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“I don’t like being bought off,” Wyatt said to his father once everyone else was inside. “A helicopter? A limo? A mansion? You think you can buy back what you threw away when I was younger?”
Lawrence shook his head and put a hand to his chest. “Wyatt, that’s not what this is. Do you know that I’ve looked for you for years? Tried to find you over and over again, thenboom, there’s your face onThe Reject Project.”
“Really?” Wyatt asked, incredulous. “How hard did you try? Seriously? I’ve been in the Tranquility operatives for years.”
Lawrence winced, and I had the impression that he was ashamed of himself. “True, and I have many contacts there if I’d only reached out to ask. I just never thought that was a line of work you’d go into.”
Wyatt laughed bitterly. “No faith in your son. Not surprising.”
“No,” Lawrence blurted desperately. “I thought you’d choose a less dangerous trade. Finance, law. Medicine, perhaps?” Heshook his head sadly. “When I saw you on the show, saw what you were capable of? I sat there saying, ‘That’s my boy.’ The whole time I watched you, I started to realize that I never knew you. You’re right. I was an absent father. Emotionally absent. I took you for granted, and when you rejected Serenity and became a lone wolf, I can admit that, for a time, I hated you.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Really great, Dad. Good to know.”
“Let me finish, please.” He held up a hand and closed his eyes in a pained expression. “I hated you because I didn’t understand what you’d gone through. All I could think about was the dishonor that the Second Pack went through when you left. But when I watched you on that show, fighting to bring honor back to our pack, I took it as a sign. A signal that you were ready to come home, to step back into your real life.” He gave a little smile. “I’m happy I managed to help you enough to get you back to Fangmore City. Things can go back to the way they were supposed to be. You can stay here as one of the rightful leaders of shifter society.”
Wyatt scoffed. “This is the problem with all you upper-pack wolves, Dad. You realize there’s a war going on out there, right?Rightful leaders? Seriously? You all can sit here in your ivory towers, trying to make believe everything will blow over, but you can’t deny the packs are splintering. You may need to find a new home soon.”
Before his father could say anything in response, Wyatt walked away, heading for the stairs. I joined him, leaving Lawrence Rivers behind. When I glanced over my shoulder, the man looked both devastated and confused.
A maid met us inside and led us to one of the guest rooms. It was as nice as the suite I’d had back in the Reject Mansion. Once the door closed behind us, Wyatt allowed himself to vent.
“Can you believe that shit?” he growled.
I shook my head as I inspected the ornate carvings on the mahogany wainscoting. “No. Why on earth would your father bring us here and act like everything was totally normal? Was all this a ploy to get you back into his pack?”
Wyatt flopped into a leather chaise lounge by the window. “My father’s mind has always been a mystery to me. When he’s not mentally checked out and ignoring his responsibilities, he’s spending time convincing himself the world is exactly like he thinks it should be.” He sighed, and for the first time since getting into the limo, he looked sad rather than angry or bitter. “When I was a kid, I used to hate him. He was never around, never had time for me, always pushed me to do things I hated. That hate’s gone now. I really thought that when I finally saw him again, I would lash out and be so pissed, but I’m angry at the situation, not at him. All I feel is apathy. I barely have any feelings for him anymore. After my mom died, things went downhill. After all these years, nothing has gotten better.”
I could sense the emotions flooding his mind. His anger was focused on the words his father had said, not the man himself. The only emotion I could sense in Wyatt’s head was disdain toward his father.
“What do you want to do?” I asked.
“I’m sure he’s trying to manipulate us in some way. That, or he truly has deluded himself into thinking I’d want to come back to this pack after avoiding it for over a decade. Either way, it doesn’t matter. We’ll sleep here tonight, get our bearings, and then tomorrow we can get the hell out of here and find the remaining showrunners. Wring some information out of them.”
Even as I nodded, my bones turned to slush. It had been an incredibly long day, and I was exhausted. We’d been through multiple battles and fights. Would my life ever be normal again?
The huge, fluffy bed looked like heaven, and I jumped onto it, grunting as I sank into the comforter and feather topper.
“That looks nice,” Wyatt remarked.
“Join me.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
He leaped onto the bed and pulled me close, nuzzling my throat. The feel of his lips and nose against my skin sent an arrow of heat between my legs.
“Hmm? I heard that,” Wyatt whispered.
“What?”
“You. Are. Horny.”
“Ugh, this is weird. Good, but weird. It’s gonna take some getting used to this whole connected-minds thing.”
“You didn’t deny that you’re horny,” Wyatt teased.
Chuckling, I palmed his cock, already throbbing and rigid. “Seems like I’m not the only one.”
Wyatt leaned forward to kiss me, but before our lips met, there was a knock at the door.
