Her Alpha - Complete

Chapter 23

"Where are we headed?" Rose asked Abe once Dimitri sat back down beside her. She lifted the top blanket of her nest, inviting Dimitri to cuddle beneath it with her as she spoke with her father. It wasn't a full invitation to share her temporary nest, but in the circumstances and given her mood, it was more than Dimitri hoped for!

"That's up to you. Your mother asked me to get you well away from Court, so we're headed to Ireland where we'll refuel. After that, the choice is yours. I have homes throughout Europe where you can stay, but if you want to go somewhere else, we can rent a house or stay at a hotel," Abe replied.

"You're coming with us?" Rose clarified. Since they had discussed nothing beyond getting away from Court, she was unsure what her father intended.

"I'd like to. What do you have planned?"

Rose looked at Dimitri, the two speaking without words.

"We plan to marry. Rose won't be safe from interference from Court until we wed."

"She's not even eighteen!" Abe all but shouted, clearly put out by this news.

"I will be in three months," Rose said calmly. "Once I'm eighteen, no one can stop us. However, I need a parent's permission to marry before then. The sooner this is sorted, the sooner we can return to St. Vlad's and get on with our lives."

"You intend to finish your Guardian training?" Abe asked. Already perturbed by the notion of his little girl marrying, learning she planned to return to the Academy shocked him even more. "You'd devote your life to protecting Moroi?!"

"I'm dhampir. What else would I do with my life?" Rose asked, genuinely perplexed.

Ten words. That's all it took to shatter the heart Abe never knew he had. With his money and connections, Rose should have the world at her feet. That she'd never considered a life beyond guarding Moroi was his fault.

"Fine. I'll give my permission for you to marry Guardian Belilocks..."

"Belikov!" Rose snapped, appreciating her father knew Dimitri's name and was being a dick.

"Yes, Belikov... provided he can convince me he is a suitable match for you. Let's give it a month. By the end, if Belikov convinces me he's worthy of you, I will give my permission for you to marry before you're eighteen, and give you both my blessing."

"And if he doesn't convince you?" Rose asked warily not liking the way Abe spoke about Dimitri as though he weren't even there.

"Like you said; in three months no one can stop us," Dimitri said, lifting his eyebrow to Abe in unspoken challenge. One way or another Rose was going to be his bride.

The guy had guts, Abe would give him that. Since he'd already claimed Rose there was no doubt they'd marry, and while Abe wasn't thrilled with the idea, at least Belikov was a decent guy. He treated Rose as the most precious thing in his world, which is just as it should be. However now Abe had met his daughter again, he was unwilling to let her go so quickly. He'd demanded a month so he could get to know Rose.

"So where would you like to go? Paris? London? I could show you my home in Turkey?" Abe offered.

"We can go anywhere?" Rose checked, an idea occurring to her.

"Anywhere you want," Abe replied indulgently.

"I'd like to spend two weeks in Turkey, then two weeks in Baia."

"You want to meet my family?" Dimitri asked surprised by Rose's choices.

She shrugged, a bashful expression on her face. "I thought you'd want your family at our wedding...?"