Chapter 25 #2
When I was eight, my father’s own brother, my Uncle Chris, had too much to drink and kissed my mom against her will.
The next day, Dad banished Uncle Chris, saying that since Chris disrespected his sister-in-law, he couldn’t live among us.
He was supposed to be gone by sunset. Chris laughed and didn’t take the threat seriously.
That night, my dad shifted and attacked him.
My mom wouldn’t let me watch. We never saw Uncle Chris again.
No one ever talks about him. But we all know my dad means what he says.
Which meant I had to pick someone besides Laney to marry.
One of the stronger girls from my pack. I wouldn’t love her.
I’d have to marry her. Have sex with her.
And Laney would be a member of our pack, forced to watch me.
If she ever chose to marry someone, I’d be forced to watch her.
That was assuming she joined our pack. She could choose to remain on her own.
In which case, the enforcers might not let her live.
Assuming the enforcers agreed to let my dad bring Laney into the protection of our pack, and Laney agreed to join it, they’d have to address the issue of not allowing her to procreate.
The enforcers would probably do something to make sure she didn’t.
Then everyone could calm the fuck down knowing she wouldn’t present any sort of threat to our kind.
I didn’t know how Laney would take that.
If she wanted kids, she might not willingly go through with any of this.
She might try running away. They’d track her down and kill her.
I’d have to convince her to join our pack and let them sterilize her.
I didn’t know if she’d do it. It was a lot to ask.
Then there was still the wolfsbane to deal with.
If, as I suspected, it was preventing her from shifting and she stopped taking it, we had no idea how her body would react.
Shifting for the first time as a grown woman would be extremely dangerous.
The shift alone could kill her. Or, if she managed to shift into her wolf form, she might not be strong enough to shift back.
I didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with any of this at the moment.
All I knew was that Laney deserved to know the truth. She had to know in order to understand the choices being made on her behalf.
Because I was going to have to break up with her. If she felt half as strongly about me as I did her, it would destroy her. I would be the one causing her pain. It seemed unimaginable and unfair that life had led us here.
I finally calmed down enough to shift back into human form three days later. I’d missed two days of classes. Training. A game. I’d never missed a game before. I didn’t even fucking care.
The world and my future seemed bleak.
The only good thing to come out of this was saving Laney.
Granted, I would have preferred to save her some other way, but I had to deal with the cards I’d been given.
Keeping Laney alive was imperative. I wasn’t strong enough on my own to save her.
But my pack could. We would keep her safe from the enforcers.
The three days I’d wandered in wolf form had allowed me to think. To plan. To plot. I’d been pushed into a corner, and it was never a good idea to push a wild animal into a corner.
When I returned to my house, I went inside, vaguely aware of others asking where the hell I’d been. I went straight up to my room, not bothering to talk to any of my packmates.
Grabbing my phone, I ignored the messages and missed calls from Laney.
My dad picked up on the first ring.
“You win,” I said.
“It’s not about me winning.”
“Really? Because I sure feel like I’m losing.”
“Son,” he said, sighing. “You have to understand this is for the best.”
I hated that he thought he knew what was best for me or for Laney. We were adults and should be able to make our own choices. “I want your guarantee that you will do what you can to protect Laney. Now and for the rest of her life.” It was the only thing making my sacrifice worth it.
“I will. I promise.”
I believed him. “I want to break up with her in person. I think she deserves that much.”
“I don’t know.”
“It’ll ensure she leaves me alone instead of seeking me out for answers. It’ll be the best way to make a clean break.” It was the least she deserved. I had to make her understand. She needed to know the truth.
“Fine. But after the breakup, you will not have any further contact with her.”
“And if she’s in our pack?” It would be impossible to completely ignore her. Even the weakest among us didn’t deserve that treatment.
“We’ll deal with it later. After you’re married.”
A shudder ran through my body at the idea of being with another woman. “How are you going to make sure Laney is watched over and protected?”
“I’ll have Adan keep an eye on her until we get an answer from the enforcers. Then we’ll decide how to proceed. If she doesn’t shift, she should be able to live outside our town, so you won’t have to see her that often.”
The thought of Adan being around her nearly made me shift on the spot.
Yet, I knew why my dad chose him. Laney and him were friends, and she trusted him.
Adan was also the weakest wolf my age. If he formed some sort of attachment to Laney, it wouldn’t be nearly as scandalous as one of the stronger members.
My dad might even insist the two of them marry, thereby ensuring no offspring from two of our weakest members.
Plus, Laney could live near her parents if she was with Adan, since he could protect her.
Sometimes I hated the way my world worked. My mom always said if I disliked something, it was up to me to change it. One day, I’d find a way for those of us who were mated to marry without repercussions.
“Any thoughts on who you plan to marry?” Dad asked.
“I’ll deal with that once I break up with Laney,” I said, not wanting to reveal any part of my plan quite yet.
“Just do it quickly. We’ll announce your engagement at Thanksgiving dinner. I’d like to know who it is ahead of time so your mom can make the appropriate arrangements. Then we’ll plan the wedding for you.”
An alpha’s wedding was no small task. There would be days and days of celebrating. The bride and groom were supposed to be fucking as much as possible to reproduce. We needed to have the next alpha. The mere thought made me want to hurl.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Dad reassured me.
“I know.” I hung up and opened my thread of texts with Laney. I didn’t bother scrolling to read all the unread ones, I simply went to her last one.
Laney
I still can’t believe your dad went and talked to my parents. That’s insane. You need to call me. I’m freaking out. I have no idea if you’re okay or not.
My hands shook as I typed out a response.
Rowan
I’m okay. Sorry I haven’t responded sooner. I was away, thinking. I’m back now. Let’s talk in person. I’m crazy busy this week. Can I pick you up on Friday? Then we’ll go somewhere quiet to talk. I’ll explain everything.
She had to be worried since she hadn’t heard from me in three days. If the roles were reversed, I’d be freaking out. I saw her read my message. Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Reappeared. Finally, after five minutes, a text came through.
Laney
Let me think about it.
Yup. She was pissed. I couldn’t blame her. If she was angry at me, it might make this easier for her to digest.
If she agreed to Friday, that gave me a couple of days to plan everything.
I was going to explain what I was, what she was, and why she was in danger.
I needed to tell her that I loved her and was breaking up with her in order to protect her.
I would explain it all. I needed her to move on and fall in love with someone else.
I wanted her to have a full life. Because I wasn’t doing this, walking away from the love of my life, for nothing.
I was doing it for Laney. So she better fucking have it all. My sacrifice had to be worth something.
Danny came into my room since I’d left the door open.
“You’re back,” he said.
“Yup.” I didn’t want to talk with him right now.
I was still pissed at him for going behind my back to my dad.
He should have come to me about his concerns.
I mean, he did say a few offhand comments to me, and I hadn’t listened.
I rubbed my face. Maybe if he’d been more aggressive, or had shifted into wolf form, I might have realized how serious he was.
“Coach wants to know where you are. He said when I saw you to tell you to go and see him. He said it with a few more cuss words and threatened to kick you off the team.” Danny leaned against the doorframe, folding his arms and watching me.
I shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“What’s that mean?”
“Why bother playing rugby? It’s not like we’re going to be pros. I’m going to graduate, marry, and work for my dad. I’ll never play rugby again after I leave here. So what’s the point?”
“You love rugby.”
Not nearly as much as I loved Laney. “It feels pointless now.”
“If this is about me going to your dad, you have to know I didn’t. My dad is the one who went to Caleb. I’m sorry.”
I wanted to punch him. Danny’s dad had ammunition on me because of Danny. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been anything for Gareth to tell Dad. “Whatever. I need to shower, so get the fuck out and close the door.”
He straightened. “Fine. Just don’t quit the team.”
“It’s over in a couple of weeks anyway.”
“You’re the captain. You made a commitment to the team. To me.”
“I guess my priorities have changed,” I said, my voice low and flat.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I have to focus on choosing a wife, dumbass. I’m getting married. I’ll need a place to live and shit like that.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think your dad would do that to you.”
“It seems like you’re sorry about a lot these days.
” This was the guy who in second grade, when some asshole shoved him on the playground, I’d beat the crap out of the kid and got suspended.
When he liked a girl but was too shy to ask her out, I did it for him.
In high school, I trained with him so he was good enough to make varsity rugby his freshman year.
I tutored him so he could pass his classes and play.
We were closer than brothers. And he’d fucking stabbed me in the back.