Chapter Nine #3
“I told you, once you’re in it, that’s it,” I reminded him, and he looked defeated.
I wasn’t thrilled with that emotion. “Fine. I will adjust the contract to state she will not undergo any training to become a leader until she can choose for herself. She will be taught self-defence, that is non-negotiable, but whatever tale you want to spin as to why is your choice. I will endeavour to keep her in the dark about the specifics, but she is still my heir. Once she takes my name, if I die, this will all be hers—yours, until she’s of age. Do you understand?”
He flinched. “What? I’ll have to run the pack until she’s twenty-one? Are you—”
“Don’t be absurd,” I scoffed. “I have measures in place for every eventuality. I have trusted associates who can lead in my stead until my successor is ready to take over, but you would have the final verdict on any deliberations.”
“Can’t you give it to someone else? Someone who actually wants to be involved?”
I stared at him blankly. “That’s not how this works. Had Minseo not existed, then yes, it would have been transferred to my cousin.”
“Not your brother?”
“He’s a beta,” I expressed, and he frowned. “He’ll be her regent.”
“Then what if Minnie’s a beta . . . or an omega?”
“She won’t be a beta.” I’d witnessed her taking comfort in her father’s scent. She would not be a beta. “As for an omega, we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”
There were unspoken rules within society that prevented mated omegas from performing certain deeds without an Alpha’s permission. It was frowned upon for them to work in any capacity, but they never needed to since their Alpha would take responsibility, giving them a life of luxury.
An omega as a pack leader would never be sanctioned, unless she was mated and her Alpha acted as regent. Or Dylan and I had another child, but that wouldn’t be happening.
“Elite hierarchy makes no fucking sense,” he complained, and he wasn’t entirely incorrect.
“To you, it doesn’t have to. Not yet, at least.” I tapped the desk, next to the contract. “Do we have an accord or not?”
“How do I know you won’t abandon us again?” His hands balled at his sides. “That you won’t get bored and throw us aside like used toys when a better offer comes along?”
I didn’t correct him. There would be no point, and having him continue to hate me would keep this simple. “That’s what the contract is for,” I reiterated. “It protects you too. It is legally binding.”
He chewed the inside of his cheek, contemplating. His eyes fixed on the paper and pen. “Minnie’ll want for nothing?”
I nodded.
I recognised the moment he was on board, and I couldn’t tame the feeling of victory blooming in my chest. I’d known he would agree. He was pig-headed, but his child meant everything to him.
It was blatantly obvious he was combating every defiant vein in his body when he nodded. “Fine,” he gritted. “But only because, given the shit choices, this is the best one for her.”
“Naturally.” The omega reached for the pen, but I stopped him. “There is one more detail in the fine print. As we’ll be presenting as a mated pair to the outside world, we will have to spend our cycles together. For the sake of realism.”
Dylan scoffed. “Only an Alpha would think with his knot.”
“You want security, do you not?” I said dryly. “This method is foolproof. If everyone knows for certain you have been claimed by me, they’ll be less likely to touch you. Those loan sharks wouldn’t have dared to even go near your house had they been aware.”
A mating bite would provide the same result, and we wouldn’t have to devote our heats and ruts to one another, but I wouldn’t be biting him.
It would lead to a permanent bond, and potentially losing control of my anatomy.
Mating bites brought on . . . feelings. Fabrications.
They connected both parties indefinitely, and I had no desire for any of it.
It wasn’t necessary. I wouldn’t go back on my word, but if I was to go along with this farce, I wanted something out of it.
Over the last three days, with his contentment suffusing the house’s foundations, I’d felt better than I had in years—since the day we met. My body was in peak condition minus the standard wear and tear; I could concentrate. I’d need that in abundance if I was going to uncover the plot.
It could be enough to swap clothes, to scent each other often.
It would appease the masses and give me a boost. But I recalled how it had felt to be inside him, how it had sated me for weeks afterward.
I was stronger. I’d resented my lapse in control, and him for being the cause, but I couldn’t deny, three days with his presence in the background had invigorated me.
It would be foolish not to take advantage while he was in my possession.
I despised going against my word to never mate—or at least to wait it out until it became an issue—but I’d tasted him, and now I wanted more.
“You’ll use protection,” he demanded. My jaw twitched.
More injections.
“Very well.”
He scrawled on the dotted line, officially signing himself over for security and wealth.
It was a shady deed, but his daughter would have it all.
She would grow up rich and prestigious, attending the finest schools, gaining the best education, and one day, running my empire.
She would live comfortably, and for Dylan, sacrificing himself to me was a small price to pay in return.
It was inevitable—if not to me, he would eventually have yielded to another Alpha, becoming their hole instead.
A conclusion which would never have ended differently.