15. Cas

I shutthe door to the Explorer, my shoulders tense as I studied our surroundings. No one came out to greet us and there weren't any guards around the main manor like I'd expected, which was a warning and a threat.

Francisco Lopez didn't fear an ambush.

"My father…our relationship is complicated," Frankie muttered as she yanked on the lapels of her blazer before running her fingers through her hair like she expected him to criticize her appearance the second she walked through the door. "Whatever you hear…don't ask problematic questions until we're back in the car and off my father's property."

I couldn't decide if I was impressed she thought we'd be able to leave the property of our own free will after this conversation, or concerned.

Either way, the gun tucked in the waistband of my pants kept me from bristling too much, but I was still on edge as I tucked my hands in the pockets of my leather jacket.

"Just do what you do best." Frankie waved her hand and started up the wide steps to the front door. "Pretend like you don't exist. I'll handle the rest."

"And your cousin?" I kept two steps behind her and to the side, like I was nothing more than hired muscle.

"I'll explain everything." Frankie hesitated before pressing her thumb to the touchpad next to the double doors. "I assume Liam gave you instructions for the potential outcomes of this meeting?"

I nodded, annoyed at the reminder that she came from a legacy pack. Only someone who grew up in this kind of life would suspect something like that and find it completely normal.

"Just follow my lead and everything will be fine." Frankie leaned forward so the camera in the doorjamb was full of her face and nothing else. "Let me in already, Peter."

One of the doors opened and an older man stared down his nose at Frankie. He was a beta by the smell of him and he didn't wear any scent blockers. His brown eyes were cold and his salt and pepper beard told me he was somewhere in his fifties, but his impressive muscles indicated he was very capable of protecting what was inside this manor.

"Miss." Peter arched an eyebrow in a silent question, keeping his eyes on her and ignoring me completely. "You didn't say you'd be coming by today. I don't have you on the schedule until Sunday."

"Yeah, but I need to talk to my father. It's time sensitive." Frankie leaned against the doorframe and tucked her hands in her jean pockets, giving the man a smile that definitely meant trouble. "Are you going to let me in my own fucking house or what?"

Peter didn't say anything, but he stepped back and held the door open wider so she could come in, slamming the door closed before I could follow, the ornate wood hitting my shoulder hard enough I winced.

"Now, come on. That's not nice." Frankie ripped the door out of Peter's grip so I could get inside, proving she was just as strong as most alphas if not stronger. She just didn't have the strength of Liam or the red eyes, but that didn't mean she was weak or average.

"And who, may I ask, is this?" Peter turned to inspect me and I could see the moment the beta realized how far up he had to look.

"This is Cas. He's helping me with a case I'm working on."

Peter's eyes narrowed and he inspected me from head to toe. It was impressive really when so few even noticed me let alone had the balls to study me so openly. "This is Valor's dog."

"He bites too, so step back," she warned, pushing Peter until he was no longer within my reach. "Can you tell Suzie we'd like some snacks? Bring them to pop's office."

"He's in the greenhouse."

"Fine. Then bring them there." Frankie let out an exasperated sigh and shoved the man toward what I assumed was the kitchen. "This won't take long. I promise."

Whatever I'd been expecting, it hadn't been this.

From what I could tell, Frankie was welcome here. She even saw this place as hers despite giving up her pack name.

"Why?" I didn't mean to ask the question out loud, but I couldn't help it when she led me through the house to the center where there was a huge atrium. No one was breathing down our necks despite who I was.

"Why what?" Frankie went through the atrium and turned right, leading me through a wide hall before pushing open the French doors to the yard in the back.

"Why did you change your name?"

She glanced back at me and I could see her weigh whether it was worth explaining or not. Then she shrugged and turned back to the massive, Victorian-looking greenhouse. "I wanted to prove myself without the Lopez name. I thought that if I could show my father what I was capable of without his influence giving me all the possible opportunities I could ever want, he'd reconsider naming a legacy alpha without red eyes as his heir, but that'll never happen."

"And why not?" Normally I didn't ask so many questions, but Lucy was tied to Frankie and she'd grown up in this life. All this would affect any relationship I had with her, and hearing why would explain a lot more than just knowing the facts.

Maybe Lucy wasn't as complicated as I'd thought. That or her mannerisms were starting to rub off on me.

"Because I'm not the alpha this pack needs." Frankie opened the door to the greenhouse and I clenched my teeth to keep from asking any more questions.

It was a beautiful greenhouse. I couldn't stop myself from looking around and it wasn't just because I needed to know all the entrances and exits – every possible place someone could hide, waiting to ambush us.

No, the smell of the plants actually reminded me a lot of Lucy.

There were roses in every color of red imaginable. Some as bright as Frankie's hair, and some so dark they looked black. I leaned in to smell one of the dark purple ones, eyes widening when I realized this was almost exactly the same scent as the one tucked under Lucy's black currants.

Did that mean Francisco knew what she smelled like when almost no one else did? That thought infuriated me no matter how stupid it was. My instincts didn't know who Francisco was to Lucy yet, so all I could feel was territorial and overprotective.

I hated this.

"Francesca. I didn't expect to see you until Sunday." The deep voice seemed pleasant enough, but there was an undertone that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Moving away from the roses, I turned to see an older man at a table with a pile of cut roses the same color as Frankie's hair. He wore slacks and an undershirt with suspenders, looking relatively normal despite what he was.

The leather shoes he wore looked custom made. His hair was white at the sides, showing his age, but the rest was still pitch black. All of it was slicked back like he was some gothic, debonair gentleman.

But that wasn't what had my attention.

Francisco had a knife in his hands that looked sharp enough to cut through bone despite how small it was. He used it to slice the thorns off the rose flawlessly and efficiently before carefully setting it in the smaller pile like each rose was precious to him.

"I needed to talk to you," Frankie admitted. She slipped a knife from her belt and I realized it was identical to her father's. She stood on the other side of the table and started helping, slicing the thorns off the rose stems just as efficiently as her father.

Keeping my hands in my pockets, I studied the greenhouse, making sure I was close enough to Frankie to grab her if I needed to. Lucy had asked me to come with her for a reason and I refused to let anything happen to her on my watch.

I couldn't disappoint my omega.

"What could you possibly need to talk to me about with Valor's dog at your heels?" Francisco sounded ticked, but not enough to make me worried. Not yet at least.

"He's one of Lucy's alphas."

My shoulders tensed and I glared at her over my shoulder, pissed she hadn't told me this was how she was going to start that conversation.

"Is he now?" Francisco studied me from head to toe as he sliced the thorns off another rose, not looking at what he was doing or his daughter. "And you're sure about this?"

"I'm positive."

Flicking my gaze back to Frankie, I couldn't wipe the glower from my face even knowing it could make things worse, but at least I managed to keep my mouth shut.

There was no fucking way she could be positive. Lucy could find another legacy alpha who she found pleasing enough to ditch me and Liam. Until she asked for the bond, we weren't her alphas, but she'd always be my omega.

I was pretty fucking sure there'd be no one else I'd ever want the way I wanted her. They'd all pale in comparison, and for the first time since I'd met him, I understood exactly why Liam had avoided omegas.

No one could ever compare to Lucy.

"I assume the other alpha is Liam Valor?" Francisco tsked like that irritated him, but he didn't seem furious about it which was…weird.

"As if you don't already know," Frankie muttered, tossing one of the finished roses on the pile that was waiting for whatever the alpha of the Lopez pack planned to do with them. "He was the one who took care of her at Bite."

"Strange," Francisco murmured. He twirled one of the roses with the thorns still on it, watching the way the petals moved like the skirts of a dancer. "I was under the impression it was the dog who took care of that incident."

I bit my tongue instead of responding to the taunt.

"Pop…" Frankie sighed and pulled the rose out of his hand. "Do you know what happened there or not?"

"Of course I know." Her father scoffed and gathered the finished roses in his arms, turning to an empty table where there were a few vases and moss – whatever one might need for flower arranging. "You think I don't keep track of my daughters even when they both chose to abandon me?"

"We didn't abandon you," Frankie snapped. She stomped around the table to follow after her father. It was kind of funny to watch someone glare at Francisco Lopez and get away with it, but it also made my stomach flip.

This wasn't what I expected at all.

Lucy and Frankie were so secretive about their connections to this pack that I thought they'd parted on bad terms, but that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"Oh, then what would you call it?" Francisco was acting like no one loved him and the little twinkle in his dark red eyes told me he was doing it just to mess with his daughter. It was so different from the man I've seen in various pack meetings that I nearly choked on air. "Both my daughters rid themselves of any connection to me."

"Pop, stop being so dramatic and listen." Frankie snatched the pruning shears off the table and went over to one of the darker rose bushes. She let out a massive sigh, just as dramatic as her father. "Arturo couldn't keep his hands to himself when he caught wind of her true scent and tried to force himself on her. She gouged out one of his eyes before Liam got there."

The silence was heavy as we waited for him to explode with rage and retribution, but all Francisco Lopez had to say was, "Good for her."