One day, I’ll burn this place to the ground, if my vision is to be trusted.
I pray to the saints that it is, that I’ll cleanse myself and the world of this treacherous place. That it will be the first of many evils I topple to the fucking ground.
I press two fingers against the heel of my hand, wondering whose bite I’ll wear there. Will it be Luca’s or Ian’s? Saints, could it be Cassian’s?
Itwon’tbe the bite of an alpha of my father’s choosing. It won’t be Andrew Radcliff’s.
I promise myself that as I slip down the hallway to my father’s office.
My father looks up from his work at my knock and shows me in.
Anise scents the air and I look around sharply, but we’re the only two people in the room.
Saints, I’m jumping at nothing, just from being back in this house.
“You wanted to see me, Father?” I demure just as he expects me to, baring my neck to him as I take a seat across from him.
“Ah, yes. I wanted to let you know that one of your mating contracts has been bid on and I’ve accepted the solicitation. You’re to begin courting your new suitor this summer.”
“O-oh,” I stammer. “I thought I wasn’t to be mated until after I graduated.”
He looks up from a contract on his desk. “You won’t be. Your suitor has kindly offered to let you finish your studies before you mate.”
My heart skips a beat. Could… could Ian or Cassian have bid on one of my contracts? But no, my father never would have accepted their bids.
“Ah,” he says. “And here he is now. He was just walking the grounds waiting for you to arrive home. Daughter, I’m pleased to announce you’re to begin courting with—”
Cloying orange and anise precede the alpha into my father’s study and I sway.
Because the alpha striding into the study needs no introduction.
My father has just accepted a bid on my mating contract.
From Andrew Radcliffe.
