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“He said that he’d never have a daughter who turned into a servant,” she said bitterly.
“He sounds insufferable.”
She let out a chuckle at that. “He really is. Even my mother couldn’t stand him, but then again, we recently learned he was laying hands on her. She escaped to Lockwood for a while, tried and failed to make amends with Ellie.”
“I saw all that drama on TV with Ellie and Morgan,” I admitted. The show had made my blood boil, but when her parents were on screen they definitely took that title. Even before Tori told me all this, I hated them.
No parenting should come with strings attached.
“Yeah, Mom took Morgan in as her little pet. It was so strange. She’s still trying to get in contact with us but she couldn’t with her tagging along. The whole world turning on Morgan had humbled her a bit, but I still want nothing to do with her… or my mom, really. They can live their delusional lives together. She can be the daughter that I never could be.”
“I’m sorry your family was so terrible.”
She gave a little shrug of indifference. It seemed the pain of it still lingered on the surface, but she’d come to terms with it in some ways.
“Tell me your family at least doesn’t suck.”
“They don’t,” I admitted as a soft smile took over. She stared up at me, green eyes soaking in my expression as I spoke. “Warren is actually my foster brother. We took him in when we were still in high school. His parents were deadbeats and just disappeared one day. My dad is a lawyer and managed to get temporary custody of him. We only needed six months before he turned eighteen anyway.”
“Oh,” was all she managed to get out. Her eyes were sparkling with empathy. Even though she wanted nothing to do with alphas, she had compassion for him.
I couldn’t wait to see all the facets of her personality. I was only getting glimpses right now, but I knew there was so much more to my mate than met the eye.
I just had to figure out how to get her to realize that having a pack was not a bad thing, that Warren would be just as good for her as I am.
The three of us could be happy.
Chapter
Nine
Tori
Aloud pounding on the door woke me from a dead sleep. It was the first time I’d gotten any rest in a long time, thanks to a really good night with Felix. He hadn’t even kissed me when he left, solidifying that letting him in might not be a bad idea.
Still groggy, I blinked away the fog from my eyes as I pulled myself out of bed, heading for the door. I knew I looked like a mess, but I didn’t care.
In my sleep-deprived state, I didn’t even think about opening the door until it was too late, and three hulking men were standing on the other side. I felt the blood drain from my face and took a step back, trying to shut the door on their faces, but the red-headed Alpha in front stuck his foot out, stopping me.
“Tori, your sister sent us,” he said. His voice was gruff, and now that he was in my proximity, his scent washed over me, my heart slamming in my chest as juniper, pine, and sage swirled around me. He was my scent match.
His nostrils flared, and it only seemed to make him angrier. My hand shook as my eyes narrowed, and I tried to keep my voice steady. “You need to leave. I don’t care who sent you; I don’t want you here.”
“I’m afraid you don’t get that choice, Princess,” he said, his tone like a curse. “This is strictly professional.”
There was a challenge there, like he was daring me to admit that we were mates. If he wasn’t going to, I wasn’t going to. The last thing I needed was more complications in my life or another Alpha.
“Let me close my door before I call the police.”
“And tell them what? That your neighbor came over to talk to you?”
“If you’re only here to talk, you wouldn’t be blocking my door like this,” I growled, letting the anger swell in my chest. It didn’t matter how gorgeous this Alpha was. I never gave a second thought to hair colors, but his red hair made him stand out, his pale skin dotted with freckles, a contrast to the mountain of a man that stood before me—tall, wide, and imposing, muscles bulging at his clothes.
But all that didn’t matter since he had a scowl firmly placed on his face, and his blue eyes were staring into me as if he could kill me on the spot with just a glare alone.
“We were hired to protect you. I’m merely giving you the courtesy of introducing ourselves.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
