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.”
