said it was a thing, and that it'd be ok. Well, you know what? It's not ok, Ian. I need some time to figure out how I feel about this. I don't mean the wolves. I mean the way you treated me, like you had a right to me and my body."
"I didn't..." He paused, slowly sucking in air. "I made you my mate to keep you safe. To give you all the rights that everyone else in Wolf's Run has. And so you know, I get nothing out of that. Not even a promise of commitment. The ritual does nothing more than say that you are one of us, and the one that I've chosen to give power over the most dominant wolf in our pack. There's nothing to ask because you cannot refuse how I feel. I will still feel it."
"But what if I'd caught this?" I shot back. "What if a condom