Page 199 of Fractured Fate

What he didn’t count on, though, was the trust she had of the people gathered around her. They accepted her and let her in. She was no longer alone. No longer the outcast. They were her family. Her mothers were her true parents.

“Come now. We can break that bond of yours if he’s unwilling to join us.” He didn’t know they hadn’t sealed their bond yet.

Aiden moved her behind him and stepped forward. “Father or not, I will kill you before I let you touch her.”

The rogues at the man’s side stepped forward, and he held up his hand. “Do not interfere. We have other things to deal with first.” His gaze moved to Noah, who stood next to Lukas.

“As for you, traitor, you will die for your insubordination.”

Noah narrowed his eyes. “Fuck you, James.”

“Recognize my voice, do you? No matter. You’ll be dead soon enough.”

She looked at Noah. So the man claiming to be her father was James. The one who kept tormenting her after Brent died. The one who orchestrated everything might be her father. The idea of sharing DNA with someone so vile disgusted her.

“Leave him alone,” she said. “Why are you doing this? This is my family. Leave them alone.”

James sneered at her, dropping all pretenses of a loving father. “Oh, sweetie. You are as stupid as your mother was, it appears.” Her eyes rounded. “Do you think these monsters care about you? That they would care about a species beneath them who isn’t good for anything more than being a glorified blood bag for them to feast upon? You poor delusional girl.”

The sudden one-eighty he took, belittling her and trying to put a rift between her and the people she loved, made her furious. They weren’t monsters. They were more of a family to her than he ever had been. Her lower lip trembled as she held back the words she wanted to scream at him. Her nails dug into her thighs.

“I’m done with this family reunion. Take care of them,” he said, turning to the rogues at his side. “Keep the blonde alive. Someone has a vested interest in her.” He disappeared into the shadows of the trees piled in the center of the clearing again, returning to whatever hole he crawled out of, evidently done with trying to sway her to his cause.

When the rogues advanced, Seth, Lukas, and Aiden met them in the middle. The rogues outnumbered them. She looked around. Another rogue held Noah on the ground with gloved hands around his throat, snarling at him with fangs bared.

To her left, Riley clung to the back of another rogue like a monkey, tearing into their shoulder with her fangs. Maybe she was more intimidating than Charlotte thought.

Blaire screamed when a rogue lunged at her, and Dominic intercepted them, tackling the man to the ground in a flurry of fists and fangs as they bit and punched at each other.

Charlotte ran in her direction. “What do we do?”

“We can’t run. There are still rogues on campus with security. If they catch us in the forest, we’re dead. Watch out!”

She screamed when she turned around and a rogue came at her with a bar held above his head. Before the bar connected with her head, Noah crashed into him and tackled him to the ground, snapping his neck.

When he staggered to his feet, he caught Aiden’s eye. They froze, staring at one another, both panting from their fights. Aiden nodded and turned back to the battle as Noah moved to join him; the shared moment of acceptance was over.

Riley screamed, grabbing Charlotte’s and Blaire’s attention. They looked in the direction she did.

A rogue slammed a baseball bat into Seth’s stomach while another tackled him to the ground and grabbed his face, attempting to get his hands around Seth’s throat to snap his neck.

Riley cleared the distance to Seth, flinging herself at the rogue’s back, sending them both over Seth’s body. They rolled, and the rogue ended up on top of her. She shrieked, her eyes blazing a glacial blue as she clawed the guy’s face until he recoiled, giving her the opportunity to throw his weight off her and mount him. She bent and sank her teeth into his throat, ripping out his jugular.

“Holy crap,” Charlotte said in awe.

“Riley adores Seth,” Blaire said, watching Riley get up and rush to Seth, who looked worse for wear, fussing over him while Dominic dispatched the rogue with the bat. “If I could, I would do the same for Lukas.”

Charlotte remembered Blaire had the power to turn her love into a weapon. Not with teeth, but with a blade. She took on a rogue for killing Aiden, leaving little doubt she would do the same for Lukas.

When an arm banded over her shoulders, and a hand grabbed her arm, Charlotte screamed. Someone had ambushed them from behind.

Blaire turned. “Charlotte, no!”

Aiden and Noah turned at the sound of her name.

She felt the cold press of the barrel of a gun at her temple and her blood froze in her veins. Her eyes flew to Aiden’s, worried about what the sight did to him. He stood stock still, eyes wide and trained on the gun.

This couldn’t be happening.