Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Dining Room, Battle House, The Alpha Underworld
L ionzio keeps his arm wrapped around my shoulders like he always has every time that we’ve both been summoned to breakfast with Dad in the cold and palatial official dining room.
Normally, before I was sent to the attic, we ate together in the kitchens with the Beta staff.
The staff have been kind to us. In turn, Lionzio looks out for them.
It’s rare in the packs in the Underworld for an Alpha to care about Betas.
Allegra sweeps in front of me, dropping casually into the high-backed velvet chair that faces Dad’s at the end of the long table like she doesn’t have a care in the world.
Also, uncomfortably like she’s used to dining here.
She snatches a freshly baked blueberry muffin off one of the porcelain plates of pastries, buns, and sliced fresh fruit, which are placed in the center of the table.
She bites into the muffin with relish without bothering to wait for us to join her.
It’s not a good thing if Allegra has grown closer to Dad.
Where is he?
My heart is racing. My mouth is dry.
I flinch as my bare feet pad over the freezing marble floor.
I let out a breath of relief, when I realize that Dad hasn’t arrived yet.
I glance around the large room with its high ceilings and ostentatious, cherry wood furniture. The walls are painted with pictures of famous fights.
I remember studying the muscular Alphas on the walls, when I was young. I imagined that these Alphas were brave warriors in a war.
Na?ve.
Dad indulgently thought that I dreamed of bonding with a strong Alpha like these men.
In fact, I dreamed of becoming just as strong as them myself.
Now, however, I’m shaking.
I know how to handle myself in a fight. But Dad has never fought fair.
Plus, he’s Head Alpha. The entire pack must submit to him.
How can you defend yourself in a family, when one person has power over everybody else?
How can you protect the people who you love?
“Easy, slow breaths,” Lionzio murmurs, hugging me closer. He darts a glance to our sister, checking that she isn’t watching and gloating. “I’m here, sis.”
I force myself to smile. “I wish that you weren’t.”
Hurt flashes across Lionzio’s face. “I know that I’ve been a shit brother recently but—”
“Because now I have you to worry about as well.”
Lionzio relaxes, before attempting to straighten and look taller, despite the fact that we’re about the same height (and we both know that in fact I could kick his ass in less than ten seconds). “You’re shivering.”
He pulls back from me. Then he slips off his suit jacket, draping it around my shoulders.
Happily, I burrow into the jacket, sniffing at the familiar coffee scent. It slows my heart, settling me.
“Thanks.” I smile.
Lionzio leads me further into the room, directing me to sit on the lefthand side of the table. Then he rounds the table, sitting opposite me.
I’ve always hated how large this table is. It isolates the three of us, even though we’re sitting together.
Dad enjoys us being alone in order that we can be competitive with each other.
Everything is a contest to him, simply something to make you stronger.
I swallow, glancing at the large, crimson seat that sits like a throne at the head of the table.
Then my gaze slips to the spot next to it, where Mum would kneel to be handfed by Dad.
Except, one day Dad decided to break his bond with Mom because she’d only produced two Omegas and no Alpha.
He broke his bond with her right there in front of me over breakfast.
As if he’d had nothing to do with Allegra and my birth.
It was the worst and most traumatizing day of my life.
Before then, I thought that family and pack was stable and safe.
I believed and trusted in them.
After that, I realized that they could be broken, taken away, lost .
The week after the birth of my sister, my childhood was over.
So was my belief in pack bonds.
Slowly, Feral and River are starting to give that belief back, but I know just how fragile and dangerous bonds still are.
I will never take family for granted again.
When I glance at Lionzio, however, I smile. He returns it, surprised.
He’s the only good thing that came out of that nightmare year.
Dad adopted him because he wanted an Alpha son.
I resented him for only a single day before I realized that he was just as sad and scared as I was.
We’re in this together
My stomach drops as the scent of scalding black tea washes through the room: Dad .
Lionzio sits up straighter at the same time as I do.
Dad stalks into the room, swinging a pile of gray files in his heavily beringed hand.
Instantly, his charismatic but domineering presence, sucks the oxygen from the room.
I struggle not to meet his terrifying, narrowed gaze, which should be reassuring because it’s the same honey color as my own.
It’s not.
On him, it’s like a glowing predator’s, whose charm is there only to lure you in, before he strikes the killing blow.
Dad is dressed in a typically flamboyant scarlet suit, which has a waistcoat that flares with flames. A pistol hangs on the wide belt at his waist.
In his fifties, his wild hazel hair is starting to turn gray like his beard.
My heart hurts that even now, part of me hopes that he’s called me here because he’s missed seeing me.
I’m an Omega. I need approval and praise more than my brother does, and since he’s never been able to shake the fact that he’s adopted, he needs it like his next breath.
He wouldn’t be able to be kept under my dad’s thumb so well, if he didn’t.
And doesn’t Dad fucking know it?
Dad slams the files down on top of his plate hard enough that I wince in case the porcelain breaks. Then his gaze zeros in on me.
I jump but attempt to hold my proper posture like I was taught to as a kid and not shrink back from his furious pheromones as every Omega instinct in me is screaming for me to.
“Morning.” Lionzio’s voice is strained. “I brought Harley here, as you—”
“Morning, giomia mia.” Dad sharply cuts off Lionzio, smiling over the table at Allegra instead.
When he ignores Lionzio and me, we both slump back in our seats. We’re used to it.
“Morning, Papi,” Allegra simpers around a mouthful of muffin.
My own stomach is churning with too many nerves to even think of eating, despite the fact that this is a feast compared to the strict diet of oatmeal and eggs that I’ve been kept on for my breakfast because of my training.
Unexpectedly, Dad prowls toward me. “What the fuck is that in your hair?”
What?
Confused, I blink.
I struggle not to take a swing at Dad out of instinct, cringing back into my chair instead.
When Dad grabs hold of my chin, I brace myself for a blow.
Out of the corner of my eye, I hear Lionzio’s chair clatter back, as he shoves himself up.
“Lion,” I warn.
We both know what I mean.
Don’t intervene.
It doesn’t end well for Lionzio. Every. Single. Time.
When Dad grabs the paper rose that Feral made for me, my heart drops.
Stop touching it.
It’s mine.
Can’t I at least have that? It’s made out of discarded paper. Trash. Yet it’s priceless to me.
I should have known that Dad would notice it, however, because he doesn’t miss anything.
Dad lets go of my aching chin with a rough shove.
I look up and meet Lionzio’s gaze.
Lionzio is panting hard, clenching his hands like he’s struggling hard not to dive across the table.
When Dad notices, he looks amused. Then he sniffs the rose and glowers.
“Feral doesn’t get to mark my daughter.” He drops the delicate flower onto the floor, before grinding it under the heel of his boot.
I hide my shaking hands under my legs.
My eyes burn, but I won’t give Dad the satisfaction of seeing my tears fall.
Allegra is watching with a satisfied smile.
Fuck her.
When Dad slides his hands over my shoulders, I fight not to flinch. “Any reason that you’ve turned up to my table only half dressed, Lionzio?”
Lionzio looks confused, patting his waistcoat. “I’m wearing my suit.”
“Do you eat standing up now?”
Allegra titters.
Lionzio’s jaw clenches.
Wary, he perches on the edge of his seat.
When Dad raps his finger on my shoulder again, I know where his questions are leading.
My brother has given me his jacket to wear.
Hell, I’ve got him into trouble.
Frantically, I try to slip the jacket off. “Take it back, Lion.”
Lionzio pales, when he appears to realize what has set Dad off.
Dad is like a volcano.
He can appear quiet for months, even years. But anyone who knows him well enough in private knows that he’s never safe.
He has a volatile, violent temper.
And if triggered, he’ll explode.
The danger is that something different triggers him every time.
Dad’s fingers claw tighter, shaking me.
I gasp.
“Stop it,” Lionzio growls. “I’m the one who gave it to her. She was cold.”
Dad dives forward with the speed of a man who in his youth was the Champion in the octagon, slamming his hand on the table and making the cutlery rattle. “And that means you can disobey your Head Alpha? You fucking represent me, you little shit. If you can’t fight, then you can at least look pretty and immaculate. What other good are you, huh?”
Lionzio flushes.
“I asked you a question,” Dad demands. “What other good are you?”
“I don’t know.”
Dad’s face twists, cruelly. “Neither do I. Why’d you give her that jacket, unless you’re going soft? Weak? It’s what I hear.”
The blood drains from Lionzio’s face. “Who told you that? I’ve done everything that you’ve asked me to.”
“Including whipping that little Beta shit of yours?”
Lionzio avoids his gaze.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Dad straightens, crossing his arms. “I need to rely on Allegra to deal with him more strictly than you do, and he’s your ward.”
Allegra preens at the praise.
“That’s because my ward doesn’t deserve it,” Lionzio bites out before he can stop himself.
I dart him a sympathetic look.
Lionzio has just walked into the trap, and at his panicked expression, he knows it.
River is Lionzio’s weak spot, as much as he’s mine.
“Soft and disobedient.” Dad rests his hand on my shoulder like a warning. His voice is low but dangerous. “Should I regret adopting such a disloyal son?”
“I’m loyal to the Battles.” Lionzio tilts up his chin. I nudge his ankle with my foot beneath the table because I can tell how close Dad is to blowing. Lionzio used to be better at wearing a mask than this. Perhaps, he’s too exhausted to hide his emotions. “You know that.”
Dad finally lets go of my shoulder. I don’t feel better, however, because he prowls around the table toward my brother.
Allegra sprawls back in her chair like she’s readying herself to enjoy a show.
“Are you my loyal dog?” Dad asks, suspiciously gently. “Will you bark for me?”
Lionzio adjusts his tie. “Of course, Dad.”
“Then bark.”
A heavy silence settles over the room.
Lionzio laughs, nervously.
His laughter dies, however, when Dad only continues to stand, staring down at him.
Hell, Dad is truly going to do this to him.
Lionzio’s cheeks tint with pink.
It floods back then: every time that I was in here, when Lionzio and I were kids, and I wasn’t strong enough to protect Mom or him.
I wanted to become a Champion to stand up for every dynamic who was bullied, humiliated, or made to feel small and unable to fight back.
I wanted to save my brother.
As much as I’ve trained to become strong, however, I still can’t stand up and protect my family yet. And that hurts me far more than if Dad chose to do this to me and not his adopted son.
What if Dad has been treating Lionzio like this every day that I haven’t been here?
Every Alpha can be a tyrant in their own home.
And Dad is.
“I took you into my house.” Dad tidies Lionzio’s hair. Standing over him, it’s clear that he’s a much bigger Alpha. “Taught you to be my loyal dog. And what do dogs do?”
“Bark,” Lionzio forces out.
Lionzio’s tormented gaze meets mine like he believes that I will judge him or think less of him for this.
Dumbass.
Doesn’t he know what Feral and I have had to do to survive?
I struggle to give him a reassuring smile.
“Don’t be a bad dog, brother dearest,” Allegra mocks
To my shock, Dad drags out his gun in a single brutal move and holds it to the side of Lionzio’s head.
“Fucking bark, bitch,” Dad snarls.
For a moment, I forget how to breathe.
“Please,” I whisper.
I don’t know if I’m begging Dad not to shoot or Lionzio to please, please just do what Dad says.
Dad could pull the trigger. His eyes are furious and wild.
In this mood, he could do fucking anything.
It’s my please more than the gun that appears to make Lionzio break.
He barks, looking like it’s tearing him up inside to do it.
Dad chuckles.
A tear finally rolls down my cheek.
Allegra, on the other hand, snorts with laughter.
I’m going to kick her ass for that. I don’t know how. But I will.
Dad lowers his lips to Lionzio’s ear. “You’re not a dog, boy. You’re a puppy .”
He knocks the barrel of the gun roughly on Lionzio’s cheek, before strolling back to his throne-like seat at the head of the table and throwing himself down in it, as if he hasn’t just threatened to shoot his son.
He hurls the gun onto the table with a clatter.
Lionzio’s shoulders slump. He rests his head in his hands.
I wish that I could hug him.
“Why aren’t you eating like your sister?” Dad smiles at Allegra. “I like to see your hearty appetite. You’re such a good Omega, when I’m surrounded by this bad Alpha and bad Omega.”
I growl, before I know that I’m doing it.
“Harley.” Lionzio kicks me in panic under the table.
I’m dead.
To my surprise, Dad only laughs. “You’re even feistier than normal. Don’t look like I’m going to shoot your sister, Lionzio. Look, I’m just stressed at the moment. You know how I am, when I’m under pressure close to the final match of the Championship. I didn’t really hurt a strong boy like you, did I? We were merely playing a game. How about we take a couple of days off after the Championship is over and spend them together? We haven’t had a holiday together just as Alphas before. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? ”
Fucking gaslighter.
Lionzio gives a tentative nod.
“Good.” Dad claps his hands together, before snatching a slice of toast and beginning to butter it like everything is settled. “Now, tell me about the projects that you’re in charge of. Is everything completed?”
Lionzio gives a tired nod. “The new race track for the bikers is finished. The school has been restocked with supplies, and the new playground will be finished by the end of the month.”
“Excellent.”
Dad is feared and worshiped in equal measure because he’s not only a tyrant but one who pretends to be a philanthropist.
“Tyrants throughout history, from the Incas to Napoleon, have held onto power by winning hearts and minds.” River paced in front of Feral and me in tutor mode, during one of our nightly lessons, looking hot as fuck with his glasses pushed onto his nose. Please say that he’d want to try professor and student roleplay someday. “Like your Dad’s smart enough to do. He hands out beers after each fight, gives sweets to the kids, and provides healthcare, well, to the Alphas. He does just enough to hold onto his power. The masses don’t rise up in revolution, bella, because they’ll suffer a small amount of pain for security. They won’t risk it for the suffering few. We would but then, we’re amazing.”
“Promise me that you’re not teaching this same lesson to my brother because I don’t think that he’s quite ready to hear this subversive truth,” I replied. “He’s still loyal.”
I glance at Lionzio, seeing how shaken he is at the same time that he’s pretending not to be.
Dad taunted and played with him, making him bark to prove that he’s loyal.
I wish that he wasn’t.
What will I need to do to get my brother on my side against Dad?
“Any requests for the feast at the end of the Championship?” Lionzio asks, slipping out his phone to make notes.
“It will need to be spectacular,” Dad replies. I know that Dad means an orgy , where both beer and Omegas are on tap for the VIPs who attend the fight. “I have some ideas. I’m considering ordering Vinnie to kidnap the pop idol, Jin, to perform. I may keep him as my new bonded Beta.”
I startle.
Jin is the biggest singer in America. The only larger Beta idol is Taylor Swift.
Is there anyone who doesn’t have a crush on Jin, the gorgeous Beta with the heaven sent but sinful voice?
I feel a connection to him and his music. Aren’t Feral and I entertainers like Jin?
Jin gives up his voice, while we give up our pain.
Is Jin trapped the same as we are?
Jin smiles and dances on the stage, but then, Feral and I must appear to dance equally willingly around our stage, the octagon.
Feral has never danced for real though. He looks longingly at the big screens that project the latest music videos of Jin’s most famous song, “Caged Dreams”, between the rounds on fight nights.
Jin is at least thirty years younger than Dad.
I shudder at the thought of Dad kidnapping and bonding him.
I can’t bear to think of a Beta who has brought such light and happiness into our lives being dragged into the dark.
My sister claps her hands, excitedly. “Oh, yes. He would be perfect for you, Dad. He’s just your type.”
“He’s not,” I blurt. “He’s too high profile. I mean, it’s a big risk, right?”
“How fucking considerate of you to look out for me.” Dad leans closer to me. “But that’s the point. It’s why we have the status that we do because we have the balls to do what we want. After all, the last Omega who I had kidnapped as a prize for the Championship Special is fucking high profile. He’s from the billionaire Romeo pack, who own the ballet academies. The sweet Omega, Laurent, has been in magazines and on TV shows for years being lusted over as one of the most beautiful Omegas in America. It’s fucking hilarious to see how many people are weeping over the little shit going missing.”
“Is he okay?” Lionzio’s expression is carefully blank. “I haven’t seen him in the house.”
“Vinnie has him.” Dad takes another casual bite of toast. I wrap my arms around myself in distress. The poor Omega is trapped with the Hades. That must be real hell. Dad gives a slow smile. “The other mafia families are going to be fucking furious that they didn’t have the knots to pluck that little rose before I did. I’m going to make a dramatic performance of Laurent’s debut.”
Alphahole.
Dad says debut like he’s politely introducing Laurent at an elite bonding ball and not as a prize at a cage fight.
I shudder.
Why does Dad call Laurent little rose ?
My brother coughs, rapping his fingers on the table.
I glance at him surprised.
It’s not like Lionzio to draw attention from Dad deliberately.
Lionzio nods at the files. “Are they the reason that you summoned us here together this morning? Or is this about something else?”
Dad quirks his brow.
He drops the toast, carefully wiping his hands on a napkin to drag out the suspense of the moment.
Then he fans out the files in one quick move.
He’s ever the showman.
I peer at the files, at the same time as my brother and sister eagerly lean forward.
The files are gray but have a label in the righthand corners with each of our names on them.
Dad’s lips quirk.
He knows that he’s hooked us.
He’s good at knocking us down and then drawing us back in again with his manipulations.
“They’re about each of you,” Dad says.
“You’re investigating us…?” Allegra rests her trembling hand on the top of the table.
For the first time, she looks scared.
What’s she hiding?
Does she have more secrets than her late night trips to the enemy Hades estate?
Is she plotting something with Vinnie?
“Don’t worry, giomia mia, I know all about how close to Vinnie you are,” Dad soothes. “I’m not angry.”
Allegra looks like she’s about to hurl.
I reach across the table to rest my hand over hers in comfort.
She snatches her own hand back, however, wrinkling her nose.
I don’t miss that she’s shaking badly.
“Why wouldn’t a good Omega like you want to bond with such a powerful Alpha? I guess that Vinnie reminds you of your papi, right? They do say that the best Omegas look for Alphas who are as strong as their fathers. And there aren’t many of those.” When Dad’s too knowing gaze settles on me, I try not to show how sickened I am.
I’ve been searching for an Alpha who is the opposite of my dad.
Feral is physically stronger than Dad but more importantly, emotionally stronger as well.
The rest of the pack treat Feral like he’s a broken idiot.
Well, apart from River and Lionzio.
They have always treated Feral like he’s any other Alpha and never spoken down to him, despite his feral nature.
Feral is the type of Alpha who uses his strength to build an Omega up, rather than tear them down.
I cherish him, as much as he cherishes me.
He makes older Traditional men like Dad and Vinnie look like tantrum throwing toddlers.
“Why are you smirking?” Dad demands.
Shit, am I?
I shouldn’t be imagining Dad as a red-faced, foot stamping toddler.
Still, funny.
I wet my lips. “I’m just pleased for my sister that she’s found her happily ever after with Mr. Hades.”
I hope that sounded sincere.
By the way Lionzio is rolling his eyes, I bet that it didn’t.
Dad snorts. “You could have found your HEA, if you haven’t ripped up the beautiful nest that Vinnie built you. Look how smart your sister is at choosing her mate. You rejected the most eligible bachelor in the Underworld. You could have become Vinnie’s fighting partner, as well as his Omega. Then you’d both have fought for me. But I’m not the type of Alpha who will force my children into bonds.”
I work hard not to copy Dad and snort.
He forces the other Omegas and Betas in the Underworld into bonds every week.
Yet he’s all about not losing face and status. He can’t have it look like his own family works that way.
The Battles are above everybody else.
Yet there’s something lurking in his eyes that makes me stiffen.
He doesn’t need to force us in order to manipulate us into obeying him. Just look at Lionzio. He’s been used that way his entire life.
Feral has literally been raised in a cage, and I’ve willingly lived in it right alongside him for the last three years.
I walked in without a gun being held to my head, but was it really willingly ?
I believed that I was breaking free by rejecting Vinnie’s bond and deciding to train as a fighter instead.
Did I escape the net, only to fly into a cage that Dad had set up for me all along?
Uncomfortable, I shift in my seat.
“I don’t understand.” When Lionzio pushes his plate back, before running his hand through his hair with a jerky movement, I realize with shock that he’s shaking now with anger, rather than nerves. “I thought that the announcement you wanted to tell us was—”
“Yes?” Dad asks, dangerously softly. “Are you going to tell me what I was going to say? Surely a dog wouldn’t dare to know the thoughts of its master.”
I expect Lionzio to back down.
Instead, he pushes himself out of his chair, which topples backwards. “We’ve talked about this. You’ve promised . The Betas know. The Alphas in the other fucking packs have been gossiping. It merely has to be publicly announced.”
Dad glowers.
My breathing picks up. Adrenaline rushes through me.
My fingers twitch toward the gun that’s lying on the table.
Can I reach it before Dad does?
“Don’t even think about it, Harley,” Dad says without turning his head toward me. I jump. How does he read my mind like that? He never looks away from Lionzio. “Sit down.”
Lionzio doesn’t.
Instead, he puffs out his chest in a direct challenge. “Announcing me as heir. Isn’t that why we’re here this morning? Surely, it’s time to settle the succession.”
“Why do you think that I’d choose a soft Alpha like you as my heir?” Dad’s eyes flash. “You don’t keep your ward in line. You give your jacket to a Second Omega. And this file is filled with your unauthorized visits to your foster brother, including the food, presents, and extra blankets that you’ve smuggled to him over the years. I’ve been monitoring you. Strange that you’d take a discussion as a promise.”
Lionzio’s hands ball into fists.
He opens his mouth but then closes it again.
He looks devastated.
His life, future, and reality has just been torn down.
I fucking hate Dad.
Lionzio has dedicated himself to this pack from the moment that he was forcibly adopted.
Yet even he isn’t safe from this asshole narcissist.
Why has Dad done this? To control all of us?
Does he not want to make any of us his heir?
I remember my first sight of Lionzio.
I’d been furious and still grieving Mom. Only five years old, I ran into the guest bedroom and found a strange Alpha who looked a couple of years older than me huddled on the bed. His arms were locked tightly around his knees, and his face was hidden against them.
I didn’t understand why his shoulders were shaking.
He didn’t have a suitcase or any toys. Only a too thin t-shirt and shorts.
“Go away,” I yelled. I didn’t want anyone else in my pack. My sister’s birth had led to Mom’s bond being broken and her death. I couldn’t bear any more bewildering change and strange Alphas. “You’re not my brother.”
A sob.
Then the boy raised his head, and I saw the bruise on his tear stained cheek.
Instantly, I regretted my words.
When I climbed onto the bed, he flinched.
I began to instinctively purr.
I clasped my arms around the boy, hugging him and allowing him to silently cry against my neck.
“I’m Harley,” I whispered, clasping him tighter in case he was taken away from me as well. “I’m sorry. Will you be my brother?”
“Lionzio,” the boy replied, quietly. “If you’ll be my sister and don’t abandon me.”
And I haven’t.
Yet Dad has used Lionzio all these years for cruel games.
If I escape here, I’m taking my brother with me.
My eyes are wet with tears.
“Lion,” I murmur.
But Lionzio isn’t looking at me. You can only push an Alpha so far.
“You did promise,” Lionzio says, icily. “If you take it back now, you’ll be publicly humiliating me. I won’t be respected again. I guess you enjoy jerking me around like this. You can’t bear for anyone to challenge your position. I guess that I’ve become a little bit too efficient in my role. A little bit too loved by this pack, huh? Are you feeling threatened, Dad?”
Shit.
“Dearest brother, shut up,” Allegra hisses.
I throw myself forward, trying to reach for the gun, but Dad is faster. He scoops it up but doesn’t use it.
Instead, he leaps out of his seat and with his years of fighting experience, grabs Lionzio by the wrist and twists it behind his back. In the same move, he slams Lionzio face first into the table with a clatter of plates.
Lionzio howls, as Dad twists his wrist hard enough that I worry it’ll fracture.
Lionzio’s wrist is already weakened by all the times that Dad has done this move on Lionzio over the years. Lionzio has to wrap it occasionally because of the pain that it gives him.
I jump up as well.
I’m trained now. I’m not going to watch this happen.
“Stay where you are,” Dad threatens, grinding Lionzio’s injured wrist, “or I’ll break it.”
Taking a deep breath, I stand still.
I’m trembling with my desperation to stop Dad.
Omegas are meant to stay out of Alpha business like Allegra pretends to.
But I’m not most Omegas.
When Lionzio gasps in pain, biting back a shuddering sob as Dad puts on pressure, Dad looks even more enraged, leaning more closely over his back.
“Keep quiet,” Dad growls. “Battles don’t cry. Haven’t you learned this lesson yet? Or are you a crybaby because you’re not our blood?”
“Is that why you’re not making me heir?” Lionzio retorts. “Because I’m adopted?”
I wince.
Say no.
“Did I say that I wasn’t naming you as heir?” Dad glances around at the three of us. He appears satisfied with our confusion. “Those files are for me to help to assess who to choose. Competition makes everybody stronger. So, I called you three here to announce an Heir Contest.”
My eyes widen.
Do I truly have a chance to be named as Heir to the Underworld and this mafia empire, even as a Second Omega?
It would make my place in the pack more stable. I’d have a higher status than Allegra.
I’d finally be able to scheme a way to save everybody.
I try not to look too eager, but Allegra doesn’t bother.
She claps her hands. “Papi, that’s amazing. How do I win?”
“You haven’t won yet,” I bite back.
When Lionzio painfully raises his head to meet my gaze, I die inside at how betrayed he looks.
Yet this is my chance. I need to take it.
On the other hand, Dad is deliberately dividing and setting us against each other.
He’s turning us into rivals.
My heart sinks.
This is his game.
Lionzio’s gaze hardens, before he deliberately looks away from me.
“You all have three days to impress me.” Dad caresses Lionzio’s hair like he isn’t still crushing his wrist. “Don’t you dream of bending that sunny Italian Beta over and rutting him? I see how you look at your ward. Whoever I choose to win the Heir Contest will be allowed to choose a pack of their own. Then you can bond that little Beta bitch.”
Lionzio wildly twists in Dad’s grip. “Are you going to take back this promise as well? Or do you mean it?”
My heart is in my throat.
I can tell by Lionzio’s hopeful expression that he does want River.
He’s going to do everything to behave well and earn him.
Dad doesn’t force his own kids into bonds but he’ll force whoever we choose into them.
Including River .
How the hell can I convince Dad that I would make a better heir than the Alpha who has been brought up and trained for the position?
Is this whole thing nothing but a charade like this humiliation over breakfast? Simply a way for Dad to show my brother his place and how much he can still be controlled, before he hands him the position of heir to his criminal empire?
Allegra tosses her hair. “Papi, you know that I will make the perfect heir alongside a bonded pack with Vinnie.”
“Hmm.” Dad raises his eyebrow at me. “What about you, Harley? I would let you choose an Alpha, Beta, fuck it, a male Omega. You can have an entire pack with you, the first ever Omega mafia heir, at its head. It’d be a fucking sensation through the Underworld.”
My brother’s wounded gaze meets mine.
My sister scrutinizes me with a ruthless expression.
They’re both going to fight for this.
Dad has transformed us into enemies in a single move.
I square my shoulders. “You trust me to win for you in the cage. I’ll prove how strong I am. I can do this. You won’t regret choosing me as your heir.”
I have three days to prove that true.
This contest is everything.