Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
VIDAR
Istood at the entrance of the formal dining room, my hand hovering just behind the small of Addie’s back. The tension radiating off her was a jagged current that made my wolf bristle in response. She was hostile. Which was fine. As long as none of that hostility was a threat to my family.
Gunnar was fine. She likely improved his nose with that hook. I'd done worse, having been the first person to break it.
My brothers had gone ahead to the dining room where my dad sat at the head of the table.
Addie and I entered last, effectively boxing her in.
It was habit more than anything, this formation.
Magnus, Gunnar and I had spent our lives building a fortress around our family, ensuring that no shadow could touch us, no debt could weaken us.
If this woman—this brilliant, volatile creature I’d just bought—proved to be a structural flaw in that fortress, I would eliminate her.
My wolf let out a low, internal snarl at the thought, a visceral rejection of the idea of hurting her. I shoved the feeling down. She wasn't family. She was a Vane. The only thing you could ever truly trust was blood. History had proven that fact. That was the only way we survived.
"Dad," came an unseen feminine voice, "move the phone away from your ear. It’s a video call."
Magnus stepped forward, a ghost of a smile on his lips. He reached over our father’s shoulder and gently took the cellphone, holding it at the proper angle.
Fenrir’s face transformed instantly. The hard lines of the Alpha softened, his eyes lighting up with a raw, uncomplicated adoration that he saved only for his daughter. "There she is. There’s my girl. Are you eating enough? You look thin. Your mother will write a letter to the Dean."
"Please don't," Astrid groaned. "I had a big dinner last night."
"Dinner with whom?" Magnus peered into the phone.
"Oh my god," Astrid rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "And you wonder why I wanted to go to school out of state."
Gunnar leaned over the table, still nursing his reddening jaw, but his eyes were bright with mischief. "Just make sure you're not letting any of those Harvard boys sniff too close. I haven't had a good fight in weeks."
His gaze flashed to Addie, who was watching the scene intently.
"You're all exhausting," Astrid sighed, but then her gaze shifted. "Wait. Is that her?"
Magnus turned the phone toward us. I felt myself stiffen, my shoulders squaring. Beside me, Addie went perfectly still, her chin lifting in that defiant tilt I was beginning to recognize.
Astrid went quiet, her eyes narrowing as she performed a slow, clinical sweep of Addie.
She looked her over with the discerning eye of a woman who had grown up surrounded by the best of everything.
I felt a sudden, sharp spike of protectiveness; a territorial growl that vibrated in my marrow.
I didn't want my sister judging my bride.
I didn't want anyone looking at her but me.
"Well," Astrid said finally, a smirk playing on her lips. "Mom did you right, Vido. She’s gorgeous."
"She also has a brain that got her a full ride to Yale." I wasn't usually one for bragging, but I suddenly wanted my baby sister to approve.
"How cute. That was my safety school."
Magnus winced. Gunnar smirked.
"I chose Yale because I prefer an education that values actual brilliance and a color palette that doesn't look like a dried scab."
"It’s called Crimson, darling. It represents the blood of our enemies."
"Enough," I grumbled, though my wolf was practically purring at the fire Addie was throwing. Her eyes sparked when she was challenged. My baby sister was an Alpha princess. She wasn't used to being challenged. "Addie, stop antagonizing the child."
"I'm nineteen, Vido, not a child."
"Vidar, stop antagonizing your baby sister," Fenrir said, but his eyes were on Addie.
I couldn't read that look. I wasn't sure if it was approval? Or a death sentence for attacking his little princess. At least Addie had the brains to lower her gaze in the face of an Alpha.
"Magnus, put the phone back on me. Ah, there she is. Study hard, Astrid. I'm proud of you. Daddy's so proud of you."
"I'm doing my best, Dad."
"Any boy gets too close, I will rip his legs off."
"Of course, you will. Hey, new sister. Don't let Vidar bore you to death. His idea of fun is a well-organized spreadsheet. Love you guys."
There was a chorus of love you, too's before the screen went black.
The room fell into a heavy, expectant silence. Fenrir set the phone face down on the table and slowly rose to his feet. He was a silver-backed mountain; the weight of decades of leadership carved into the set of his jaw. He turned his full attention toward us, his gaze landing on Addie again.
My father was assessing her, peeling back the layers of her corporate armor to see the wolf underneath. I stood slightly in front of Addie, a half-step of defiance I hadn't consciously planned.
Just like the night of her brother's interrogation, Magnus stood at Fenrir’s right hand, the loyal heir in his proper place.
The space on my father’s left—my space—sat empty.
I was out of position, anchored to the girl instead of the throne.
To the side, Gunnar lingered in the shadows, close enough to strike Addie if our father gave the slightest nod.
If the Alpha had given the order, I would have had to stand down. I would have to let it happen. My wolf surged at the thought, the phantom sensation of claws poking at the padding of my fingertips, begging for a reason to snap at my own blood to protect what was mine.
Fenrir finally moved, extending a hand that looked large enough to crush her skull. "Adolpha Vane."
Addie placed her hand in his, her voice ringing out clearly in the vaulted room. "I go by Addie O’Shea."
My father didn’t let go. His grip was a vice; his eyes bored into hers. "You discard your father’s name so easily?"
"My mother was my Alpha; Elisia O’Shea was the strongest woman I’ve ever known. I choose to honor her memory."
Fenrir remained motionless, still holding her hand.
He was sensing her pulse through the thin skin of her wrist, looking for the telltale spike of a lie or the frantic rhythm of a coward.
My own wolf, tuned to her frequency, felt the truth.
Her heart rate was elevated—racing with the adrenaline of the confrontation—but it remained steady.
Like a soldier under fire. There was no deception here.
Magnus and Gunnar remained still as statues, waiting for the verdict. One word from Fenrir, and the Great Hall would become a slaughterhouse.
"What in the world are you all doing in here?"
My mother poked her head into the room. She looked at the formal table, already laid out with heavy silver and fine china as if we were receiving a head of state, and sighed.
"This is a family dinner. Everything is ready in the kitchen. Move."
The spell broke. Magnus and Gunnar abandoned their posts, the predatory tension vanishing as they headed toward the back of the house. Fenrir released Addie’s hand. Stepping toward me, he clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder.
I watched as my mother walked toward her. Mei-Ling didn't look for a pulse or a weakness. She simply smiled, a warm, genuine expression that reached her eyes. She took Addie’s hands in hers.
"I’m Mei-Ling," she said, her voice a welcome contrast to the gravel of the men in this house. "I'm going to be your mother-in-law."
My father was Alpha. But in this house, my mother's word was law. That might as well have been the marriage contract signed right there. If Addie thought she might escape me, there was no way around my mother.
"Welcome to the family, Addie. Come, let’s eat before the soup gets cold. I have three courses planned. Apple pie is your favorite, yes?"
Addie glanced over her shoulder as my mother led her away with my father on the other side.
If she was expecting a rescue, she wouldn't get one from me.
She had been formally welcomed into the Blackwood Pack.
A welcome was one thing. Trust could be earned.
But she would never be blood. I needed to keep reminding myself of that fact, even as my blood boiled for hers.