“Then come home,” my father said immediately, his tone commanding. “I’ll send an escort—”
“No,” I interrupted, straightening my shoulders. “Not yet. I’ll handle this my way. I’ll leave in seven days. One week. That’s all I need.”
He hesitated. “Zera…”
“I’ll do what you wanted, Father,” I said, cutting him off again. “I’ll marry whoever you choose. I’ll do it your way this time.”
I could almost feel his surprise through the phone. “You mean that?”
“Yes.” My voice hardened. “I’m done following my heart. This time, I’ll follow my blood.”
There was a long pause. Then I heard the sound of his breath steadying. “Very well,” he said at last, his Alpha tone returning. “I’ll tell your brothers you’re coming home.”
My heart squeezed at the mention of them, my three older brothers, each an Alpha of their own territory. They had warned me before I left.
“Jeremiah Clinton will never love you the way you deserve, Zera,” my eldest brother had said.
But I hadn’t listened.
Now, the memory burned like salt on a wound.
“Tell them,” I whispered, my voice trembling with restrained fury. “Tell them the Moonshadow Alpha has made an enemy of the Hatunbergs.”