Intertwined Destinies: Blood Moon Series 1

23. BLOOD MOON

"Stop!" Candice ran in between Mason and Harry, using her hands to push them back. "We have better things to worry about!" A loud gasp escaped her lips when Jared slammed her father against the wall across from the table. She hurried toward them and held Jared back. "Stop, please. This wasn't a meeting for you all to kill each other, but to come up with a plan to bring down our enemy."

Jared stepped back, fixing his shirt collar. "You're correct."

Candice faced her father. "Whether you like it or not, Mason is my mate."

"Harry's team is the ideal team for the job."

"I know," she agreed.

"He can stay with the warriors, but he obeys my rules."

When Mason's eyes flickered amber, Jared moved to his side, saying something in French. Her father narrowed his eyes as he rose to his feet, obviously understanding what they had said. After Mason exited the study, Jared sighed, shoving his hands into his jean's pockets. "I'm not going to ask you to forgive his words." He glanced at her father, shrugging. "It's how he feels."

The pain that flickered in her father's face surprised Candice. "What did Mason say?"

"Nothing of importance," Jared said.

"It doesn't feel like that—Why say it in French so I won't understand?"

"When he gets furious, he starts to speak in French... just like his mother." His gaze met hers. "He didn't mean to do it intentionally."

Harry rose to his feet. "I would like to look around the territory."

"Of course." When Harry and Jared exited the meeting room, her father walked closer to her. His gaze fell upon the mark, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "I have never seen such a mark."

"I like it." With her fingers, she traced the elegant tribal markings. "Dad, I've been wanting to tell you something."

"What?"

She hesitated for a moment. "A pack killed them."

He seemed stunned by her words. "W—What? And you come into the house of one? What makes you believe you can trust them?"

Candice flinched at his voice's darkness. "Mason saved my life more than once...Eliot betrayed my mother."

Pain enveloped his eyes as he struggled to hold back tears. "I should have never left... All of this happened because I left you all unprotected."

Candice stepped closer to touch his shoulder. "What happened wasn't either of our faults." She inhaled, fighting back her own tears.

"I asked her to leave with me, but she told me she would never abandon her pack." Candice tried to hide the shock as the words sunk in, but it was futile. Her mother had the chance to move to her father's land but refused his offer.

"She said you left because of the vampire slayers."

"I did, but I asked her to come with me. I would have done everything in my power to protect you all from them. If they knew about your existence..." His voice drifted into the distance as his eyes narrowed.

"Of my existence?"

"If they knew you existed, they would have hunted you down until they located you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my heir. If they killed me, you would take over as the new Vampire Queen." He hugged her and squeezed her slightly. "I have been trying to find a hint that could lead us to those bastards who took them from us, but I have come up empty-handed."