Chapter Ninety-Six
Dominic caressed Catherine’s cheek before turning to look back at Jensen. “Yes, I’m sure he didn’t tell you all the gory details. You see, Isobel was gorgeous but not ranked high enough to please your dear old granddaddy. Jensen was given the choice between being alpha or true love,” Dominic whispered, clasping his hands together and fluttering his lashes like a schoolgirl. “As predictable as any lycan alpha, you can guess which he chose. So he brought poor Isobel to my mom and asked her to wipe her memory. Remove any trace of him and be done with it. When my mother asked what he wanted to do with the child… Do you remember what you said, Jensen?”
By now Catherine was crying for a different reason. She looked at her father as if he was able to answer. Dominic turned back to Catherine with pity in his
eyes.
“He said, ‘What did I say? Get rid of any trace of me!’ And then he slapped down the money and off he went!” Dominic chuckled. “I was only a kid at the time. A rambunctious ten-year-old who liked to hide in his mother’s cupboard while she did her spells and mixed her potions. Luckily for all of us here, my mother had a heart… or she did. Until your mate ripped it from her chest.” Dominic walked back to Graham. “I bet you didn’t know that’s why they were after my mom,.”
“Is that why you went looking for me?” Catherine asked. She noticed Graham’s shoulders twitching and knew she had to distract Dominic before he noticed.
Dominic took the bait. He swiveled and rushed up to her. He cupped her face and she fought the instinct to pull away. “My mother foresaw us together, Catherine. She knew even before you were born that you would inherit your dad’s gifts. She knew we would rule this world together. She saw it. I stayed here in Blackmoore for a time and then I went looking for you. I’ve been waiting so long for us to be together and now it’s almost time.”
“But you found your true mate,” Catherine rationalized.
His face softened slightly and he glanced around the room. Was he looking for Leonora? “Yes, my sweet, docile Leonora. Such a pity we couldn’t be together. I had my own destiny to follow. She tried to come after me you know but…”
“You marked her and then rejected her! Do you know what that did to her?” Catherine asked.
His fingers grazed over Graham’s mark and his eyes filled with sadness. “Yes, I do.”
“She has three children now and a mate who adores her. Whatever you meant to accomplish by what you did, didn’t work.”
His face turned diabolical. “No? Do they look like me?”
Catherine’s mouth fell open but before she even entertained the idea, she remembered that triplets were full lycan. “I don’t want to be with you.”
He gave her a sad smile and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t care. It’s our destiny. It’s time you give in to the truth.”
“Matt told us everything you plan to do. I won’t let it happen. I won’t ever stop fighting you.”
“Matt?”
Catherine guffawed. “The man you had feeding me your blood.”
Recognition flickered across his expression. “Oh, the geriatric human? Don’t worry, he was only a pawn. I never even considered letting him have you.”
“But you’ll let others have me?” she asked. Finally as her mate began to twitch and move his neck, Catherine felt emboldened. The fear was slowly dissolving to be replaced with rage.
“Is that not what I’ve already been doing? You reek of another’s man’s cum at this very moment and do I look upset?” he asked. He looked over his shoulder at Graham and a sinister smile spread over his face. “I was the first one to have you, as you recall.” The fear threatened to return as the memory of that first night in the packhouse ricocheted through her mind. “Did she tell you that, Grey? Did she tell you that even Curtis had a go with her?” Dominic’s smug smile turned back to her. He pulled her closer until his mouth was against her ear. “I could bend you over this bar and fuck your ass in front of everyone here and no one would be able to stop me. Is that what you want? Do you want me to prove to him who you really belong to?”
“Dominic! Watch out!”
Dominic turned to see what Curtis was yelling about only to have his throat seized in a vice by her true mate. Catherine stumbled back and fell to the ground. A growl ripped across the room as Graham’s clawed hands squeezed Dominic’s throat. Catherine watched with eagerness as fear filled Dominic’s eyes for the first time. Then, just as before, Graham’s entire body locked up. His face became frozen in a snarl as if he was about to literally bite Dominic’s head
off.
1/2
Dominic shoved against Graham but he could not be budged. Curtis approached and a few light taps to Graham’s hand allowed Dominic to fall to his feet. He choked and spat on the ground. Catherine’s eyes locked with Curtis’. A slow smile spread across his face. Desire crept into his eyes, hot and burning. His eyes went down her frame and to the ripped dress that exposed most of her thigh. He licked his lips and the fear she had smothered came back with a
vengeance.
“Did you get what we needed?” Dominic wheezed. Curtis continued to leer at Catherine. Dominic smacked Curtis on the back of the head. “Did. You. Get. What. We. Needed?”
Curtis nodded. “It’s taken care of.”
“Good,” Dominic croaked. He stepped up to Graham’s threatening form. “If I didn’t need her to go into heat, I’d rip your throat out.”
Those words caused Catherine to start trembling again. What?
This time, Graham didn’t respond.
Dominic squatted down beside her and reached for her hand. Catherine scrambled back on her hands and knees. Dominic sighed and grabbed her ankle. He hauled her back until she was practically under him. He pinned her with his eyes which then traversed her body. He bent down and ran his nose from the crest of her thighs to her neck.
“I’ll come back for you soon, mate, and we’ll take care of this little marking problem. Don’t worry, you’ll be smelling of me again in no time.”
His hand reached up her thigh and seized Graham’s bow-tie. He pulled sharply. The silk fabric was not easy to rip and the force he had to use felt as though it would snap her femur. He dangled the tie in front of her before bringing it to his nose. He inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering closed as he did. He then tucked the tie into his pants pocket and stood away.
Dominic gave a nod to Curtis. He walked past Curtis who lingered back, as if torn between whether or not he should have his own intimate moment with her. When Dominc barked for him to hurry up, Curtis jumped, gave her a sly wave and walked off. They went back through the staff hallway. A moment later the energy of the room crashed down, knocking Catherine flat against the floor.
Surrendering to
