10 | You Don't Own Me

Natalie was the first to turn around before her father. They both saw Mark removing his leather jacket, flanked by two of his enforcers. As usual, he looked like he'd just walked out of a photo shoot. Some of the females even went as far as calling him a blonde god. Natalie thought of him more as a slimy snake.

She watched as Mark began walking towards them. "When you signed that contract, you signed her over to my care. In other words, I'm the only person who has the right to slap her."

Natalie almost puked in disgust.

"Do I need to remind you that I'm still her Alpha? You have no right over her, Mark. At least not until after the mating ceremony. Do well to remember that." 

As both men went into a brawl over her, she stood by watching them with the realization that this was what her fate was going to look like if she didn't do something about it quickly. She was more sure - now more than ever - that she was making the right decision with Dominic.

"As her future mate, I'm sure you would understand if I feel obliged to protect her if you were to lay a hand on her," Mark threatened so loudly it yanked Natalie out of the trance she'd just been in. "Nice to see you again, beautiful," he said with a wink before turning to face Lance again.

Natalie slightly shuddered. Mark had just given her the same look he had when he'd tried to bite her. As the thought filtered through her mind, Raven began growling inside Natalie's head, her claws flexing as she pranced about in frustration. She wanted to come out and hurt Mark, but as she was Kage, she couldn't.

This was one of the things that most annoyed Natalie about being Kage. When Raven was frenzied, her anger and frustration had nowhere to go and it was like pressure gradually expanding inside Natalie's chest. Society tended to think that because Raven couldn't physically show herself she must therefore be subdued and weak in spirit. Natalie wasn't sure how it was for other Kage wolves, but it certainly was not the case for her.

Raven was an enormous presence within her. Although she understood that she couldn't surface, she didn't understand that it was pointless to tug at the reins, pointless to try to fight Natalie's will. Right now, Raven desired to take a swipe at the slimy bastard in front of her.

Lance released a bored sigh when he discovered it was pointless to fight Mark's will. "Let's go then. Everybody will be waiting for us by now," he rasped irritatingly and turned to leave.

As they made their way to the garden where the dining table was set, Mark attempted to hold Natalie's hand, but she shot him a look that swore violence and then curled her lips into a sneer. He responded with a smirk. She kind of got the impression that he liked seeing her riled up. He should find her rebellious behavior insulting and exasperating, but for some reason, he just kept coming back.

"You'll be sitting at the head table tonight, Natalie," Lance announced as they entered the large garden. Natalie almost roared in frustration. Although she was the Alpha's daughter and the pack fixer, she still usually sat at another table with Shirley and her boyfriend Zane. But her father was out for her tonight - which was why he placed her at the head of the table beside Mark.

As Natalie moved to their seat, she spotted her father's bodyguard sitting at her other side. Like most of the others in the pack, he had been nice to her when she was a kid - that was until puberty had hit and her wolf didn't surface. Maybe if Lance had still been accepting of her, things would have remained the same, but by dismissing her as unimportant and weak he had pinned a big fat target on her back. 

What had saved her from a dozen beatings was that despite her being a Kage, she still had the speed and strength of a normal werewolf. Of course, it hadn't saved her from all of them, but she had worked to become the best in hand-to-hand combatant and had trained to be fitter and agiler than anyone within the pack. The bodyguard's ego was still sore after the time he had tried to manhandle her only to end up with a cracked nose and a dislocated jaw.

Food was promptly served and everyone began eating greedily while listening to Lance answer all of Mark's questions about our pack and the times he had been challenged in the past. Natalie rolled her eyes as she saw how many of the females were staring in utter admiration at both Lance and Mark, clinging to their every word. Even Shirley was sending them weird glances. Of course, the males were also staring at them, but they were all pretty pissed with both men for their effect on the females. 

Natalie couldn't understand what everyone saw in Mark. Her father, she could understand as he was Alpha to their pack, but Mark? Hell no. He had to be good to be able to deceive them all with his charm, warm smile, and nice physic. It just baffled her that they couldn't see the ice in his eyes. No matter how wide his smile was, it never reached his eyes. From the second she had met him he had rubbed her and her wolf the wrong way, yet no one else seemed to have sensed that… wrongness about him.

"You haven't eaten much," Mark whispered in her ear and she almost cringed. She decided to not dignify him with a response.

"If you're done we could go for a walk. Alone." 

Natalie slowly turned her head to face him. A disgusted expression on her face.

He chuckled. "You could at least make a little effort to talk to me. I came all this way just to see you." 

Well then wasn't he a fool? 

"You know, if things are really bad with you and your dad, we could both talk to him and try negotiating you coming to stay with me for a few days." 

At what point had she given him the notion that she was gullible? 

He sighed. "Come on, Natalie, you can't tell me you wouldn't like getting away from here for a while. You could see where you're going to be living, and meet some of the wolves from my pack. You'll soon be their Luna. Don't you want to get to know them?" 

No, not even a little bit. And she would never be their Luna. Over her dead body.

"They're eager to meet you. In a few days, I'll then be going to Transville, you could come." 

"For a man who Prides himself in being smart, you do spurt a lot of rubbish."

The moment he smiled, Natalie knew that this man was the true psycho. Not Dominic. Not her dad. Him. And that scared the shit out of her.

A thick hand slid around her neck; a gesture of ownership and Natalie lost it. She leaped to her feet and kicked his chair out from under him, snarling down at him as he lay splayed out on the floor. "Don't ever touch me like that again. I don't belong to you, and I'll never belong to you. I would rather die than be tied to a disgusting prick like you." 

Natalie almost froze when she realized he was grinning up at her. It was almost as if he had wanted her to lose control. Unable to bear another minute in that space, Natalie marched out of the room, her body stiff while she ignored the gasps and angry growls that followed in her wake.