“He’s here now, Father. That’s what matters most,” Grace says softly, trying to placate Conrad. “We can get engaged tonight, right, Logan?”
Clearing my throat, I gesture for them to sit, guilt coiling in my gut when Grace smiles sweetly at me. She’s wearing a flowery sundress, and with the halo of blond hair on her head and ocean-blue eyes, she looks downright angelic, but my heart beats only for Ava. “There’s something that we need to discuss. If you could please take a seat.”
Grace’s eyebrows draw together. My mother sighs deeply and takes a seat in front of my desk at the same time as Grace. I’m still standing, waiting for Conrad to sit, but he simply stalksforward, embedding his fingers in the back of Grace’s chair, white-knuckled.
“What is it now?” Conrad snaps, looking at me through narrowed eyes.
I choose to stand since I don’t want to give him the opportunity to look down on me. I’m still the Alpha of my pack and the representative of the wolf shifters within the Obsidian Conclave. Conrad shouldn’t forget that. Still, I go for pleasantries because my mother raised me and Emily well, and honestly, I don’t have time to get into a fight with the Alpha of the Ironclaw pack at this moment. With how unstable I’m feeling, I’m afraid I might kill him and start a war.
“I’m deeply sorry for not announcing my absence and for putting you and Grace in such a dire position, Alpha Conrad. But there is a very good reason I couldn’t attend the engagement party.” I pause and then look at Grace. Even if I don’t want to see the hurt on her face, she deserves the respect of being looked at in the eyes when she hears the news. I suck in a deep breath and say, “I have found my fated mate.”
Grace’s eyes widen, and when the realization kicks in fully, her lower lip starts trembling, a silent tear going down her cheek. She tucks her chin into her chest and gingerly wipes at her damp cheek.Fuck.I didn’t want to hurt her, but what could I have done? She needed to know the truth.
“I don’t give a shit!” Conrad bellows, making Grace flinch. “I promised my daughter to you, and you will marry her and take her as your mate.”
“Careful, Conrad. Did you forget fated mates are sacred?” my mother says, and her tone drips with venom.
My wolf rages at him. I have to suck in a sharp breath in order to settle the anger simmering in my veins before it boils over, prompting me to do something I’ll surely regret after the dust settles. I keep my tone as steady as I can when I say, “That’s notpossible. We already completed the mating bond.”
“What?” Conrad’s fingers are fisted at his sides, and spit flies from his mouth with every word that comes out. “You better do as I say, boy, or I will challenge your Alpha position and take your pack from under you. You’re a disgrace. You don’t deserve to be Alpha. You put your fated before the wellbeing of your pack for years, and now you’re going to humiliate us further after I made my daughter wait for months to get married to you?”
“Enough!” my mother snaps and sits up straight, her shoulders squared and her posture regal as she turns toward the Alpha of the Ironclaw pack. If looks could kill, Conrad would already be a pile of bones on the floor. “My son is a much better Alpha than you will ever be, Conrad. How dare you act so high and mighty when the only reason you are so desperate to marry Grace to my son is your gambling addiction and the debt you owe to the demons you took money from to fuel it.”
Conrad sputters and turns ghostly white, his mouth gaping like a fish.
My mother arches a perfectly trimmed ebony eyebrow at him. “What, did you think I wouldn’t find out eventually?” She laughs, but it’s all jagged teeth and sharp edges. “I suggest stopping these foolish idle threats if you don’t want every single wolf shifter in the country to find out about the money you owe. You will lose your Alpha position at the snap of my fingers.”
Grace stands up on trembling legs. Anger flashes in her eyes like lightning as she turns toward her father. “Is that true?”
Conrad’s shoulders slump, his anger leaving him like a deflating balloon. “Please, they’re going to take my daughter from me if I don’t pay them by the end of next month.”
Anger slithers through me at his words. I ball my hands into fists at my sides so I don’t pummel him into the ground. “You promised me your daughter’s hand even though you knew they would come for her?”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “Well, you would have had no choice but to give them the money when they came. You couldn’t let them take your Luna, now could you?”
“You piece of shit,” I spit out and see red. The only thing holding me back from throttling him is his daughter standing in between us.
Grace looks like she’s about to faint. “You sold me to demons?” Her voice trembles as she presses a hand in the center of her chest.
I take a deep breath through my nose. Looking at Grace, I make my decision. She had her heart broken, and her world tilted on its axis on the same day, and even if I think her father is a piece of shit, I can’t let her be taken by demons. She doesn’t deserve that. “I’ll give you the money to cover your debt. But don’t be mistaken, Conrad. I’m only doing this for Grace and for the fact that she waited months to be my fiancé. I can’t mate her anymore, but I won’t let your mistakes ruin her life,” I grit out. “There will be conditions, though. I will draft a binding document, and you will sign it. You will relinquish your Alpha position, and if I catch you gambling again and putting your family at risk, I’ll let Kaiden Black deal with you. Do you understand?”
The vein on the side of his neck looks like it’s about to burst. “Fine. I’ll sign your contract. Just give me the money,” Conrad says with disdain.
I shove my hands into my pockets. Another attempt at resisting the urge to strangle the scumbag. “You’ll have it by the end of the week. After you sign it, I’ll wire you the money.”
He nods stiffly and turns on his heel. “Let’s go, Grace. There’s nothing left for us here.” He walks out the door hastily, not waiting for his daughter.
Grace surprises me when, instead of following her father, she rounds my desk and envelops me in a warm hug, her lithe bodydwarfed by my big frame. I hug her back. “Thank you so much, Logan. I will find a way to repay you, I had no—”
I swallow hard and step back, cutting her off. “You don’t have to repay me, Grace. Consider this a consolation gift. I’m sorry about everything. I never meant to hurt you.”
She tilts her head, and a soft, bitter smile tugs at her lips. Then, her forehead crinkles with anguish. “I didn’t know my father intended to use you for your money. If I had known, I would have never accepted the engagement.” Her eyes glisten with unshed tears. “I’m happy for you, Logan. Finding your fated mate must feel like a dream come true. She is a lucky woman. I wish you both all the happiness in the world.” She gives me one last smile before leaving the study.
I stare at her disappearing back.
My mother’s voice breaks through my thoughts and the guilt that claws at my gut. “So, you finally found her.”
“I did…and then I lost her,” I tell my mother. The raw pain of being separated from Ava hits me like a ton of bricks, suffocating me.
