A Queen of Alphas - Season 1

S1 12 - Dante

'What?' Dante asked, taking a step forward.

'She killed one of ours. You were right, she needs to face judgement for her actions,' his mother nodded, her face serious.

'I told you she saved my life!' he protested.

'Silas will decide that.'

Dante gritted his teeth. He had pulled Scarlett out of there because he knew she hated the army and Fourwings, and he wouldn't be able to protect her once they were apart. Once they were apart, he would be too far to help her, too far to see her, to far to... No, what was he thinking?

He froze. Had he let the bond speak for him? He had been so determined to walk away, to do the right thing. He couldn't believe he had messed it up, just like that, within a split second.

This was never part of the plan. He was going to walk away and leave her be. She'd have a chance at a future then, but his mother had to come to... what? Rescue him?

Unprepared for separation, he might have made a stupid decision based on a false premise and ruined her chances.

Max came forward to wrap a cable tie around Scarlett's wrists. The sight alone made his body tense so hard he thought he'd go straight from human to higher form without any concentration whatsoever. Scarlett didn't even complain. She just offered her hands, her eyes low.

'Tie mine too,' Dante heard himself say, his voice strangled.

Max paused. He wasn't sure what to do. After all, he wasn't Darkshadow, he was Swiftwing and didn't know him well. Max looked to his mother for instructions, but she didn't answer, her eyes studying him. He held his head high until she came closer.

'Why are you doing this?' she asked.

Dante didn't know how to answer.

'First you force her to come with us–'

'You said I was right to do so.'

'I thought Silas would be easier on you if the real culprit was there,' she replied. 'But now you're trying to protect her? It was true, then? She was your lover all along.'

'She was not,' he grunted back.

'I'm not stupid. The way she reacted when you spoke... she feels betrayed. Why else would she feel like that?'

'She was not my lover all along,' he repeated.

His mother frowned, and he reckoned she was getting the gist.

'But she is now?'

Dante gritted his teeth. He felt embarrassed.

'Oh, Dante–' her mother looked at him with pity.

'I had no choice,' he replied, tightening his lips.

'Don't be ridiculous. We all have a choice. Only when a...'

She froze. She was getting there. Her eyes widened.

'Dante, that's impossible.'

'You can check for yourself.'

His mother looked at Scarlett, her eyes so wide she looked frightened. She took a tentative step, then two, got close enough to Scarlett that Scarlett had to take a step back, but his mother grabbed her by her coat's collar and pulled her back harshly. A growl was born at the back of his throat, but he swallowed it, trying to repress the urge to pull his mother off his mate and throw her across the snow.

His mother leaned in and sniffed at Scarlett's neck, then froze, turning terrorized eyes to him.

'Tie his hands,' she said out loud now.