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“Just think about it, Valen. This is good for everyone in the city and for both packs. It will end the wars between packs, which benefits both of us.”
“No. Now get the fuck out of my hotel; I won’t hear any more of this nonsense,” I tell them, getting up out of my seat.
“Valen, just think about it. We still have time for you to decide. No need to make hasty decisions. Nothing will be announced until the Alpha meeting in two months. Plenty of time to discuss this some more.”
“We don’t need to discuss anything. Ava isn’t my mate. I will have children with my mate and my mate only. Thank you for the offer, Alpha John, but I am not interested,” I tell him, about to walk out the door.
“I will give you some time to think about it, Alpha Valen. The offer still stands, so think carefully. Reputation is everything,” Alpha John tells me, his eyes darting to my father, who nods. I couldn’t care less about my reputation; I'm comfortable with who I am. Once again, however, I am cut off before I can answer—this time by my father.
“How is the Alpha meeting coming along? Have you picked a location yet?” he asks, effectively stopping me from telling Alpha John to go fuck himself and get off my territory.
“It will be on neutral territory. Now, I think it is time you leave,” I snap at both men
“Great,” Alpha John says as he gets to his feet. “Well, send us the details, and in the meantime, you can think about what decision you want to make. It would be good to know for certain by the Alpha meeting so we can make an announcement.”
“There won’t be an announcement. Your daughter is not my mate,” I tell him, but he ignores me, instead gripping his daughter’s arm and tugging her out of the room. I growl at him.
“Enough. Just think about it, Valen,” my father repeats, watching them leave. The moment they do, I turn on him.
“How fucking dare you! You just put me on the spot! You didn’t think to fucking ask before making deals with the likes of him? I won’t go through with it, and if you try that shit again, I will banish you from the city!” I bellow at him. My father takes a step away from me.
He has always been trying to control every aspect of my life since I took over, but this isn’t his choice and is way out of line. I've found my mate. I'm not about to toss her aside for some rivalry.
Alpha John’s daughter not being good enough to become her pack’s Alpha is not my issue, but this does make things more difficult because now, I have to convince Everly to let me mark her before the Alpha meeting.
I will accept no one but my mate, but I have no doubt that disagreeing will only be the start of my issues with Alpha John and the shadow pack. And I can already tell something is up with my father. He's keeping something from me—there's no other explanation for his behavior. So until I know what it is, I'm going to have to make sure he doesn’t find out about Everly.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Everly
Now that Valen has realized I'm his mate, and after his persistence yesterday, I know it won’t be the last time I'll hear from him. He doesn’t seem like the type that's used to being knocked back by a woman. But he'll have to get used to it; there's no way I will allow my son to be taken from me. Maybe I've made my point though. Maybe I can go the entire day without dealing with mate dramas.
Stepping out of my office, I groan when I see him again. My heart stops in my chest—he's walking down the corridor toward me. I turn in the opposite direction to escape out the side door and back to the safety of my apartment for a while before I retrieve Valarian from preschool.
“Everly.”
“What? Alpha Valen, I'm busy,” I call over my shoulder. He jogs after me.
“Too busy to speak with your mate?” he asks.
“Yep, definitely too busy for you,” I tell him, continuing toward the door that leads outside and refusing to make eye contact with him.
“Hmm. So you hire liars here? Because that cleaner just told me you should be going on your lunch break right now and that you aren’t busy,” Valen says before gripping my arm. Sparks rush up my arm, and I jerk away from his touch as I turn to face him. Valen growls at me, and I glare at him.
“Geez, what is your problem? No need to act repulsed by me,” he snaps at my reaction.
“I never said you repulsed me, but thanks, I will add repulsion to my list of reasons for hating you,” I tell him, though that's a lie; I don’t hate him. His arrogance and the fact he can't remember me irritates me, but hate is too strong a word for my mate.
Everything in me is calling me to press against him—to touch him and mark myself with his scent—some primal urge to claim him. But I shove it down, ignoring it. He has my hormones and brain all muddled when he's near, and I want to run from him, disliking the feelings he brings out of me. How can I simultaneously detest and long for someone? It irritates me.
“Why? Why do you hate me? Because of Ashley?” he asks, and I scoff before turning away.
“She means nothing to me,” Valen says when I start to walk away from him. He grips my arm again, turning me back to face him. I growl at him and try to shake his hand off, but his grip only tightens.
“Keep your hands off me. You have no right to touch me,” I snap at him. His eyes change and turn black, his wolf side pressing forward at the warning in my voice. He clearly doesn’t like being challenged by his mate, or is it just my refusal to bow down to him? Or maybe he's butt hurt that I'm not tossing myself at him like the rest of the bimbos he usually has hanging off his arm. I bet that's it! He isn’t used to being rejected, and to be dismissed by a rogue must really grind his gears.
His following words prove the latter. “I have every right to touch what is mine, and you are mine, Everly—every inch of you is mine; mine to touch, mine to mark, mine to claim, and I will claim you.”
