I want to grab my brother’s shoulders and yank the romantic fool back to his feet.
I want to shake him and make him see that Rosa isn’t the type of Omega who will fall in love with an Alpha because he…
Pulls a single red rose out of his pocket and a poem.
Oh, shit.
Mars is truly going to do this.
Does my brother believe that he is living in one of those romcoms, which he would force me to watch with him on his phone when he’d sneak into my basement, starring the Omega Jex.
Jex would be courted by the romantic Alpha with a range of grand gestures, until he fell into his arms, purring.
And then fell into his nest, of course.
Damio’s eyes sparkle with amusement. “Look at that, Rosa. He’s trying to court you.”
“I am,” Mars says, earnestly. “I know that we’re from rival families. But I don’t want you to fear bonding me. I promise that I will cherish you. We can be happy and?—”
“Blah, blah. Do you ever shut up?” Rosa rolls her eyes.
Shewould shut up if I put a bullet between her eyes.
I itch to pull out my weapon.
Mars passes her the rose. “A rose for my Rosa.”
“Cringe.” Rosa hurls the rose to the floor. “You’re giving me the ick.”
Mars recoils. “I don’t…I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. I only want to…”
Don’t do it.
I drop my hand to his shoulder in warning, but he still flourishes the rose embossed poem.
“I wrote this for you,” Mars says, quietly. I can feel the tremors running through him. This is a fucking disaster. “I am your Alpha. Have my bond, my heart, my loyalty, my?—”
“Yawn.” Rosa snatches up her phone and begins to scroll again. “Fuck off, yeah? Can I reject the Alphahole, Dad? He’s weaker than the Omegas in our pack.”
She rejected him.
The bitch.
I have taken responsibility for this alliance working. I can’t return home without the courting going through.
How do I fix this?
Fear races through me.
Mars lurches to his feet. He has become ashen.
He looks devastated but now, he is staring at Rosa with a coldness that is rare for him.
“I am not weak,” Mars insists, low and hard, “simply because I want to treat my Omega well.”
“Bullshit again.” When Damio thumps the table, I shove my jacket open to give myself better access to my sidearm. The enforcers subtly do the same thing. My pulse races. “You want love. And that’s a lie. We don’t bond for love in our type of families. This is a business transaction. I never expected your Chief Alpha would have raised you soft enough not to realize that, kid.”
“She didn’t raise me soft.” Mars’ voice is frosty. In fact, she didn’t raise him at all.Nico did. “If you want to give up your daughter in abusiness transactionand not have her courted, then fucking fine. Let’s do it.”
