Chapter 10 Kady
TEN
Kady
“Oh my fucking god.” Sabs peers out of the window at Calder’s car. “Whose car is that?”
“I borrowed it.” I pace back-and-forth through the kitchen while Delilah’s electric whisk whirs. “I can’t believe the Blandon Pack spoke to the press. Have you seen what they said?”
For the third time, I scroll through the article, hands trembling with anger as I read.
Pack leader, Tyler Blandon, comments, “It’s a dream come true for Kadence to finally find a pack. It’s what she’s been searching for all these years, and we’re so happy it’s us she chose.”
“He’s unbelievable! Did you see the picture too? It was only supposed to be featured in The Valley Voice, so I’m guessing he forwarded the article to whichever reporter he spoke to.” I slam my phone down on the counter. “When I get my hands on him, I’ll castrate him!”
“That’d mean getting close to his sweaty slug.” Sabs wrinkles her nose. “Not to be advised.”
At my feet, Larry tries to get my attention by purring. I almost step on his tail, making him yowl.
“Oh, Larry. I’m sorry.” It’s too late. He shoots me a sassy look, turning up his snout-like nose before slouching out of the room. “Great. Now Larry’s mad at me.”
Delilah carefully slides her cupcakes to rest on the cooling rack. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but—”
“Don’t say I told you so,” I snarl. “I know you thought my whole fake pack idea was a terrible plan and that the Blandon Pack was bad news from the start.”
“Actually, I was thinking we should come up with a game plan.” She returns to check her icing, frowning before adding more sugar to it. “There must be something we can do to help control the narrative.”
“Sorry, Del.” I sigh. She’s the sweetest person in the world.
I should have known better than to think she’d take this opportunity to gloat.
“This whole thing is just…” I exhale in a huff.
“It’s not working out how I’d hoped. Having a fake pack was supposed to be easy.
I wanted it to help me live my normal life, but it’s only day two, and everything has turned upside down.
Then I met Calder at The Valley Voice office. He’s intolerable.”
“Have you eaten today?” Sabs asks. “I think you’re getting hangry. Plus, your pacing is making me dizzy.”
“Here.” Delilah passes me the bowl of thick buttercream and a spoon before leaning against the counter, looking at me. “Take a seat, then tell us what happened at a pace we can understand.”
I shovel a giant spoonful into my mouth. The vanilla sugary deliciousness exploding over my tongue reminds me of birthday cake. While it doesn’t make everything better, it actually does help.
“I’ll make another batch for the cupcakes.” Delilah gets out her scales and a fresh bowl. “That batch is all yours.”
I smile at her. “You’re the best.”
“Tell us about Calder.” Sabs hops up to sit on the kitchen counter, swinging her toned legs. “Anyone who made you this mad must be pretty significant.”
Delilah slaps Sabs’s hands away as she goes to dip her finger into my bowl of buttercream. “That’s for Kady! You already finished the banana bread.”
“But I’ve been at volleyball all morning,” Sabs groans, snatching up one of the unfrosted cupcakes as a compromise. Despite her night of partying, she never misses a day of practice. “A girl needs her sugar.”
Delilah rolls her eyes. “There’s still a slice of your favorite toffee cheesecake in the fridge from yesterday.”
“Yay!” Sabs throws herself at the fridge like she hasn’t eaten in weeks. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Every day,” Delilah chuckles. “But now that your stomach is happy, can we get back to Kady?”
“Sorry, Kady.” Sabs attacks the cheesecake with a fork. “I’m listening.”
“Calder is the new The Valley Voice editor,” I grumble. “And it’s his car parked outside.”
“It was nice that he let you borrow it,” Delilah says.
“Well, technically, he didn’t.”
Sabs splutters, almost choking on her truck-sized mouthful of dessert.
“Hold up.” Delilah keeps pouring the sugar while spinning to face me, causing it to continue sprinkling onto the countertop like falling snow. “You stole his car?”
“Who cares about the car?” Sabs wipes her mouth. “That editor job was as good as yours. I spoke to Leah last week, and she told me that she was recommending you. What happened?”
“Calder Soren happened.” I shovel in another spoonful. “He’s infuriating. The kind of alpha who’s had a charmed life and thinks he can buy anything he wants.”
“And how did his car end up in our driveway?” Delilah finally sets down the bag of sugar.
“When the news hit, he offered me a ride home, but he had an allergic reaction, so I told him I’d drive. Then I guess I just kept driving and might’ve sicced Margie on him.” I smirk. “The last time I saw him, he was staring into Margie’s Taser.”
Sabs cackles. “Karma’s a bitch.”
“Exactly.”
“You’re supposed to work together, right?” Delilah cocks a brow. “Shouldn’t you be trying to get along?”
“He’s a pompous ass! He’s impossible to get along with!
” And how dare he have the right to wear shirts that show off all his muscles?
“He walked into the office like he owned the place and expected me to roll over like a good little omega. Between him and the Blandon Pack, this may be the worst day ever.”
“If you’re at rock bottom, the only way is up!” Trust Sabs to look on the positive side. She glances at her phone then grimaces. “Faye messaged to say that Damon has been called in to work overtime because of the reporters. He recommends that you stay here until further notice.”
“Great.” I angrily chomp my way through the icing, knowing that I’m heading for a sugar coma and will crash soon. “So now I’m basically a prisoner in my own home too.”
My phone starts ringing. Delilah winces, seeing my father’s name on the screen. Of course, the universe is listening and wants to shit on me some more.
“How much worse can it get?” I mumble before answering.
Dad’s disapproving tone pierces my ears before I can even say hello. I imagine his forehead wrinkling with deep lines as he barks, “Do you realize what you’ve done? How could you go public about your pack without giving me any advance warning? PR is having an absolute field day!”
“In my defense, I thought the courtship was being announced solely in The Valley Voice.”
My excuse is feeble. Perhaps, in my haste to wriggle out of the arranged marriage, I didn’t properly consider the wider implications of proving my fake courtship. It was a sloppy mistake, and I don’t do mistakes. Period.
“You’re a Sinclair!” As if I need reminding.
“The papers are always going to pick up on stories about us. Haven’t I taught you anything?
And those comments your alphas are saying…
” After huffs in sheer exasperation, I hear a door open in the background before he roars, “Out!” I hold the phone away from my ear, almost deafened.
“I don’t care how in love you are. Any press releases come directly from my office! ”
“I know, but—”
“Do you realize how much of a mess you’ve caused? Lionel Oakwood—Timothy’s father—called. Can you imagine Timothy’s dismay when he found his future bride splashed all over the papers in the arms of another alpha before I told him the wedding was cancelled?”
“I did tell you I didn’t want to marry him.”
“Want, want, want! It’s all about wants with you! How many times do I have to tell you that what you want doesn’t matter? You need to think of the family!” This is the angriest I’ve ever heard him. “Because of your sheer stupidity, I have lost a major deal and the support of the Oakwoods.”
“Maybe if you actually spoke to me before trying to marry me off to a pack none of this would have happened,” I point out.
“Don’t turn this disaster around on me.” His voice is starting to sound raspy from yelling so loudly.
“You’ve had everything you’ve ever wanted, Kadence.
I’ve bought you everything you asked for.
You received the best education at the world’s top schools.
I even let you attend SVU to pursue your interests, which many fathers of omegas would not permit.
If I knew going to college would make you forget who you are, I wouldn’t have sent you at all! ”
“What would you have had me do instead? Stay at home, locked in a tower like a princess, popping out baby alphas as soon as I turned eighteen?” My entire body shakes from years of repressed rage and frustration.
I close my eyes for a few seconds, trying to find my inner calm—the spot in the middle of the storm brewing in my core.
I must rise above it. “Look, I agree that how the news was broken was not ideal, but all we can do now is move forward.”
“My PR team is already working on a statement,” he continues. “And they’re arranging a photoshoot for you and your pack later today. I’m not having my daughter’s official courting photos be in a filthy nightclub wearing ridiculous costumes!”
“That’s not necessary,” I insist. “We’d prefer to keep things low-key.”
“There is no such thing as low-key when you’re a Sinclair. We’re going to do this my way, or I’ll send Warren to bring you back to New York within the hour.”
A staunch silence stretches out. Sabs quietly eats her cheesecake and Delilah keeps stirring, pretending that they can’t hear what’s being said, but I can see the concern in their eyes… And pity.
“Fine,” I surrender. “I’ll do it.”
“In the meantime, my people will be reaching out to your pack and their families with NDAs. They need to fall in line and sign the papers, got it?”
“Of course.”
With Tyler, Kyro, and Shea acting like loose cannons, maybe my dad’s involvement isn’t such a bad idea.
“No more surprises, Kady. I mean it,” Dad hisses. “This mess will take me weeks to clean up. And one final thing, I contacted Dean Rivers to arrange for on-campus security to escort you to and from classes.”
“That’s ridiculous! I don’t need an escort!”