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“Nice view, eh?” he leans on the rail next to me.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” I admit, momentarily swept up in the view. As a self-proclaimed construction rehab nerd, a building with this kind of historic charm is just incredible to see in person.
I glance at Dominic and weigh out whether I’m willing to swallow my pride to ask questions or not. He catches me looking and raises an eyebrow.
“Spit it out.”
“Who did the rehab?”
“My team.” He stands up again and gestures with his fingers for me to follow him. “Let’s go.”
I reluctantly let myself be led like a lamb to slaughter, knowing if I don’t follow him on my own that he’ll only wind up carrying me again. Considering the size difference, it’s hardly a hassle for him to do it, no reason for me to encourage him.
I’m surprised to hear him say his team did the rehab. After working with Callum, I know there’s a lot of packs that focus on construction work around this part of the country, but not many of them take on projects like this. Most of them specialize in building shiny, new things with stark modern architecture.
Too many packs have left behind the art of salvaging history.
“What?” Dominic snaps.
I startle a little as he glares over his shoulder at me. “What?” I parrot back.
“Why are you sighing like that?” He’s frowning at me, his stare penetrating as if he can pull secrets out of me.
I’m not about to admit I was sighing over my appreciation for his pack’s work. That feels too dangerously close to a compliment for this man that I loathe. Instead, I shrug and pointedly ignore his gaze.
Dominic stops at a door at the end of the hall and throws it open. “You stay here until I come back.”
I try to peek inside, but he puts a hand on my lower back and shoves me into the room. I turn angrily, but he shuts the door in my face before I can spit out just what I think of his domineering manhandling. The distinct sound of a lock clinking immediately follows. Asshole.
Looking at the room since I have no other real choice, I can feel the weight of pure dread flood me as I study the last space I would ever want to be in. Dominic Parker just locked me in his bedroom.
Chapter Eleven
Dominic
“She’s a petite one, isn’t she?”
My back straightens as those first words leave my father’s lips the second I step foot into his study. He insists on keeping the office as a formality despite the fact he does essentially nothing in regards to pack business anymore.
Not sincethe incident.
“She’s not staying,” I tell him preemptively because I already know that’s going to be next. Sure enough, his forehead pinches with disappointment.
“Is that her decision or yours?” My father leans further back in his chair, looking every bit the tired old man that he’s become. “She didn’t exactly seem pleased to be here with you. Is there something we need to discuss?”
“No.”
“I recognize a mate bond when I see one, Dominic.” Somehow, even though he’s sitting while I stand, he still manages to look down his nose at me.
I have to force my jaw to unclench to correct him, “I rejected her; she’s not my mate.”
For a long, uncomfortable moment, I feel like a small boy as my father stares wordlessly at me. And then he does something worse, turning his chair around so he’s no longer facing me. I can feel my father’s disappointment practically washing over the room, coating the entire thing in shame.
“How dare you?” he mutters so quietly I barely hear him.
I don’t respond. There’s no point. He’s clearly unhappy with this development, but there’s no taking it back. Whatever connection my wolf imagined this morning, it’s no longer the mate bond that I resolutely severed three years ago.
“How dare you?” he says, raising his voice this time. “How dare you question the mate that the Moon Goddess herself chose for you? How dare you not take that seriously?”
