Chapter 6

Debra's POV:

The silence that followed his words was absolute. It was so thick I felt I could choke on it. My father stared, his mouth agape. Marley's perfectly painted smile froze on her face, cracking like cheap porcelain. Alpha Gareth looked like he'd been punched in his ample gut.

I was the most stunned of all. I twisted in my chair to look up at Ezekiel. He stood behind me like a formidable shadow, a guardian I never knew I had. His silver eyes met mine, and in their stormy depths, I saw a silent command: *Trust me.*

"Claimed?" my father finally managed to choke out, his voice a strangled whisper. "By whom?"

Ezekiel's hand came to rest on my shoulder. His touch was light, yet it sent a jolt of warmth and security through my entire body. It was an anchor in the storm my life had become.

"By me," he stated simply, as if it were the most obvious fact in the world. His voice held no room for argument. It was the voice of an Alpha who was used to being obeyed without question.

Marley was the first to recover. "That's impossible!" she snapped, her voice losing its honeyed tone and turning sharp. "There has been no ceremony, no announcement! You can't just-"

"I can," Ezekiel interrupted, his voice dropping to a dangerously low growl. The sheer power in that sound made the crystal glasses on the table tremble. "And I have. The Moon Goddess blessed this union the moment I laid eyes on her. I am simply formalizing what fate has already decreed."

He was lying. I knew he was lying. We weren't mates; if we were, the bond would have snapped into place the moment we met. There would have been an undeniable pull, a recognition in our souls. I had felt a spark, yes, but not the all-consuming fire of a true mate bond.

But no one else in this room knew that. He was using the most sacred law of our people, the will of the Goddess, as a shield. For me.

"This is an outrage!" Gareth bellowed, finally finding his voice and heaving his bulk to his feet. "We had an agreement, Logan!"

My father looked frantically between the two Alphas. On one hand, the boorish but wealthy Alpha Gareth. On the other, the terrifyingly powerful and respected Alpha Ezekiel, whose Black Moon Pack was one of the strongest in the region. It was no contest.

"I... I was not aware of this development, Gareth," my father stammered, already backpedaling.

"Debra is my future Luna," Ezekiel stated, his grip on my shoulder tightening possessively. "Any prior arrangements are now void. Unless, of course," he added, a predatory smile touching his lips as he looked at Gareth, "you wish to challenge me for her."

The threat hung in the air, heavy and lethal. Alpha Gareth's blotchy face went pale. Challenging an Alpha of Ezekiel's caliber was suicide. He sputtered for a moment, then sank back into his chair, defeated.

Ezekiel then turned his piercing gaze on my father. "I will be taking my mate back to my pack tomorrow at dawn. I trust her belongings will be packed and ready."

It wasn't a request. It was an order.

My father, the Alpha of Silver Ridge, the man who had confined me to my room and tried to sell me off, just nodded meekly. "Of course, Alpha Ezekiel. Of course."

Ezekiel looked down at me. "Come," he said softly. "You've had enough of this farce."

He held out his hand. Without a second of hesitation, I placed my own in his. His fingers wrapped around mine, strong and warm. He pulled me gently to my feet and, without a single glance back at my stunned family, led me out of the dining hall.

As we walked through the corridors of the house I grew up in, a thousand questions swirled in my mind. Why was he doing this? What did he want from me?

But one thing was clear. This stranger, this powerful Alpha I had met only once, had shown me more kindness and protection in the span of five minutes than my own father had in years. For the first time since my mother died, I didn't feel completely alone.