Blood drains from my face. My throat tightens. I shake my head in protest before I find the right words.
Miller lifts his hand to stop me and continues. “I am reading verbatim from Alpha Agnus’s will.” He takes a deep breath. “Jessica, I see you starting to protest. Don’t overthink this. Despite your feelings of incompetence and unworthiness, you are the next Alpha. I read your tea leaves many times over the years. I spent time with you, and in my own way, I prepared you for this role. This is your divine path. Miller will provide you with the appropriate documents for the plantation business, including my notebook. Morgan and Peter will give you information regarding all of the accounts and legal paperwork of the corporation. Take a deep breath, Jessica. Everything will work out in the end.”
Miller hands me the worn notebook and scans over the paper. He glances at Anders. “Well, uh, there are a couple more things you need to know.”
Anders stands directly behind me and places a warm hand on my shoulder.
Miller swallows. “You are aware that the Whitemore plantation borders the entrance of the seventh territory. What you are not aware of is that Alpha Agnus is the title owner of the seventh territory. She has been protected for many years through the royal decree that her mother before her established with the Alpha King at the time. Now that Alpha Agnus passed, the royal decree does not protect you as her successor.”
Miller holds eye contact with me to verify my understanding.
“Not only are you the Alpha of Whitemore pack and CEO of her company, but you are also the landowner and ruler of the seventh territory, also known as Quartz territory. Because of the LS laws regarding female Alphas, you must be mated before your twenty-fifth birthday to maintain your position as Alpha of the seventh territory.”
I stare blankly ahead, no longer distinguishing details or people, as my mind tries desperately to process what I hear.
Miller glances at me again. “In other words, to keep the pack and the territory protected and to prevent a direct challenge for your position, it is required that you are mated before your next birthday.”
The room remains silent. My birthday is in less than eight weeks. I close my eyes shut, and my hands tremble. The fucking panic begins to take over, rising from my chest. Tears well behind my eyelids. I can’t do this. I don’t care what she thinks—I wasn’t prepared for this role. And mated?! I can’t…
Anders’s warm hand squeezes my shoulder. “Breathe, Jessica.”
I suck in a shuddering breath, open my eyes, and look up at Anders. Shaking my head. I turn to Morgan, Peter, and Marisol. “Why me? This isn’t right. I think she made a mistake,” I whisper.
“She’s been coaching you for this role since you met her,” Marisol says with an earnest smile.
Miller nods his head in agreement. He didn’t even like me when we first met. Why is he agreeing to this?
“I’m sure you have questions. We are here for you, and we will help you. But Alpha Agnus has foreseen that you wouldn’t need much of our help as you settle into your role and become mated.”
Peter and Morgan offer additional encouraging statements, but they fall on deaf ears. One burning question flips over and over in my mind, and I need an answer now. I ask Anders, “What does she mean, I’m a direct descendant?”
“You haven’t told her?” Miller snaps.
Anders clenches his jaw and then looks away. “You are the last surviving female of our family bloodline. According to our pack traditions, Alpha status is passed down from female to female.”
Our family bloodline. Our family. Aggie is Anders’s grandmother. “That means, you and I…”
He finally meets my eye, his shining with sorrow. “You’re my daughter. I?—”
Waving away any more of his words, I storm out of the study. I need air. My heart pounds loudly in my ears. I can barely keep any thoughts straight. All this time. All this time! Both Anders and Alpha Agnus knew who I was to them, and they never said a damn thing.
I pace near the edge of Quartz Lake. How the hell did they keep this a secret? If I ever thought my life was in danger before,this—all of this—puts my life, as well as the lives of the pack now in my charge, at so much risk.
Loud thunderclaps echo overhead. The sky darkens, casting a sinister shadow over the lake’s cool façade.
I wipe at the tears streaming down my face. To my surprise, I discover I hold Alpha Agnus’s notebook, the very same notebook I saw her write in since our first meeting after she studied my empty teacup. I don’t even remember taking it from Miller.
I frown. Her tea readings were always accurate. I witnessed her predictions come true myself. But as many times as she read my tea leaves, I often wondered why she never told me about my path, my future true mate, or anything really. I never pushed because, sometimes, I didn’t really want or need to know.
Over time, with all the stupid shit that happened in my life, I convinced myself that I didn’t need tea leaves to foretell my divine path or my true mate. I made my own path. If she couldn’t tell me when she was alive, then to hell with it.
I toss the notebook into the lake and watch it sink slowly down into its bottomless end. Angry tears continue to fall.
No, I don’t need tea leaf readings or visions from a woman who is no longer here to answer my questions. And I definitely do not need nor want to read about the lies and secrets kept from me all these years.
I reach into my pocket for a tissue I stuffed in there earlier, and my phone tumbles out, landing on my foot. I pick it up, wiping dirt off the face against my dress. When I flip it over to inspect it, Emily’s contact information flashes on display. The phone rings.
“This is Emily—you know what to do.”
