11 HE DIDN'T ASK FOR PERMISSION

When he took Julia as his chosen mate, he swore that he would treat Emily well and think of her as his own daughter. He then remained true to his word because he had an ulterior motive.

But, he got carried away and forgot the fact that Dawn also needed him. He was her father. Yet, it was hard to even look at her when she was a splitting image of her mother. His own daughter reminded him of his dead mate and his failure as an alpha, because he couldn't protect her.

So even though it started subtly, with time, he began drifting away from Dawn surely.

However, now that Dawn was no longer with him, he felt his world come crumbling down. He couldn't care less about Julia and Emily. He didn't even see them as family.

Even so, Tony knew his statement earlier was uncalled for.

"Where is your mother?" Tony asked Emily, who looked upset. She averted her gaze when he talked with her, indicating that she had learned about the fight between the two of them.

It was Julia's habit to involve others in their fights and most of the time, it would be Emily and Dawn.

"She is inside the bedroom." Emily lowered her head. "What you said was not nice. I can understand if you can't think of me as your daughter, but I…"

"Later," Alpha Tony cut her off. He didn't want to listen to her pity party right now. At the end of the day, she had done something vile to his precious daughter and it would be hard for him to look at her without feeling animosity.

Emily was surprised by how dismissive her father was, but she didn't say anything and watched how he entered the room and slammed the door close behind him.

The situation at home was not great and when she went looking for Blake, he refused to see her. Beta Jason said to give him some space, because he was still upset about Dawn leaving suddenly.

However, wasn't she the one pregnant with his child? Why didn't he care about her? Emily was furious with everything.

She went to Dawn's bedroom, wanting to destroy everything that held any sensible value for Dawn, but to her surprise. All of her important things were gone.

"Did she take them all?" Emily frowned. Dawn left very quickly and she was even unconscious when the Alpha from the north took her, thus how could she bring all of her belongings?

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The closer they got to the north, the harder the route became and the colder the weather seemed.

For someone like Dawn, who wasn't used to this kind of weather, it felt like she was going to turn into an ice cube. She curled herself inside the carriage, buried herself under thick blankets. She glanced outside and watched how those beasts walked in this cold weather as if it was nothing.

"How can they do that?" Dawn's teeth were chattering. She gasped when someone opened the carriage door and a gush of cold wind entered. She felt like her face would freeze.

It was most likely Zenith.

The Alpha frowned when he saw her condition.

"Cold?" Zenith asked.

Of course! Do you think I buried myself under the blankets because I wanted to be a cinnamon roll?!

Dawn glared at him, but she immediately corrected her behavior, afraid this alpha would throw her out of the carriage.

"Y- yes…" Dawn stuttered when she answered him.

"Weird."

Dawn frowned. He is the weird one, okay. She felt tired and didn't want to engage in a conversation with him, thus she closed her eyes, but her body was still trembling.

Hm? What is he doing?

Dawn heard the rustling sound and felt the blanket being lifted up. She immediately opened her eyes and was ready to snap when suddenly she felt his body against hers.

"Better?" His gruff voice was in her ear. He put his arms around her body and literally cuddled her, surrounding her with his frame.

His body was very warm. This was even better than the thick blankets, especially when he caressed her back.

But…

"W- wait, wait, what are you doing?" Dawn blushed when his face was so close to hers. Heavens! She heard stories about his cruelty, but she had never heard about how handsome he was. Dang. She was being vain now.

"Warming you."

"Oh…"

Dawn didn't know how to reply to that, but why did it sound a little bit seductive? Probably her mind was a little bit frozen because of this cold weather.

"You should ask for my permission first…" Dawn murmured.

"I don't ask permission," Zenith replied begrudgingly.

Dawn was speechless when she heard that, but then to be honest, she couldn't resist this warmth. His scent was… very nice and the way he caressed her back was also nice. Despite his cold and intimidating demeanor, his touch was comforting and this helped her drift into sleep.

However, Dawn stood with what she said, he should ask permission first, thus as a little revenge, she stuck her cold feet against him, which made him flinch a little bit when he felt her freezing skin and she sneaked her palms against his chest.

Feeling satisfied, she snuggled against him.

Soon enough, her breathing became even and she fell asleep so fast, while out there, the wind was howling loudly like the crying of a banshee.

Once Zenith was sure that she had fallen asleep, he loosened his arms around her a little bit, so he could see her face. He stared at her for a while. This was the face that he had been longing for. She was breathing now… she was in his arms now and that was all he cared about.

Zenith lowered his head and pressed his lips against hers. Her lips were cold and he needed to warm them too.

Just like he said, he didn't have the habit of asking for permission.