Chapter Nine #2
I never laughed, never had fun. How could I be what a child needed?
I was raised in violence and bloodshed. I’d only risk tainting her by veering too close.
Dylan provided nurturing and softness. I could see it in how he soothed her, the fondness in his gaze when he looked at her, the tears he had shed.
I could shield her from the darkness, ensure her life was nothing like mine, even if she succeeded me. But that was it.
Keeping them together, under my roof. Protected. Provided for. That was the extent of what I could offer Nothing more.
“I’ll leave you be,” I insisted, already drafting the proposal in my head. “We will speak when you’re ready.”
“You have reviewed the footage?” I asked, assuming it was the reason he was standing in front of my desk.
We had acquired it three days ago, and I’d handed it over to Dylan after watching it myself.
Minseo had been well taken care of by the loan sharks.
As I’d suspected. They had an omega there to feed her, console her when she cried, and give her toys for entertainment.
There was a moment where one of the younger betas had grown irate when she’d started screaming, but the omega had calmed him down with cooing words.
I was glad he was dead.
“Yeah,” he said with a slight nod. “She’s okay.”
“Hm.”
“The omega—the one who soothed her, is she—”
“Dead.”
“Oh.” A look passed over his face. It might’ve been guilt. “She seemed kind.”
He wasn’t aware of how this world worked. I couldn’t have risked leaving any of them alive.
Well, except one.
“Don’t concern yourself,” I bid. “What’s done is done. Minseo is safe. She’s well. That’s what matters.”
He nodded emphatically before squaring his shoulders. “Well, I guess we can go now. We can arrange visitations for you and Minnie . . . if that’s something you want? You’re not my favourite person, but you’re her dad, so whatever.”
Invigorating speech. How long had it taken him to rehearse? “About that . . .”
He released all the breath he’d been holding, his eyes forming their trademark glare. “Don’t start your shit now. We’re leaving. That’s that. I swear, if you try to—”
I slid a contract across my desk, silencing him.
For a second.
“What’s that?”
The omega had presumed I was going to keep him here against his will, but surprising even myself, I was taking a diplomatic approach. “A contract. A proposition.”
His eyes narrowed dubiously, defensively. “For?”
“An arranged mating.”
Confusion. “What?”
As he showed no indication of reading the paper himself, I supposed I’d give him the basics.
“I can offer you and my daughter protection. Provide for you, preserve your reputation, as is an Alpha’s obligation.
You will want for nothing. You’ll have your own rooms, your own space.
You can avoid me as much as you wish, but I will see Minseo occasionally for the purpose of maintaining our pack bond.
I will publicly name her as mine, she’ll be a Devereux, and she will inherit everything when I die.
As is . . . tradition. And for the sake of propriety, you’ll be my mate. ”
Silence.
Dylan gawped, scoffing almost unconsciously. “You’re joking? You honestly think I’d mate with you? You’re fucking delusional!” With a huff, he turned on his heel, but wavered, facing me again. “In case that wasn’t clear, get fucked.”
I inhaled deeply, letting him reach the other side of the room.
“You are part of a scheme much bigger than you thought,” I announced.
The door was wrenched open, but he paused.
“I suspect a rival pack is gunning for my position; you don’t need the specifics, but it’s pack business now.
My business. And since blood has been spilt, no matter its insignificance, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. ”
“They’d take her again?” he asked in a murmur.
“Or worse,” I clarified. “We were lucky this time, but if you walk out that door, I can’t guarantee any other attempt will have the same outcome.”
His shoulders wavered on a breath, and he closed the door, turning back around. Part of me had expected him to leap at the offer, as any omega would. But of course not.
He had to make a show of opposing me first.
“How are you any different?” he sneered, though it lacked venom. “I’d be trading one evil for another. Your pack is just as vicious, just as dangerous. More so, if the rumours are to be believed.”
They are.
“How can you expect me to be ecstatic about raising Minnie in a society like this?” he carried on.
“Yes, you’re offering protection, but she’s always going to be in the firing line.
There’s always going to be death and destruction a stone’s throw away, and I don’t want that for her.
I just wanted a normal life for my daughter. ”
Normal was impossible. “Whether you believe it or not, you’re both safer with me, where I can guard you.
It might not be what you want for her, but this is the life she was born into, and there’s no changing it.
Once you’re associated, accept it or die.
It might not happen straight away, but it’s inevitable.
If you don’t take my offer, you’ll lose everything. ”
The omega’s face paled. I’d hit the right weakness.
He’d experienced grief, it was only common sense to believe he had a fear of losing again, especially his daughter.
It wasn’t a sentiment I was privy to, but if it chipped away his refusal, it would do.
He would agree for the sake of the child.
Not that he had much choice, but I was offering them both security, money, plus anything they could ever want or need. Everything omegas dreamed of.
I had thought of locking him away, but keeping him prisoner didn’t interest me—however, if he said no, I’d consider it. I’d get my way regardless, because despite my abhorrence of the idea, an arrangement between us was the best course of action.
It wasn’t what I’d wanted. I detested that my father—and everyone who’d warned me it would happen one day whether I liked it or not—had been right.
Part of me had known if I rebelled, it would be pointless in the long run, but I’d had to.
On principle. But now, there was no other way.
I had an heir. I couldn’t undo it, and since the city was abuzz with the news, I couldn’t cast them aside either.
I was already traipsing on thin ice by going this long without a mate.
For not taking that step to ensure the pack’s future and stability. Another tradition.
I wanted to burn it all, outlaw it, but despite my power, one man couldn’t undo thousands of years of custom.
Not overnight, at least. Arranged matings were how it was done.
It allowed the elites to feel superior because they had “culture.” I’d avoided it as long as I could, hiding behind the guise of being particular.
That they’d have to be a truly exceptional omega to be found worthy of becoming the mate of the Devereux supreme leader.
Ironic.
I couldn’t kill him. It was too late, considering the public spectacle already in swing.
Not that I would have, unless it was a last resort.
I could have tossed him out, loaded his bank account, fulfilled my obligation to them as an Alpha, but .
. . that wouldn’t fly either. Not only in the sense of my pride, but I wasn’t so foolish as to believe it would be enough.
There’d be uproar among the packs if I was seen publicly shunning my heir, causing tension I didn’t fucking need.
At least Dylan didn’t conform to the guidelines of the omega who was expected. The polar opposite, in fact.
It gave me some satisfaction.
“What about my home?” he asked, and my brow furrowed without permission.
What an inane question. “Sell it? Keep it? Who cares?”
“I care! It’s all I—” He choked back his words before exposing his secrets in front of me. I already knew them. “I won’t sell it.”
“Then keep it,” I brushed off. “Gut it out. Make it a project, give yourself a hobby. You’ll have plenty of free time and disposable income, so do whatever you wish.”
“Why can’t we just carry on living there?” he queried. I regretted this already. “Why does it have to be here? Protect us from a distance.”
“If you leave, I won’t withhold my resources, but it will be more of a challenge keeping you safe when you’re not in my direct line of sight.
I have enemies in every direction, people who want my status and influence.
They will stoop to any level to get it, as you have seen.
Being officially mated to me will prevent that, or at least, I’ll be able to resolve it quickly if you’re both within arm’s reach. ”
It wouldn’t be difficult to monitor him from afar. It would actually be easy for me to post sentinels at his door, have enforcers on standby and surveillance on him every single second. Properly this time, no interference. But he didn’t need to know any of that.
It wasn’t an option, even if I’d posed it as one.
The scales were tipping toward agreement, but he had to remain stubborn a little longer.
“Minnie is to be kept in the dark about your business. As much as possible,” he countered, as if this was a negotiation.
“At least until she’s old enough to understand.
I want her to have a childhood without brutality or fucking civil war.
I want her to have an easy life, filled with everything I never had, and if you can provide that, fine, but I will not watch her become like you. ”
My patience was wearing thin. “She is my heir.”
“She still can be,” he said with a sigh.
“I realise she’ll never have a regular life, not the one I’d imagined for her, but I can make sure it’s as peaceful and ordinary as possible.
When she turns twenty-one, she can decide what she wants—learn how to become a pack leader or go out into the world and settle into a life outside all this. ”