Page 34 of Petals & Promises

My sweet, smiling Alpha was gone, and in his place was a man I’d never seen before. Vili’s whole demeanor had shifted, becoming far more stiff, and the dominance that rolled off him would have rattled me to my core if we weren’t bonded. Concern welled up in me as I reached out to him, only to be met with white-hot fury which had me pulling back. A whine slipped out, with Gareth coming up behind me, wrapping his arms around me.

“Shh, baby girl, it’s going to be fine,” he assured, speaking softly. “Vili’s not facing this alone… we’ve got his back.”

Jonas took half a step back and spoke rapidly in Numolandian. You didn’t need to speak a word of their language to know this man was pissed the hell off about something. Vili merely stood there, appearing to be relaxed, but the aggressive energy coming off him said otherwise.

“Enough,” Vili ordered, slashing his hand through the air. “This is no time or place to speak of these matters. I told you so on the phone. Why do you keep pushing?”

“Son—”

“Don’t,” Vili growled out. “It is beneath you to pretend, speak plainly.”

Once more, Jonas started and was yet again cut off.

“So they can understand,” Vili instructed. “My pack has no secrets.”

“Is that so? Then they know who I am?” Jonas taunted.

Having had quite enough of this man spoiling my packmoon, I answered his question, “You’re his father, well… one of them.”

Jonas’ pale silver-blue eyes met mine. The icky feeling his attention gave me almost got me to drop my gaze, but I wouldn’t let this bully win. Clearly, being talked back to wasn’t something he was used to. “I am, but who are you?”

Vili sidestepped, blocking his father’s view of me. “She’s mine.”

eighteen

Bailey-Rose

If my heart could skip a beat without me freaking out about it, that’s what it would have done hearing him say that. God, there was nothing sexier than an Alpha staking his claim over you. However, now was not the time for me to be swooning. Something was going on, and none of it was good.

“You’ve marked her?” Jonas demanded, grabbing a fistful of Vili’s shirt. “How could you do that to your family? We haven’t approved of this match.”

Waffles let out a low, warning growl, but he didn’t move from his spot guarding me.

Vili leaned in closer, staring his father down. “You. Are. Not. My. Family.”

Breaking his father’s hold on him, Vili shoved him back until Jonas stumbled over his own feet, landing once more on his ass. Vili adjusted his shirt and came to stand next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist. “This is my bonded Omega, and these are my pack brothers. They are my family, not you. Bailey-Rose is a superior scent match, one who needs no approval.”

Jonus picked himself up, only this time he didn’t look quite so haughty. His son had publicly renounced his connection to the Rantala name and claimed us instead. If Vili wanted to, he could legally take any of our last names, and all ties to the Rantala family would be severed.

“Vili, you don’t mean that,” Jonas argued. “Think of your mother and what it would do to her.”

“The mother who allowed me to believe another woman was my mother?” Vili scoffed. “She didn’t want me, none of you did. All you needed was an heir. Why care now? There must be something you want for you to come find me.”

The fury on Jonas’ face had me leaning into Vili, knowing he would keep me safe.

“She is dying,” Jonas stated. “Her request was to see you before it was too late.”

I gazed up at Vili, trying to read his expression because my emotions were chaotic—anger, sadness, mistrust, and trepidation—almost as if he didn’t believe what his father was telling him.

“Why I just hearing about this?” Vili demanded. “If she so sick, why wait till now?”

“Because you will not speak to us,” Jonas accused.

“Well, I’m speaking now,” Vili snapped. “See what little effort it took… you just have to show up.”

“I will not have this argument here in the middle of the street. Come home, see your mother, and we will then discuss this matter of you being bonded,” Jonas instructed. “The jet is ready. We can leave right away.”

“Hi, hey, sorry to interrupt,” Warrick interjected, waving his hand as he stepped up. “But in case you missed everything Vili just said in this uncomfortable encounter, we are on our bonding leave, and the only thing we’re going to do right now is walk away from you. I’m sure Vili knows how to get in touch with you, so when and if we decide to go to Numoland, we’ll be taking our own jet. So nice to meet one of the in-laws, but we’ll be going now.”