“Your parents don’t know that,” I said, cocking my head to one side.
Mason’s expression of outrage gave way to something else—intrigue.
“And another thing. I gotta ask you this…. Do you think your parents are evil?”
His eyes widened and he gaped at me. “Of course I don’t!”
“Do you think they arranged this marriage out of duty? That there was no malice intended?”
He drew in a deep breath. “I believe they genuinely think they’re helping the… the community survive.”
“Do they have any idea how much you hate this guy?”
He shook his head, and I breathed a little easier.
“Okay, then. If we announce a fake engagement, I’ve just given you a couple reasons why this might work. Mason, theycareabout you. I don’t believe they’d want you to go into a loveless match. So if you tell them how you really feel, then how you’ve felt about me for years….”
Mason
My head was spinning.
“You mean, if they think this is about my happiness instead of just rebellion, maybe they’ll listen?”
Even if the odds were low, it had to be worth trying.
Kip nodded. “Look, right now it might sound as though my brain is doing some frantic logic gymnastics, but try to keep up, okay?” Another breath. “If your family—and your community—is really this deep into arranged-marriage old-world traditions, then maybe old promises count too. Maybe you claiminganothercommitment blows this whole thing sky high.” He grasped my hand. “I know, I know, it’s an insane idea, but it’s better than letting you be miserable.” His voice softened. “If you tell them we made a promise—anykind of promise—years before they set this up…they’ll have to take it seriously. They won’t want to break their own rules.”
I opened my mouth slowly, aware of what was flickering in my chest. Only a small flame, but it was there.
Hope.
I let my thoughts follow the path Kip had laid down, even though he didn’t have all the facts right.
Kip is a human.
Humans don’t have standing in wolf politics.
Humans aren’t bound by pack rules.
Humans can’t form werewolf-style mating pacts.
And where did that lead me?
I’ll claim I made a promise to Kip—a human—and that will force my parents to pause everything because they don’t evenhaverules to cover this.
Then cold logic took hold.
I shook my head. “No. No. They’d never buy it. Much as I appreciate the offer, this isn’t gonna work. My parents, Jerome…. They’d see right through it.” I swallowed hard. “But dude…Thanks. I mean, you really sounded as if you’d do all that. For me.”
Kip’s face glowed. “To save you from a fucking miserable life? I’d do anything.” A heavy sigh rolled out of him. “You’re right, though. They wouldn’t buy it. And it was a hare-brained scheme.”
“The most hare-brainedest,” I confirmed with a grin.
That brief flare of hope flickered out of existence.
Unless I came up with an absolutely foolproof plan, I’d be marrying Jerome right after graduation.
My life already sucked.
