Chapter one
Bianca
Bianca Bonnycastle was mad as hell.
Bianca was used to being angry. She was almost always angry and had been that way for so long now that she simply considered it to be her default setting. But this fury was something different. This level of rage was new.
“Surely I don’t need constant supervision,” she said, keeping her voice even and her expression neutral. “I’m perfectly safe. No one would dare touch me. The Bonnycastle name carries far too much weight.”
A little flattery and perfect composure. That was the way to approach this situation. It wouldn’t do any good to appear emotional. Her fathers never responded well to women with feelings. That’s probably why they’d chosen her mother, Astrid, the frigid bitch. Astrid had taught Bianca well.
“Perhaps, but appearances must be maintained. With half the country talking about omega safety and well-being, it’s our duty as a prominent family to set a proper example.”
Even as Arthur Bonnycastle spoke to his daughter, it was as though he were looking through her, already done with this conversation. He hadmore important appointments to get to, more important people to see. He neversawher. None of them did.
No one did. Not anymore. Maybe not ever.
“Nobody will be able to say Pack Bonnycastle doesn’t prioritize the best interests of the omegas in our care,” Winston Wright-Bonnycastle said to his phone screen, multitasking as always. “And with you being such a close acquaintance of Pack Rhodes’s omega, there will be more eyes on you than ever. We have to take precautions.”
Serenity fucking Rhodes struck again. Bianca was absolutely sick of hearing about the now-famous omega. Her fathers always referred to Serenity as “Pack Rhodes’s omega”, just to drive home the point that Bianca had not managed to secure that coveted position. Her failure in the pursuit of Smyrna City’s most eligible bachelors was her most public humiliation, though far from the only mistake her parents liked to lord over her.
Bianca had been one of the few omegas invited to the prestigious pack’s mating parties and her parents had fully expected to be welcoming the heartthrob actor, future NFL Hall of Famer, chart-topping rock star, and genius entrepreneur into the family by now. But things hadn’t gone as planned. Instead of selecting the sensible option of Bianca or one of the other prominent omegas under consideration, Pack Rhodes had chosen the poor nobody, and Bianca had disappointed her parents yet again. Oh, she’d saved face by proposing a philanthropic collaboration with Serenity, showing the world just how gracious and generous she could be, while despising herself for it. But her fathers hadn’t forgiven her for losing out on Pack Rhodes, who had the kind of money and fame they’d always intended to bring into the family through Bianca’s mating.
If it had been up to her, Bianca would’ve never spoken to the nobody-turned-celebrity-designer again. They had nothing incommon—even less than Bianca had in common with those beautiful idiots in Pack Rhodes—and the sight of Serenity’s open, friendly face never ceased to irritate her. The other omega was entirely too good of a person. It was super fucking annoying.
“And how long will these precautions be in place?” Bianca bit out, holding on to her composure by the very tips of her fingernails.
“For as long as you remain under our protection, of course,” Arthur answered, standing to leave. His packmates rose with him, already discussing their next stop, now that the unpleasant inconvenience of parenting was done. Arthur glanced at his expensive watch impatiently. “Once you’re mated, your safety will be your alphas’ responsibility.”
The way none of her fathers deigned to look at her while ruining her life was galling. She would’ve thought she didn’t have much of a life left to ruin, but it seemed her parents were quite innovative when it came to finding new ways to torment Bianca. What were they punishing her for now? For failing to entice Pack Rhodes? For being on the wrong side of twenty-five and unmated? Or was this still retribution for that first, unforgivable sin?
Arthur kissed her cheek, his lips cold and dry against skin that felt hot with rage. Though she was so rarely on the receiving end of physical contact, the perfunctory affection was still unwelcome. It made her skin crawl. She endured it stiffly, nodded goodbye to her other fathers, and then they were gone, closing the reinforced steel door behind them.
Bianca resisted the urge to hurl her shoe at it. It wouldn’t do anything but ruin her Keeyahri heels. The door was very strong, every bit as secure as the rest of her penthouse apartment in the high-end, luxury hotel she called home. Bonnycastle Privé Smyrna City was one of several hotels her parents owned, and it was just as luxurious as the ultra-chic Bonnycastle Noir Milan or the insanely opulent Bonnycastle Ascendant Dubai. Ofcourse, Bianca had only been given the penthouse in the Smyrna City hotel so that her fathers could keep her close. So that they could watch her.
Bianca was already a prisoner, the Bonnycastle princess locked in her lavish tower. Sure, there were endless parties and fundraisers and charity galas, but she was no freer among her family’s wealthy friends than she was in her pretty cage. Her limited social life consisted of frivolous brunches with the daughters of other prestigious families, and dull dates with their sons. Or their fathers, depending on their net worth.
She put most of her energy into “running” the family’s charitable foundation, but despite her innate business acumen, she was mostly a figurehead. All the real decisions went through Pack Bonnycastle.
So, that was it: meaningless work and tedious socializing. Her life was one long, boring routine that was nothing if not infuriatingly safe.
But because she was evidently nothing but a joke to the gods, her fathers had decided she now needed an around-the-clock security detail. They were determined to strip her of the last vestiges of her dignity. So little remained that she wasn’t sure why they even bothered.
Bianca undressed mechanically, changing out of the day dress she’d donned for her fathers’ unexpected visit. Her head was full of static—an angry buzzing that drowned out her thoughts and didn’t abate until she entered her private gym. Bianca couldn’t even remember putting on her workout gear or pulling her long, dark hair into a messy bun. Her body had been on autopilot, following the familiar path to the one room that could hold her anger. This was the only place where Bianca let herself come undone.
She paused in front of a huge terrarium as she let herself adjust to the warmth and humidity of the room. The temperature settings in the gym were controlled to be more comfortable for the only other creature shecared about, her pet albino ball python, Lilith. The snake lifted her head when Bianca approached, her tongue flashing as she scented the air.
“I’ll get you out later, my love,” Bianca cooed, grabbing a pair of handwraps from the hanging pockets on a nearby wall. Lilith’s bright red eyes followed Bianca’s movements. “And maybe I’ll finally feed you one of your grandfathers. No? You’re right. I’m sure they taste like shit.”
The snake’s only response was a slow undulation up the glass, her graceful neck stretching toward the grated lid of her tank. Bianca had adopted Lilith nearly a decade ago, had raised the snake from a little thing that fit on her palm to the five-and-a-half-foot beauty she was now. The python had been with Bianca through her worst times, had accompanied her to university, which had cost Pack Bonnycastle a few hefty donations to circumvent the rules regarding pets on campus.
Bianca considered the companionship well worth the strings that came with her parents’ generosity. Lilith was her only friend. Bianca leaned toward the tank and blew air kisses. Lilith stuck out her tongue.
The methodical winding of the wrap around Bianca’s knuckles slowly took the edge off her rage. It was like a dial turning down the volume on the buzzing in her head. By the time she started her warmup, the static had become nothing but background noise.
There were so many imagined opponents on her heavy bag today. Her fathers. Astrid. Serenity. Pack Rhodes.
For her part, Biancahadtried to entice them. They were among the least offensive of the packs her parents wanted her to pursue. Her mating was always going to be a business transaction. She’d known that her entire life. Pack Rhodes would’ve been easy to manage and probably would’ve let her do as she wished, as long as she popped out a few offspring to distract them. And she wasn’t repulsed by the idea of sex with them, which she couldn’t say of many of her parents’ intendedconquests. Wealth and power came attached to far too many sets of saggy old balls.
