Page 90 of The CEO Alpha’s Substitute Mate

Silas Thorne.

He’s in a gray suit with a healing line running through his eyebrow. Beside him is an older man, and with them is a girl who can’t be more than twenty with soft auburn curls and a blue floral dress that sparkles with each movement. She looks at our table, and I see her cheeks turn a ruddy shade of red. Her hand winds in Silas’s elbow, and she whispers something to him urgently, trying to pull him away. But Silas has other ideas.

He smiles and walks toward us, dragging the woman alongside with him. “Well, Alpha Callum. I’m surprised you’re out here and not back in the pack doing damage control.”

“Damage control?” I blink at Callum. What is he talking about?

Callum hasn’t taken his eyes off Silas, and although he doesn’t say anything, I can instantly sense Callum is on guard.

“You haven’t told her.” Silas sounds delighted about it. “Or nobody has told you, which would be even better. I can’t decide which one I want it to be.”

“Silas,” the older man says without any weight behind it at all. He doesn’t actually stop him.

“The pack has been passing something around since this morning.” Silas takes his phone out of his jacket and turns it over in his fingers. “Your son, Alpha, the same one you swore in front of the pack elders was healthy, convulsing in his bed.”

My body goes numb as Silas sets down his phone on the table. The video is dark, shot low and off to one side. Whoever held it kept their hands very steady. My son is on his side with his shirt soaked through, and I have both arms under his head, holding it off the mattress.

Callum’s expression is blank as he looks at the video for a few seconds. When he lifts his head, his eyes are golden, and his pupils have thinned out. “You dare infiltrate my house? It seems I was too lenient with you the last time.”

He gets to his feet slowly, and the older man immediately steps in front of Silas. “The Thorne family has nothing to do with this, Alpha Callum. If you have a leak in your home, don’t blame it on others. More importantly, you have been caught lying to the pack elders about the next heir’s health. You said he did not have the disease. This video says different.”

I look from Callum to the older man. I don’t know who he is, but judging from the look on Callum’s face, the situation is not good. I immediately intervene. “Disease? How dare you? Just because I fed Luca some spoiled meat and gave him food poisoning, you’re going to go around calling it a disease!”

I’m out of my chair, facing them down, putting on my most aggrieved expression.

Silas’s expression falters for a moment, and I see Callum look toward me sharply. Then Silas snaps, “Shifter children don’t get food poisoning. If you think you can lie your way—”

I get in his face, breathing, “Half shifter. He’s human too, remember. And Luca does get sick. Salar told me till his first shift, he’s prone to human illnesses.”

That part’s a lie, but I doubt they would know. Salar only mentioned once that there are very few hybrid children and their parents usually keep them close and away from the pack until they shift. If that’s the case, Silas and his friends might not know as much as they claim.

The older man narrows his eyes. “You are lying.”

“She’s not.” Callum gets to his feet and puts himself between us. “Luca is a hybrid until his first shift. Nobody has lied to the pack elders. And even if he ever does get the disease, I have never allowed anybody the right to interfere in my business. What makes you think the pack elders can do so now, Samuel?”

That must be the older man’s name.

Samuel’s expression doesn’t flicker. “You may have seized control of the pack, Callum, but all the violence and bloodshed doesn’t mean you are exempt from the laws governing our pack. In the event that an alpha heir is sickly or inept, the alpha has to produce another child. And if the alpha isn’t willing, the pack elders can arrange a mate for him.” He smiles now. “I have already nominated Corinne. She is young, fertile, and will bear many children for you.”

I stiffen. What is he talking about? My eyes flick toward Callum’s back.

“The pack elders can’t force a mating on me.”

“The pack laws allow it, Alpha Callum. And by next weekend, not only will the pack elders ask for a public health inspection of your child, but they will also nominate Corinne as your mate. And you know very well what will happen if you say no. You can kill and maim every noble family, but all you’ll be doing is telling the pack that the laws of the pack don’t apply to you.”

Callum’s shoulders are stiff, and Silas grabs the girl with them and shoves her forward. “Meet your future mate, Corinne. Don’t be shy now.”

This is Corinne? This delicate fragile beauty?

The girl looks like she’s about to burst into tears, her face is so flushed.

“Silas.” Her voice is barely a whisper. “Please don’t do this here.” She has hold of his sleeve now, pulling at it. “Please. This really isn’t the time.”

“She’s right,” Callum says finally. “This isn’t the time.”

His voice is steady, but I can see how tense his shoulders are. “Perhaps the pack elders need a reminder of what happened the last time they tried to back me into a corner.”

Silas’s jaw sets, and he looks over at me once. His voice is low. “Keep in mind, Callum. This time you have weaknesses. Alpha or not, you are no longer untouchable.” He looks at Corinne. “Come. We are leaving.”