“That’s more like it.” Damio shoves the stack of papers toward Mars. “Read it.”
Mars’ brow furrows. “What’s this?”
“Just a contract for you to sign.”
Mars glances at me.
This is unexpected.
Fiorella has already signed the paperwork. We’re not authorized to sign anything further.
Is this a trap?
Mars pushes the paperwork further down the table to me, and I bend over it. I scan the top papers.
“It is a contract,” I confirm, clinically. “About which of the packs control the territory and property.” Then I straighten, as my gaze slides to Damio. He meets it with a challenging smile. “He’s changing the deal that our Chief Alpha signed. Fiorella would never agree to this.”
Mars appears panicked. “What the fuck is this about?”
I push the papers away. “Don’t sign.”
Damio’s eyes flash with rage.
He leans forward on the table. “I told you, this is business. Are you a real Alpha with a knot of his own? Or some kid who turns up like it’s his college Prom night?”
I grip Mars by the shoulders. “Don’t listen to him.”
“If you don’t sign,” Damio warns, “then you can return to your Chief Alpha with no alliance. What will happen to you then?”
Mars turns to me, anguished. “Ro…?”
I know that he’s thinking about what will happen tomeand not him, if we return without the promise of a bond.
Dread forms a cold ball in my stomach.
Yet it doesn’t matter what happens to me.
This is about the future of the Adonis pack and Mars’ future happiness and safety.
I may be killed if we return without signing. But Marswillbe killed if we return having signed as bad of a deal as this.
Damio is breaking his word.Shaming our family.
I shove Mars away from the contract toward Rosa, and she lets out an outraged squeak, as he bumps the phone out of her hands. When I hear its screen crack, I internally smile.
Then I subtly glance at the exit.
How do I get my brother out of this room alive?
“We need to check this with the Chief Alpha first,” I say. “In private. I will take the contract back with us to our rooms for you to read thoroughly before you sign, boss.”
It’s a lie.
I will find a way to escape with Mars and fly back to Washington.
Unfortunately, Damio appears to realize that.
He slams his palm down onto the table, while Mars nods his hurried agreement.
