“The request was made after certain revelations came to light.”
“What revelations?” I demanded.
Alpha McFadden snarled before anyone else could answer and addressed my mother.
“Madam Cordoza, you agreed to this arrangement. Any holdup will be seen as an insult to me personally.”
Silence crashed down around us instantly.
I blinked.
“Mother! What is going on?”
Gunner frowned sharply beside his father.
“Father, wait,” he said slowly. “What arrangement?”
Arthur looked equally irritated by his son’s confusion.
“The courtship agreement, boy. Once you failed to secure her acquiescence I had to step in to make sure the betrothal went through as planned.”
“The what? I thought you just suggested I date the Witch, but she wasn’t interested. It went nowhere. I never agreed to a betrothal.”
“Silence! You will do as I say, pup!”
Shock flashed openly across Gunner’s face.
Real shock.
And suddenly—suddenly everything started making horrible sense.
The weird behavior.
The bizarre posturing, and hostility when I didn’t respond to his overtures.
Even his hatred of Menon.
Also, I finally understood why my mother insisted I come here.
She’d orchestrated my entire graduate experience as some sort of weird matchmaking scheme.
And Gunner was just as much a victim as I was.
Oh my gods.
Our parents had orchestrated this entire disaster behind our backs.
My stomach turned violently.
“You promised your daughter to my son,” Arthur snarled toward my mother. “A joining between our bloodlines.”
“I promised nothing finalized,” Evelyn snapped coldly. “Only discussion.”
“Mother,” I whispered in horror. “You tried arranging a mating contract?”
She actually looked offended by my tone.
“You needed stability, Amrin. A strong mate might help your magic?—”
