Page 24 of Crimson Heart

“It had to happen sooner or later,” Austin said, giving her a kind smile.

“I know. And I’m not against a mating.” She looked straight back at Jude.

“Yet you ditched Mom and Dad, embarrassing them in front of the entire pack,” Jude said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Is that what Dad claims?” She shook her head. Of course, her father would make it sound like that. “I didn’t embarrass them in front of the Leon pack. I told them back at the hotel that I can’t mate with Steve Leon. He’s not a good man.”

Jude raised his eyebrows. “You don’t even know him.”

“And I don’t want to get to know him.”

“Dad said he’s the alpha’s son. With your ambitions to attain a high status within our society, short of mating with an alpha, he’s perfect for you. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”

“Not like that!” she shot back. “I can’t mate with him. Just shaking his hand made me want to puke.”

Jude scoffed. “He can’t be all that bad.”

Austin reached out to put his hand on her forearm. “Dad would never arrange a match with somebody who’s not suitable.”

“Austin is right,” Jude added. “He wants you to be happy. And you know that the Alliance always runs background checks before they propose a mating with somebody from a pack that’s not part of the Alliance.”

“Ha!” she sneered. “I don’t care about a background check. I can feel that Steve Leon is evil. I saw it in his eyes, and I feel it in my gut. He’s violent.”

“You can’t know that,” Jude replied, sighing. “Come on, Charlotte. I know it can be hard to accept everything the Alliance asks from us, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna turn out badly. You’ll see once you get to know him better…”

“That’s rich coming from you!” she interrupted. “You went against the Alliance yourself by mating with Danielle. But you expect me to accept a mate who’s violent, who’s evil, and a total psychopath? I expected more from you, Jude!”

She felt tears sting in her eyes.

“I thought you loved me.” She made a step closer to him, pinning him with her eyes. “I need your help. I need you to protect me.” She shifted her gaze to Austin. “Both of you. You can’t let Dad force me into this mating when I know that it will only end in misery. Do you really want your sister to be beaten and abused, because the Alliance wants access to the Leon pack’s resources? You want me to pay that price with my life and my happiness? Don’t I deserve better?”

Jude and Austin exchanged a look. There was silence in the room now, and she could hear only their heartbeats and their breathing.

“It won’t hurt to do our own inquiry into that guy,” Austin said, still looking at Jude.

“The Werewolf Alliance would have already run their checks,” Jude said, sounding reluctant.

“They certainly would have looked into the pack,” Austin conceded, “but not necessarily into Steve Leon in particular.”

“Please, Jude,” Charlotte begged.

He didn’t answer immediately, but let out a breath, then rubbed his nape, before looking straight at her.

“Alright, we’ll look into him, but if he checks out and there are no red flags, you’ll have to go through with the mating.”

Charlotte slung her arms around her oldest brother and squeezed him tightly.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Are we in agreement?” Jude asked. “You’ll mate with him if we can’t find anything that supports your claims?”

She knew she had to make that promise, but she also hoped that she would never have to make good on it, because her intuition told her that Steve Leon had skeletons in the closet, and there was no way he was a good man. He’d done bad things; one look into his eyes had cemented that belief in her.

“Agreed,” she said.

Jude nodded, then looked at Austin. “Let’s make sure the Alliance doesn’t find out that we’re looking into Steve Leon. We’re skating on thin ice as is. I don’t want them to come down on us with a hammer.”

“They’ll never find out,” Austin said confidently.

Something akin to relief rolled over her. It had been a good decision to come to her brothers for help. If anybody could get her out of this mess, it was Jude and Austin.

“Thank you,” she said, hugging both of them.