Chapter 12 #2
"Now, Jack and Sara, you may have guessed that there is another reason that Bianca and I wanted to have you and your lovely family over," he began.
Knox had a mega-scowl on his face, and Mason and Lissa looked…
nervous? "We wanted to let you both know, and Mave, of course, that we are aware of the situation between Knox and Mave.
We believe that the way things have transpired so far has been…
unfortunate, but we wanted to assure you that we take a Moon-chosen fated mate bond as a serious matter. "
Dad and Mom both kept calm, easy expressions on their faces. They were ready for this, and so was I.
"I think, Alpha, that unfortunate is not quite the right word for how things have transpired," Dad said steadily.
"Your son did not seem to think the fated mating was worth considering even for a few minutes, and he then humiliated Mave in front of every shifter student in the Academy.
I do not believe there has been an apology or any attempt to treat this as a serious matter on his part. "
"Yes, well," the Alpha said quickly, "You must understand that Knox has been raised all of these years with the understanding that his eventual mating would be to a powerful and perhaps even politically connected female.
It was my marriage to Bianca, after all, that paved the way for the consolidation of the East Texas Pack into ours.
" He gave his wife a little pat on the arm.
"Knox only thought he was doing what was right for the Pack.
" He nodded at his son, who was refusing to look anywhere but at the wall over his mother’s shoulder.
"But that is of course why we thought a little get-together would be beneficial," he continued.
"We just wanted to assuage any fears you or Mave may have that she would not be considered as Knox’s mate when he decides to take one.
She is most certainly still in the running.
" He tossed me a patronizing smile. I gave him a bored stare right back.
Dad, my hero, just smiled at him. "Oh no, don’t you worry, Alpha," he said, then he glanced at the Ice Man.
"Or you Knox. I can only imagine how stressful this week must have been for you, with the future of the Pack always on your shoulders. Take heart—Sara and I understand why you made the decision to reject the mating. Mave most certainly does, as well. We are omega pack members, after all, and surely the Alpha’s son requires a more politically advantageous match. "
The Alpha’s smile slipped a bit after that, and poor Bianca looked very confused.
"Oh, but… you’re not saying Mave doesn’t want to be Knox’s mate, are you?
" she asked, looking between Dad and Mom.
Then she turned to me. "Honey, I know you must have had a confusing week at school…
but Knoxy would really like to get to know you better.
You would be so lucky to have him as a mate; any female would.
" She smiled at him then the way only a mother could.
Nikka’s parents continued to just look at me like I was dirt under their shoes. Any competition for their daughter, no matter how lowly they thought I was, was bad news to them.
I sighed, and Ben squeezed my hand. It was time for me to speak for myself.
"Mrs. Monroe, I did have a very rough first week of school, so thank you for your concern," I began, giving her a little smile. She wasn’t really the bad guy here, and she seemed pretty clueless—just a mother who thought the sun shined out of her son’s ass.
"But I will just echo what my dad said. You do not need to worry about me.
I have assured your son that his message was received loud and clear, both at the public rejection and by him sticking his tongue down the throat of another female in front of me every chance he had. "
Ben and my mom both laugh-coughed. Naomi, though, smiled for the first time tonight.
"See, Alpha? I told you this was a waste of time," Angelo said irritably. "Knox already has a perfect match in Nikka. I understand that we all want to take a Moon-blessed fated mating with the utmost seriousness, but sometimes the Moon can miss the mark, don’t you think?"
Oh okay, you dick.
Before I could bite out a retort, Knox finally decided to join the party.
"Dad, I still don’t understand why you are pressuring us about this?
" he said, arms crossed in his usual power pose and glaring daggers at his father. "Nikka is the most powerful female wolf in my age group in the Pack, and I haven’t even met the Mississippi Pack Alpha’s daughter yet.
There are plenty of other choices that make sense for me and plenty of time to make them.
This is just embarrassing." He huffed and took a drink of whatever dark liquor he was swirling in his glass.
"Son," the Alpha said sternly, "It would not be wise to ignore a fated mate pairing without some serious consideration.
And Mave"—he looked up at me and frowned—"my son is an extremely powerful wolf and born leader of this pack.
You should be honored to be considered as a mate for him, and you would be in prestigious company. "
"I have to respectfully disagree, sir," I replied. "After all, I know for a fact that he’s had his dick in at least two different females this week alone, all while he’s supposedly dating Nikka. It’s a fated mate bond superpower, in case you didn’t know.
That may be some other lucky girl’s dream man, but I am going to have to decline. Respectfully."
That got me a hard glare from Man Bun and a shocked look from Lissa.
I realized that I was the one stooping lower by being crass while the Alpha was still at least pretending to be polite, but I was done listening to everyone tell me how lucky I’d be if the Great and Powerful Knox were to choose little old me as a mate, with zero consideration to just how fucking lucky he would be if I ever deigned to look at him in a manner that was not purely in disgust.
"See, Alpha!" Naomi screeched (geez like mother, like daughter), banging her fist on the table.
"You cannot seriously be entertaining this classless nobody as a mate for your son!
Our Nikka is the right choice and everyone in this pack knows it.
" She sneered at me, and I just smiled at her, because who the fuck cared.
"Okay, okay… um, maybe we should just adjourn dinner for now?" Poor Bianca looked distraught. "Tempers can cool, and we can reconvene maybe after I give our guests a tour of the main level of the house?"
Everyone pushed back in their chairs almost at once, eager to escape this pressure cooker of building tension. Mason dragged Knox off somewhere while Lissa, Angelo, and their partners headed to the bar cart to pour more drinks and confer, I assumed.
My family members dutifully followed Bianca out of the dining room and into a huge modern kitchen. Some staff members lingered there, washing dishes.
"Mrs. Monroe, can you please point me to the restroom?" I asked her. I’d stayed off the booze at dinner but had downed like three glasses of lemonade, and I was about to burst.
"Sure, honey," she said, subdued, and she pointed me down a long hall off to the right of the kitchen entrance.
I wandered down the hall and found a small powder room.
After I’d done my business and opened the door, I felt a large hand grasp my bicep and pull me in the opposite direction from the kitchen.
I jerked my arm away as quickly as it had been grabbed, but before I delivered a punch to the face of whoever had manhandled me, I abruptly stopped myself.
It would not be a good look to punch the Alpha in the face, even if he did grab me first.
"Calm down, little girl," he said, his voice low and menacing. "I just need a quick word with you."
In self-preservation mode, and feeling like ninety-percent certain he wouldn’t physically harm me while my parents and brother were in the house, I followed him a few short steps into what must be his office.
Bookshelves lined the left wall surrounding a large fireplace.
A family portrait hung above the mantle, and a substantial dark stained desk sat in the middle of the room.
The Alpha did not invite me to sit; he just leaned against the front of his desk and stared me down, arms crossed in Knox’s power pose.
He looked furious, which I was not excited about at all.
"I’m not sure what the fuck you think you’re playing at," he began. "You think you can just ignore the bond? That you’ll just go on your merry little way and never have to see my son again? That you’ll even want to do that?"
"Obviously I think that, yes," I said. "Get to the point, please, sir. Your time is valuable and certainly you don’t want to be spending more of it with me than you have to."
"First thing you’ve said that I agree with; maybe you’re not a stupid bitch after all," he said, sneering at me.
Well, at least now I knew what kind of asshole I was really dealing with.
He continued, "I’ll level with you since we both know the truth of the situation.
You and Knox were probably matched by the Moon because you’re two wolves from Alpha lines.
You know as well as I do that you and he would be an excellent match that would result in strong, powerful offspring to carry on the Monroe name and the Alpha mantle for this pack. "
Of course I knew that Knox and I were probably a power match, as did my whole family.
The question was, if this was so important to him, why not just tell his son?
I could sense a threat coming, because it seemed to me like the Alpha was still going to try to hold all of the cards—he wanted to wrangle a fated mate match for his son but still keep secret the fact that my dad was a powerful Alpha Heir lurking in his pack.
"But I suppose you are not going to let Knox in on that little tidbit of information?" I asked pointedly.