Chapter 26 Casey
Casey
The car pulls up, and I recognise it by sound.
For one second, I allow myself to feel pure panic, and then I shove it deep down inside me and spring up from the couch, throwing myself across the room.
I grab the menthol spray and spray it everywhere, then I scramble, doing up my shirt and leaping towards the hallway.
I throw a hand out at the two men following me.
“Please stop. I need everyone to stay in the bedrooms. Please. I’ll explain later.”
Riot’s eyes darken, and he takes a step. “Who just arrived?”
“Please. Just this once, can you listen to me?” I beg, I plead, but this confrontation could go a couple of ways, and I might be able to buy us some time if they just stay in the bedroom.
“No matter what you hear, don’t come out,” I whisper.
Wrath pauses, looking me up and down. I can see him thinking intently, weighing his options, and then he turns abruptly and goes back into the bedroom. The others take their cue from him and follow him.
I glance around. It's tidy enough. No one would know there are five shifters in the other room.
I open the door a moment after my father knocks. He barges in, shoving me up against the wall.
Not a good start.
“Sit down on the couch,” he barks at me.
I obey like his order doesn’t grate on my last nerve. My legs are stiff as I move so I’m sitting on the couch, legs together, hands on my knees, and my eyes fixed on the floor.
He paces, letting the tension build and then some.
“Now, I’ve been hearing some things in town.”
I heave a sigh and then have to bite back a growl when my stepmother and two half sisters come in, followed by Cindel’s bodyguard slash fuck friend, Preston.
He’s a whiny little bitch who thinks the only way to achieve greatness is to sleep your way to the top.
If my father swung that way, he would be warming my father’s bed, not Cindel’s.
Preston’s got grey hair, but looks young and pretty rather than handsome, but he’s meaner than a snake.
My stepmother stands next to my father and taps her foot.
She is the pure picture of Cindel, but older.
And she hates me. I get it; my father fucked around on her and knocked up the help and the pack’s disgusting omega wolf.
It cost my stepmother her place in the pack.
The shame of it is something she’s never forgiven, and she’s taught her daughter where to hate, too.
“Look at me,” she spits out, clearly wishing she didn’t have to speak to me directly at all.
I lift my head obediently. She’s gloriously naturally blonde, small and petite, but her face is sharper in a way her daughters isn’t. Alora isn’t a beauty. She’s too mean.
“You have disgraced our pack. These lies about you being an omega wolf have got to stop.”
“I went on a date. That’s all I did. I don’t know what you’re talking about-”
My father’s hand cracks across my face.
I transfer my glare to him. “Why are you hitting me?” I ask my father, cupping my cheek where it’s turned numb.
His eyes widen and then narrow, but I think I see fear there.
“You will not go on any more dates. The pack has decided who you will breed with. Jonas is waiting for you. This nonsense of a wolf suddenly coming to you will stop.”
I bark a hysterical laugh. “I’m not breeding with the pack.”
“Oh, yes you are,” Cindel sneers at me. She imitates her mother, copying the pose almost exactly. Ellen, on the other hand, hangs back, yawning. She looks nervous.
Not a good sign.
“I will die first.”
“I can arrange that, you useless bitch!” My father roars.
There’s a warning growl as my father’s hand lifts again, and I see my five wolves appear from every corner. They stalk towards my family, who gather in a tight group.
No! No! I begged them. I told them not to.
“What is this? You’re consorting with another pack? Have you whored yourself out to them?”
I shake my head, ignoring my father’s drivel.
Cindel whimpers as Angel fixes her with a stare that promises death.
I study my wolves intently, wishing they hadn’t been so stupid, but it’s done now. I have to roll with it.
I stand up, embracing who I am. “Father. Do you know what I am?” I smile.
The fear flashes in his eyes again. “No, you aren’t. We tested you.”
I smile and let the wolf come to the surface. “I am my mother’s daughter.”
He wheezes and recoils, protecting his flabby belly as he jumps away from Wrath’s wild snap.
“I’m not mating in your pack. There is not a single wolf in there that I couldn’t chew up and spit out. So, let’s strike a bargain. I will stay up here. If I take a mate, we will stay up here. I won’t come down and shred your pack, and you will all leave me alone.”
Cindel snarls. “You’ll be punished for this. We won’t allow this.”
“Hush!” my father barks, but he’s not Cindel’s alpha, and the command rolls over Cindel with no power.
No, Jonas is the problem. I have no idea why he hasn’t killed my father and taken over yet.
They rush out of my house. I walk outside and over to their car, tearing through the metal with my claws.
Cindel shrieks, her anger overcoming her. She shifts, revealing a blonde wolf. I look at my father and let him see just how happy she’s made me and shift.
The truth about omega wolves is we are uncontrollable, insatiable, reckless, dangerous, loyal, fierce. We don’t answer to alphas. We’re stronger, faster, and more in touch with our wolves. I remember everything my mother ever taught me.
So, I lower my head, allowing my wolf and I to blend seamlessly, and then I stare at my father.
“You’re a monster,” he whispers.
I lift my lips, baring my teeth.
His face drains of colour so fast I think he might faint. He grabs his alpha mate and their daughters and bundles them into the car. I turn to watch them leaving until I relax and shake out my fur.
Only then do I turn to face the temptation that fate has thrown my way. Wrath walks forward with no caution, no fear, touching his nose to my neck.
I feel it in the air now, the electricity, the sparks. I can see the rainbow hue around each of them.
No.
No, that’s not fair.
Oh, god, that’s really, really not fair.
Angel walks on his toes, pausing, his eyes intent. Riot and Hazard seem happy, but Khaos stands stock still. His devastation matches my own.
Our eyes meet across the distance, and he lowers his head, almost like he’s defeated. I know how he feels.
I change back, and he does, too.
We stare at each other.
“You’re our fated mate,” he whispers.
I can feel the tentative bond hanging in the air. We’ll have twelve months to seal our union. The bonds will stay like this until we embrace them or reject them. One chance. No one ever gets another.
“Yes,” I whisper and look away.
I stand before him, waiting to see his reaction, when he turns away and sits down on my porch with his head in his hands, my heart does this strange, painful tear.
“So, it’s our fated love or freedom?” He laughs softly, bitterly, and I wish I could fix it for him.
I sit on the grass, my legs feeling wobbly. I don’t trust them to keep me upright.
Wrath wraps his arms around me from behind and sniffs at my neck. “Did your father slap you? Shall I eat him?”
I snicker. “No. You’ll get worms.”
Wrath licks my neck, and goosebumps break out across my skin.
“This is mine,” Wrath growls.
“Ours,” Angel snaps, his eyes glinting as he creeps closer and crouches in front of me, really staring at me.
He is so beautiful. The connection between us that was once one of hatred and suspicion is filled with affection, awe, and respect. I understand Angel in a way I don’t think the others ever will. He has to come to me, and he’s here, approaching. Claiming.
He breaks my heart.
Wrath’s hands tighten, and I tap them lightly. He releases me, and I walk over to kneel before Khaos.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know either.”
He lifts his head; his face just appears exhausted. “Casey.”
That’s all he says, just my name. I shift forward and put a hand on his knee; he wraps his own over the top and squeezes.
Fuck. I blink away tears and take a moment to swallow hard.
“Who’s next on the list?” I whisper.
Khaos looks at me with such sadness. “Brian. His name is Brian.”
The others have stiffened behind me. Tension that crashes their little fantasy into a million pieces.
I stand up and turn to stare at the others. “You can’t really be fated mates to someone if you’re in literal chains to them.”
“I could,” Wrath snaps.
“No, you couldn’t. Because there will always be a worry, a niggling concern wondering when I will use these chains to break you. The power discrepancy between us would be wrong. No one can start an honest relationship like that.”
“So, what do you want to do, reject us?” The horror in his voice makes me ache for them.
I heave a sigh and look skyward. “No,” I say honestly. “That’s not what I want, but I also know any permanent thing between us is impossible while I wear this.” I hold up the cuff. “We have a year. Let’s go ahead with the plan.”
“You want us to watch our fated mate fall in love with someone else?” Hazard shouts at me.
He’s furious, more furious than the others.
“You are a once in a lifetime, and you want to throw it away?” Hazard roars. “What is wrong with you two?”
I wince. “Hazard, I’m sorry-”
He throws his hand up and spins, shifting, and vanishes into the trees. Angel follows him.
“What exactly do I need? Love or just a mate? A companion or family? Can you clarify that or do you just have a general feeling?”
Khaos stands up behind me and circles me so we’re standing shoulder to shoulder, watching the spot where the twins vanished. “I don’t know; it keeps shifting.”
“So let’s play it by ear. We have some time. Let’s see if we can find some way of getting this thing off.”
Riot walks up to me and grabs me by the shoulders. His eyes are blazing. “I’m not going to help you fall in love with someone else.”
I glare up at him. “Then you won’t ever be free.”
“I don’t care.”
“You say that now.”
“I won’t ever care.”