“Isn’t it?” I met his eyes, seeing my own pain reflected there. “I’ve made you vulnerable. Given Hampton and Yates ammunition. The omega spokesperson whose daughter seduced the Lycan King.”
“Nobody believes you seduced anyone.” He leaned forward, taking my hands. “But yes, this complicates things. You’re tied to him now. His choices affect you. His enemies become yours.”
“I know.” The weight of it sat heavily on my shoulders. “I’ll be careful. I won’t give them more ammunition against you.”
“I’m not worried about me.” His hands tightened on mine. “I’m worried about you. Damon Kildare is not a cruel man, but he’s ambitious. Calculating. He’ll use you if it serves his purposes.”
“He already has.” The words came out more bitter than intended. “Used me to avoid a political mating. To claim an omega without the usual negotiations and contracts. I’m convenient.”
“Then be inconvenient.” My father’s advice surprised me. “If you’re stuck in this situation, find your power within it. He needs you now. For stability. For image. For heirs. That gives you leverage.”
“Leverage.” I laughed, short and sharp. “I’m an omega. What leverage do I have?”
“More than you think.” He stood, pulling me up with him. “You’re the Lycan King’s mate. His only mate, unless he wants to break tradition entirely. Use that position. Carefully, quietly, but use it.”
A knock interrupted whatever else he might have said. Damon entered without waiting for permission, because of course he did. Alphas didn’t wait for anyone, especially in their own territory.
“It’s time,” he said simply.
My father squeezed my hands once more, then released me. “Be strong,” he murmured, too low for Damon to hear. “You’re still my daughter. Still a Thornback, even if you wear his name now.”
He left us alone, and I felt the loss of his presence like a physical thing. My last tie to my old life, walking away in formal robes that represented everything I’d complicated.
“Come,” Damon said. “I’ll take you home to collect your things.”
Home. Like I could just pack up my old life and move it into his. Like everything hadn’t fundamentally changed. But I followed him, because what else could I do? I was his now, bound by the law and witnessed by the council.
The drive to my family’s house passed in silence. I stared out the window at familiar streets that felt foreign now. Everything looked the same, but I was different. Marked. Mated. His.
My mother waited at the door, and her face told me everything I needed to know about the scandal we’d caused. She’d been fielding calls all morning, no doubt. The society gossips would be having a field day with this. The omega spokesperson’s daughter, claimed in heat by the new Lycan King. It was like something out of the trashy novels she pretended not to read.
“Inside,” she said simply, and I followed her to the kitchen where tea waited. Of course there was tea. Neva Thornback believed tea could fix anything, even biological disasters.
“Well,” she said once we were seated. “This is a mess.”
“I’m sorry.” The words came automatically, uselessly.
“Sorry doesn’t unmake a mate bond.” She sipped her tea with perfect composure even as her eyes catalogued every visible mark on my skin. She continued without commenting on it.
“Your father thinks this can be managed. That you can find power in the position. I’m less optimistic.”
“You think I’m trapped.”
She set down her cup with a click. “Trapped or not, you’re the Lycan King’s mate now. You need to act like it.”
“I don’t know how.”
“Be smart,” she whispered. “And remember, you’re still our daughter.”
My father entered the room and noticed how deep in conversation we were. “What’s done is done. We move forward from here. Damon has agreed to let you stay here tonight so you can say your goodbyes and pack your things.”
There was a hint of sadness in his voice and I tried not to be affected by it. My parents were political beings by nature, but they were great as my parents too. Despite being an omega family I had never been denied any comfort. So I knew why they looked disappointed by this turn of events. And worse they looked scared too.
My father clapped my back as I stood up to head to my room. I could not stop myself before I pushed into his arms for a hug. “I am so sorry, Papa.”
He rubbed my back and whispered in my hair, “It’s alright, darling. It will all be okay.”
6
