“No,” I panted. “No, I won’t do it.”
“Margo, calm down,” Theo said softly, eyeing me nervously.
“I can’t ‘calm down,’ Theo. Please don’t make me do that. Please.”
“We aren’t bad people,” Reese said with a slight smile on his face.
“Why don’t you want to be a shifter?” Theo questioned. I didn’t reply. “Tell me,” He prodded more when I remained quiet. He stood and moved closer to me, grabbing my chin between his thumb and finger, forcing me to look at him.
“I watched my parents die,” I whimpered. His grip on my chin loosened, but he kept his fingers against my cheek. “The old Alpha and Luna of my pack murdered my parents in front of the entire pack when I was four. They whipped my father until he bled out, and then they raped my mother over his body until her spine snapped. That’s why I don’t want to become a shifter,” I spat.
“Sweetheart,” Theo sighed, letting his hand drop.
“Our pack doesn’t harm humans,” Gabriel said sorrowfully.
“No one will ever hurt you here, Margo,” Reese bit his lip.
“We’ll leave you two,” Gabriel murmured, grabbing his older brother’s shoulder sympathetically. Theo’s brothers left, and we remained a foot apart in the living room, staring each other down.
“I’m sorry,” Theo eventually said. “I’m sorry they did that to your parents. You should have never had to see that, but that doesn’t mean all shifters are like that.”
“I know that,” I told him. “I know there are good shifters, and there are bad shifters, just like there are good humans and bad humans. Caddy is my best friend, trust me, I know what most shifters are like, but I can’t do that to them. I can’t willingly let myself become what killed them.”
Theo nodded tiredly. “Okay,” he relented. “Can we go up to bed?”
I followed him as he went to the bedroom and laid on top of the covers. I crawled in next to him, laying at the far edge of the bed. His hands found their way behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.
“A lot of Alpha’s used to do horrible things because they were arrogant,” he said unexpectedly. “They thought they were the most powerful people on the planet. That’s why my position was created. If there had been an Enforcer when you were little, your parents would have never been killed. Or there would have at least been consequences.”
“I can’t let them down again,” I said back, keeping my back turned so he couldn’t see my tears. “I was too young before, but I can’t do that to them.”
“Margo,” he sighed, tugging on my arm until I rolled flat on my back. His face fell when he saw my red eyes, and he lifted one hand to stroke my forehead lightly. “I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do, but if it comes to a choice between turning you or letting you die…I’m going to do everything I can to protect you.”
“You should let me go, Theo,” I said softly with conviction, looking up at him with immense guilt. “It won’t be worth it.”
“I can’t wait to show you how wrong you are,” Theo smiled crookedly. He leaned down and placed a kiss on my hairline, closing his eyes as he did so. “Go to sleep, Margo. We can argue to your heart’s content tomorrow.”
Intoxication
The next weeks were quiet, with no intrusions, no stress. Theo worked on paperwork and made phone calls while I decorated my room, hung my clothes, and read in front of the fireplace. I was trying to find where I fit into this new life, but it was more difficult than simply changing packs. I was somebody’s somebody now, and with that came new rules, new routines, and new feelings.
When Theo wasn’t on a business call, I stole the phone and called Caddy, who was always excited to hear my voice. He wept when I first talked to him because he believed I would end up dead in Theo’s control; they all had believed that. As angry as Caddy was at Theo, he also understood his actions.
After a while, Theo found it bothersome to only have one phone in the house and bought me my very own. The shifters could communicate through mind-link if they were acquainted, and they only made phone calls in business settings. Caddy, Theo, and Theo’s brothers were the only numbers programmed into it, which was more than I needed since I only called Caddy. Theo was always with me.
Although I tried to keep my distance for my own selfish, unavoidable reasons, Theo was starting to grow on me. He didn’t speak to me like I expected an Enforcer to, he was patient and respectful, and as much as it pained me to admit, I found myself opening up to him. He was easy to talk to, and I didn’t have anyone else to talk to besides Caddy, who was busy with his Alpha training. Even when he asked to mark me, he was considerate of my hesitations and explained everything to me multiple times.
“Marking is sort of like me asking you to be my girlfriend,” he had chuckled as I sat on the edge of his desk. “It’s not as serious as mating, by any means, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
“Well, what does it do?” I bit my lip, immediately releasing it when Theo’s eyes darkened.
“In very blatant terms, it puts some of my DNA in your body, and you will put some of your DNA in mine. It binds us so that we can feel each other’s emotions and pain. If you were ever in trouble, it would help me find you faster. It’s also very sacred to shifters because it shows that you are spoken for; any shifter will be able to smell my scent on you and know that your mate is a
