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“What?Where?”Idemanded.
“You’llbe told when you get there,” he answered.
“ToldwhenIget there?That’sdoesn’t work for me!”Itried to put on the brakes but he was much too strong—Iwas basically getting dragged towards the big blackEscaladein my driveway.
“Sorry—Packmaster’sorders.”Theguard didn’t sound sorry a bit.
“But…butI’mnot dressed to go anywhere!”Ipointed out. “Lookat me—Idon’t even have any shoes on!”
Iwas wearing an oversized sweatshirt—one ofCole’sthatIhad stolen a long time ago—a pair of yoga pants, and some fuzzy orange socks to keep my feet warm.Iwas the very definition of “in for the night” andIcertainly didn’t look ready to meet anyone or go anyplace besides my own living room.
“Iwas told that you would be given clothes to wear when you get to your destination,” the guard said implacably.Hewas still dragging me towards theEscaladeand nowIcould seeKurt, whoIknew wasCole’ssecond in command in the driver’s seat.
Myheart jumped suddenly—could it be thatIwas being taken to see my big brother?HadColehad a change of heart and realized that we belonged together?
Istopped fighting the guard who was dragging me towards the car and walked eagerly towards it instead.Helooked surprised but quickened his step to keep up with me.Heopened the door to the back seat, put me in, and then shut the door and got in the front withKurt.
Assoon as all the doors were closed, the locks on the back doors clicked, locking me in.Thisseemed like a fairly ominous sign, butIwas determined to stay positive.
“Hi,Kurt.Sowhat’s all this about?”Iasked looking over the seat.
Kurtcleared his throat and shifted in the driver’s seat.Helooked uncomfortable,Ithought.
“ThePackmasterhas asked me to convey the following information,” he began, in a speech that sounded scripted—as though someone else had written it out and he had memorized it. “TheProvisionalCouncilhas voted and decided that in light of your recent, er,activities, you need a mate.”
“What?”Ileaned forward, my hand going to my throat. “Ineed awhat?”
“Amate,”Kurtcontinued implacably. “Theyfurther decided that you need an older male who is strong enough to control you.”
“Anoldermale?”Myheart sank.Itcouldn’t beColethen.Notthat his men would be helping him set up a tryst with his own little sister.Theyall believed in that stupid bullshit about theUnbreakableLawslike everyone else in thePackdid.
“Themale you’re going to see tonight has already watched you, er,performin the past,”Kurtwent on, sounding more and more uncomfortable. “You’regoing to perform for him again so he can decide if he wants you.”
“Decideif hewantsme?”Iexclaimed. “Hedoesn’t get to say if he wants me or not!I’mnot going to allow myself to be married off to some old man!”
“Theterms of your mating will be up to thePackmaster, not you,” theAlphaguard growled. “Heis your last living male relative and he has the right to choose your mate.”
“That’sbullshit and you know it!”Iyelled, getting really angry now.Iknew there was some kind of antiquated law on the books that had to do with the male relative of a single female being able to choose her mate but nobody ever used it anymore.Atleast, my adoptive father hadn’t.
Itwas one of those silly old laws that nobody bothers to take off the books because they’re so out of touch with today’s societal norms that nobody even pays any attention to them anymore.Likeall those states that still have laws against oral sex.Imeancouldyou prosecute somebody for giving their partner a blow job?Sureyou could.Butwould you?Ofcourse not!Becausethat would beridiculous.
“ThePackmasterhas ruled that if the male who sees your performance likes you, he may have you as a mate,”Kurtsaid, still staring straight ahead as he drove. “Heasked me to convey to you that if you had not decided to expose yourself in public, theCouncilwouldn’t have felt it was necessary to find you a mate.”
“Basically, you brought this on yourself,” theAlphaguard added helpfully.
“Look,Imade the choice to strip for my own reasons,”Isnapped at both of them. “It’smybody—Iget to choose whatIdo with it.”
“I’mafraid that’s not how thePackmastersees it,”Kurtremarked. “Hetold me to tell you that you’re going to pay for your poor decisions tonight.”
“Kurt, come on—you know this is bullshit!”Ileaned forward, trying to catch his eyes in the rearview mirror. “Thatlaw about the male relative choosing a female’s mate for her is so old!Imean, nobody evenusesit anymore.”
“Well, it’s getting used now,”Kurtsaid shortly. “Sorry,Delilah—there’s nothingIcan do,” he added and shrugged.Hehad an unhappy look on his face, whenIglimpsed it in the rearview mirror as though he didn’t agree with what was going on, but he kept driving just the same.
Islumped back in my seat, barely noticing as the dark streets rushed past the windows.Whowas this “older male”Iwas going to meet and what kind of show wasIsupposed to put on for him?
Iwas afraid to find out.
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