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 topschools. 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!”
“You have no choice,” he proclaims. “Someone from PR will send you a copy of your statement, and a car will arrive any minute to pick you up for the photoshoot.”
He hangs up abruptly, leaving me stunned into silence, staring down at the screen as a knot of dread furls in my stomach. This is so much worse than I expected.
Sabs shoots me a half-smile. “At least you’re not gonna be walking down the aisle, right?”
That’s what I wanted, isn’t it? I chew my lip and push away the bowl of buttercream as an icy chill washes over me.
“Are you sure you don’t want to call this thing off?” Delilah squeezes my shoulder. “Now that the wedding’s been cancelled, you could tell your dad the truth, or make up a story about breaking up with the Blandon Pack?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Dad would just contact the Oakwood Pack to make amends. More time needs to pass. If I have to do a few interviews and grit my teeth through a photoshoot, then that’s what I’ll do.”
I sense she wants to say more but nods grimly, dolloping a blob of buttercream onto the first cupcake so violently that it flies everywhere.
“It looks like your ride is here.” Sabs points at the window where we can see Margie in a high-vis vest flanked by two security guards escorting a slow driving limousine down the street.
Other students gather on their porches, still in their pajamas, ogling the scene.
“Do you want us to come with you?” Delilah offers.
“I’ll be fine.” I quickly slip on my ballet flats, knowing it doesn’t matter what I wear as there will be a team waiting to dress me when I arrive.
