Chapter 118

Ethan

Something itching at my mind pulls me from sleep just as a phone ringing reaches my senses, making me jolt up. I look around, ready to throw the phone across the room until my mind fog clears.

“…f you can hear me, but your father is pissed.” Ryan’s voice pauses before it begins again. “Ethan, I don’t know if you can hear me, but your father is pissed.”

“I’m here. What happened?”

I glance at the clock on the bedside table to find it’s almost two in the morning. Fiona fell asleep not long after our conversation on the beach, so I brought her back to the bungalow and put her to bed. She barely stirred when I tucked her close to my body, much like now. I guess I didn’t realize how tired she was.

“Your father is pissed about you leaving with Fiona. He’s trying to find your location,” Ryan answers as I grab my phone. Shifting, I move Fiona onto her pillow and sit up carefully so I don’t disturb her.

Clicking the side button, I blink against the bright light and mentally curse. There are numerous missed calls, and as I scroll through, I find my mother’s name, my father’s name, and Ryan in the missed calls.

Is traveling to the other side of the world not enough of an indication that I want to be left alone for them?

Twenty-two missed calls from my father.

Eighteen missed calls from my mother.

I’m sure calling me and tapping into our mind link was Ryan’s last option, but it still irritates me that they all want to get a piece of me.

“He’s been trying to contact you about the marriage and isn’t happy that you closed your link off. He kept calling me and when I told him you were away, he demanded to know exactly where and how to get ahold of you,” Ryan explains. I scrub my hand down my face and sigh. Could they not give me one week?

“How did he know I left with Fiona?” I ask. Ryan wouldn’t have told him, so that means someone else saw us. “My bet is on Angela; though, I don’t remember seeing her anywhere around when we left.”

“I’ll look into it, Alpha, and I’ll try to get him to stop calling you,” Ryan tells me. I don’t want him to have to deal with whatever crap my father will give him. It’s not his fault that I left without telling anyone, and I have no doubt that my father would blame Ryan for not stopping me.

He’s a good guy and doesn’t deserve that.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll handle it. Thanks, Ryan.”

With that, I look back down at my phone as it begins ringing again. My father’s name comes across the screen, and I groan before answering the call. The longer I put it off, the worse it’ll be. Besides, I’ve never been one to run from a problem, and I won’t start now.

I know what my father will say, so I’m not surprised by the immediate yelling.

The moment the call connects, my father’s angry voice filters through the phone, making my sensitive ears ring.

“Ethan Montgomery, you will—”

“Silence,” I bark, using my Alpha tone. Usually, it might not work, but I put every ounce of my will and strength into the word, shutting him up and cutting off his sentence. Fiona stirs next to me, lifting her head and rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Annoyance bubbles in my chest that we woke her, so I press a kiss to her forehead, whispering that she should go back to sleep, before I leave the room. I didn’t mean to bark so loudly, but even if I hadn’t, I’m pretty sure my father’s loud voice would’ve reached her.

“Ethan, what’s this I hear about you going on a weeklong vacation with that human?” He growls. “You’re neglecting your duties, not only to your pack but to the company you run in the human lands all for a woman. How do you think you’ll be able to be Lycan King if she’s already taking your attention from what really matters, and you’re not even mated?”

A growl from deep within me and my wolf rises through my chest, and I push it through our link, making sure the anger and annoyance I feel finds my father.

On the other end of the phone he pauses and inhales sharply. It’s not enough, though, because he keeps spilling his nonsensical drivel.

“You will come home immediately and marry Angela. You’ll forget about that weak human m—”

“Say one more word,” I threaten with a growl, letting the fury that is boiling my blood drip into he bond we have. I can feel the surprise and disgust in my father, but I don’t mind it. All that matters is that he knows exactly how angry he’s making me.

My father, wisely, stays silent.

“I will not be marrying Angela. I refuse, and nothing you or anyone else can say will change my mind. If you think this human-Lycan mating is wrong, then you can take it up with the Moon Goddess,” I tell him, leaning against the wall outside the room. I don’t want to go too far in case Fiona needs me.

“Do you think she is wrong in her choice, father? Do you think yourself wiser and higher than she who created our Lycan ancestors?”

He stays silent like I thought he would, making me smirk. There’s no way he would claim himself higher than the Goddess. It would be blasphemy.

“My whole life you’ve taught me that the Moon Goddess is our deity. You said everything she says and does is pure and true, and as the one who bestows mate bonds, she is wise, compassionate, and loving,” I tell him, spitting his own words back at him. I’ve heard the speech many times since I was younger, usually in the context of my father telling me the Moon Goddess would provide me with a strong Luna, but now that she’s given me a human, he’s suddenly changing his tune.

“The mate bond isn’t something you can force me to break or reject, no matter how much you may wish it. Fiona is my mate and the only woman I will be marrying,” I tell him, and a squawking sound of distress sounds through the phone. “What? Nothing to say?”

He makes another sound, but no words come through the phone.

“Were you lying when you told me this all those times we discussed mate bonds?”

“No, of course not—”

I scoff, and cut him off as I speak my mind, “You can’t say one thing about the Goddess and then change your mind later when it suits you, father. She isn’t a shield you can hide behind or bend to your likes or dislikes. Do not weaponize her for your own personal gain.”

“But she’s a human. You were tricked before—”

“Stop!” I demand, not wanting to talk about the past. The fact that he would even bring up the painful memory shows how much he doesn’t care about my feelings. “I will not marry the Midnight Pack Alpha Daughter, and this is final.”