“We have a meeting with Wilder in two hours,” Patrick says, his campfire scent smelling more acrid than normal. “No backing out of this one. I need you with me. We have to make him understand what’s on the line.”
Dammit.
I wanted to check on Charlotte today, but that will have to wait.
I nod soberly. “I understand. I’ll be with you.”
Malachy’s mental health is on the line. He needs an omega to claim andfast.
Getting anemailto reschedule our appointment with Wilder is insulting, and it’s enough to send Patrick over the edge. His polite request to move our meeting to another day is denied.
The warehouse where Wilder conducts business is located down by the water. Many of us have buildings in the same area, and it’s cordoned off with massive fences and guards stationed at every gate.
Making our way into the warehouse is a process, but it has to be done.
Wilder’s office is considered neutral ground, and we’re disarmed, sent through a metal detector, and patted down before being allowed entrance.
Patrick leads the way, stomping toward Wilder’s office.
He throws the door open and freezes.
My nostrils flare, breathing in the scent of cloying omega perfume, pussy, and what must be Wilder’s cum.
It’s not an appealing combination, and I take a step back.
“Get the hell out of my office!” Wilder snaps, baring his teeth. He grabs the blanket tucked around the woman’s ass and pulls it up, wrapping it around her shoulders.
I’m sure he doesn’t like being interrupted.
Too fucking bad.
He blew us off to have sex in his office? That’s not a good look, and before this very moment, I would have considered him a friend.
“Do you know what it’ll do to my brother if Chapman doesn’t go through with our contract?” Patrick growls, not deterred by the circumstances in the least. “You promised you’d advocate for us!”
He’s not wrong.
My fury rises all over again.
This shit isn’t a game.
“And I have,” Wilder says with a huff.
“We’ve spent the last five years waiting for her to come of age,” I remind him.
The woman gasps, but I ignore her.
The contract could have been filled at any time after Vanessa hit eighteen, but with the age difference between us, my brothers and I agreed to wait until she was at least twenty.
Vanessa took those extra few years and pushed for more time. Unfortunately for all of us, the contract expires when she turns twenty-five, and that’s sneaking upfast.
We have to come to some type of resolution before then.
I no longer have any interest in bonding Vanessa myself, but I know Malachy well enough to understand that he’s committed to honoring the contract simply because he promised our fathers that he would.
It sucks.
I have mixed feelings about not ending up in a pack with my brothers, but my instincts are only interested in one omega. That means I’ll be pursuing Charlotte.
