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“As you can see, I have the dose for your bride. It must be injected intravenously. It will take effect in 24 hours, so, as long as she gets it at least 24 hours before the full moon, she should be fine.”
Max took a deep breath, not taking his eyes off James. “Thank you. You’ve saved my wife and my child. Now, tell me, what can I do for you?”
James finally set the empty cup back on the glass table. He leaned forward in his armchair, resting his elbows on his knees. He looked at Miss Delacroix, then at his sister.
“My sister took your rejection rather well, I can’t say the same thing about our father.”
Delyse dropped her gaze to her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. She blushed up to the tops of her ears.
“I’m sorry,” said Max. “I never meant to offend anyone.” He turned to Delyse. “I am very sorry. It had nothing to do with you, Delyse. You’re simply wonderful, and any man would be lucky to have you.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “You don’t need to apologize to me or anyone else. You and Avelyn were meant to be together. You make her happy, and that’s all that counts.”
“Nonetheless,” James interrupted them, “my sister is in need of a husband.”
“James!” Delyse couldn’t believe her brother was doing this to her. She had wondered why he had insisted that she and Miss Delacroix would be present at this meeting, but it had never crossed her mind this was the reason.
“Lily, it’s the truth. I’ve been worried about you, so I spoke to Miss Delacroix, trying to figure out why no one has chosen you after the incredible number of interviews you’ve had in the past two months.”
Delyse turned to the headmistress. She completely missed the fact that James had called her by her real name.
“I thought it was better to tell him, child,” confirmed the woman.
“What’s happening?” asked Max, a look of concern mixed with curiosity flashing in his green eyes.
James turned to him. “Lily has been sabotaging her own interviews on the assumption that no shifter who has asked her since you chose her friend is good enough for our father.”
“And it’s true!” said Delyse. “What was the best I got? The Alpha of two wolf packs in Northern Ireland? He wasn’t even cute! What else? Three Beta foxes, one Alpha eagle, five Alpha bears. Five bears. Seriously?”
Miss Delacroix started massaging her temples, feeling the threatening stab of an impending migraine. “Jesus,” she thought. “It’s getting more and more difficult to marry these girls off. And, as if the business wasn’t already going to hell as it was, now we have a cure that can make shifter females able to procreate. I can already see Alma Venus turning into a normal high school.”
“I’m with you, sister. All the way. But it can’t go on like this.”
“What do you want me to do?” whined Delyse with the cutest pout on her rosy lips. “It’s not that I don’t want to be bought, but I don’t want to disappoint father… again.”
“And you won’t,” James said matter-of-factly. “Because, in exchange for the cure, Max here is going to find you a worthy husband.”
“What?” Max’s brows rose in disbelief. “That’s what you want for the vaccine?”
“Yes. What did you expect?”
“I… I don’t know.”
“I love my sister, Max. Lily deserves the best, and even though I don’t agree with her silly obsession of getting back in our father’s good graces, I will support her no matter what. As a Donation, she can pretty much choose whomever she likes, and I encouraged her countless times to follow her heart. Most shifter-brides can’t afford this luxury. But, if she wants to impress our father, then so be it. You’re one of the advisers of Councilor Voinom. You’ve got connections. Use them and find my sister a worthy Alpha
.”
“This is… weird. I don’t think I can promise anything…” Max couldn’t believe he had just been asked to play the matchmaker. He would have laughed if James’ serious expression didn’t make it all too clear it would’ve been a very bad idea.
“You’ll have to.” James turned to the headmistress. “Miss Delacroix, please remove Lily’s catalog entry as soon as you get the chance. She won’t be having any interviews from now on.”
The blunt request took the old woman by surprise. “That’s unprecedented.”
Delyse’s eyes brightened with joy, and she looked at the headmistress hopefully. The idea of not having to attend any more interviews was exhilarating. They had become so bothersome and exhausting, especially since she had to work so hard to make the shifters change their mind about buying her. She was damn expensive, of course, but most of them were willing to get neck deep into debt just to have her and all the social and political advantages attached to her name.
“I don’t think I can do that,” continued Miss Delacroix, even though the plea in Delyse’s blue eyes made her voice waver.
“It’s your boarding school,” said James. “You can do whatever you want. Besides, no one else has to know about it.”
