9. Nine

“Mate?” I couldn’t hide the surprise in my voice, and it might’ve cracked just a little too.

I wanted to slam the door in his face and pretend I’d never heard those words. A bitter taste filled my mouth as I rubbed at my jaw. This couldn’t be happening.

My dad laughed and hit me on the shoulder. “Don’t look so surprised, Sawyer. We need to make sure that we have a successor in line. I think you’ll quite like her as well. She’s pretty and very eager to please.”

I wanted to be sick. Bile crept up my throat, and I forced myself to swallow it back down, making my esophagus burn. I was too hot.

My dad could ask me to do a lot of things, but touch another woman? I had to draw the line. There was no way I could do it.

I’d gotten lucky with Willa. She’d been all too happy to pretend for the sake of appearances. She was as relieved as I’d been to learn I had no interest in her. It didn’t sound like I’d get that lucky again.

My mouth went dry. “What about Willa? As far as we know, she’s still pregnant with my pup.”

I sounded panicked even to my own ears. I needed to pull myself together and regain my composure. Dad was serious about this, and I had to think of something fast before he started questioning me.

I sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “Shouldn’t we wait and see what happens with Willa first? The firstborn is usually the alpha.”

My dad threw his head back and laughed. “If we can bring the girl back alive long enough for her to deliver the pup, sure. But I fear that child will be weak like its mother. She was always too whiny for my liking.”

I shook my head. The poor girl had been terrified. She was still scared of me even though I’d kept my distance and done everything to make her comfortable.

Going down this road wouldn’t help my cause.

“I’m not even sure I have time to have another mate,” I said. “We’re constantly on the move. There’s so much going on right now without the worry of a woman who can’t shift because she’s pregnant to add to the mix.”

Dad squeezed my shoulder. “I would’ve thought most guys would be happy at the prospect of getting laid.”

He sounded so absurd that I actually laughed. Which made him laugh and only made me more uncomfortable.

I shifted on my feet as I broke out in a cold sweat. It beaded down my back and pooled where my jeans hit my waist.

He patted my shoulder and then took a step back, motioning for me to follow him. “Come on. I want you to come meet her.”

My abdomen felt heavy, like my dad had just punched me in it instead of telling me there was a woman for me to meet. I would’ve preferred the punch, honestly. This couldn’t be happening.

I felt like a robot as I followed him, my movements stiff and jerky. The floorboards creaked beneath my weight, and every noise had me on edge.

“She’s here now?” I asked.

My dad slowed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders so we could walk together down the long hallway. “She is, and she’s very excited to get to breed with the next alpha in line.”

My legs felt wooden. Was Dad just saying that because in his twisted mind she was eager but really wasn’t? Luna, I hoped so.

Maybe the girl was like Willa and would be terrified of me and hoped I never touched her. That would be the best-case scenario. When Willa learned that I had no intentions of breeding with her, she’d relaxed, at least enough so that we could have a peaceful existence in my room.

But what if this girl was different? What if she was drinking the Kool-Aid my dad was serving? What if she actually expected me to impregnate her?

Cold dread washed over me. I couldn’t do that. The thought of touching another woman made me physically ill. I might vomit. I’d never been so turned off after experiencing the ultimate high so fast.

I gripped the banister, my hand slick against the wood. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I don’t think we should have any distractions right now.”

Dad put his hand on his stomach as he laughed. “Distractions. You just need to get her pregnant, son. I’d hardly call that a distraction. You did just fine with Willa. I expect you’ll do good with her, too, and maybe another.”

I covered my mouth like that might stop me from vomiting. I hoped it at least muffled my gag.

My dad had clearly lost his mind. He’d partially lost it before.

Sloane was right. I should’ve stayed with her and Lincoln. I didn’t know how I was going to get out of this. I had to think of something. Touching this girl wasn’t an option. Ever.

I rubbed my jaw. “It just seems a little personal, Dad. I don’t think I can just do that. With Willa, I at least got to know her for a few weeks first.”

Dad practically hopped off the bottom step like he was an excited teenager. “I suppose you can take a week at most to talk to her before starting the breeding process. But we have to start thinking about our future, Sawyer. It’s just you now. You are the only one who can carry on the pack bloodline, and we need to make sure that there are successors after you as well.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face, wishing I could dissolve into a pile of goo on the floor that could slither away undetected. “Dad…”

He whirled on me so fast I flinched. His hand thudded against my shoulder, squeezing it to the point of pain.

“It’s up to you, Sawyer. I tried taking a woman a few nights ago. Then I had to shower five times and drink a whole bottle of liquor to drown out her scent. Your mother was the only one for me. I can’t do that again. Hopefully, my seed took.”

That explained the other night when he’d been drinking. I thought he’d had other women over the years. I guess I’d been wrong about that. Mom had been gone a long time, and he couldn’t stomach lying with another, so he knew how I felt. Maybe I could say Willa was my mate, and I didn’t think I could cheat on her.

I shook the thought away. Dad would never believe that. Mates loved each other and craved each other’s touch. Willa couldn’t stand to be around me even in public.

Dad motioned to the front room. “We didn’t build all this to let some other alpha come in and claim it. I’m building an empire that we can pass down to our family for generations. But you need an heir.”

He stepped toward me and jabbed a finger down at the ground. “This is our home, our pack, and our land. We will never give that up.”

I swallowed and nodded. I didn’t have a choice but to go along with this insanity, at least for now. “You’re right. It is. It just sucks now that things have changed it.”

Dad let go of my shoulder, his eyes a void and his face haunted. “This isn’t at all the future your mother and I envisioned. Luna destroyed that when she took her and Hannah. It’s up to us now to make the best of it.”

I looked at the floor and then let my gaze wander around the front room. When Mom had been alive, it had been full of color, life, and love. If I strained my ears, I could almost hear an echo of laughter.

Now the front room looked dark and dreary, with no character. Sleek but bland decorations went with the black leather furnishings. The warmth and vibrancy had slowly been snuffed out.

I pressed my lips together into a thin line. “It’s hard to believe that it’s just the two of us now, Dad. We used to be a family.”

His face fell, and his jaw worked. “Luna has spit on us since the mall shooting. She lost faith in our pack for whatever reason. Now we need to show her the mistake that she made. We will be gods instead of her. When we take over all the packs, she’ll have no choice but to bow before us and beg us for our mercy.”

He was delusional. I’d never put much faith in higher powers, but I knew one thing. We were not gods. We were men, and we had no right to control others.

A weight pressed against me, the pain unbearable. I couldn’t breathe.

Dad must not have expected a comment from me because he strolled through the front room toward his office. He whistled, and he had a pep to his step that told me he was all too excited about my future coupling.

I was living my worst nightmare.

I followed him, knowing I didn’t have another choice. My feet felt like they weighed a million pounds, each step harder and harder to take.

I needed to think of a way out of this. Or maybe it was time for me to gather up whatever intelligence I could and leave.

The office door creaked open, and my dad waved me inside. His excited grin was back, which made me more nauseous.

Sweat continued to trickle down my spine, and my shirt stuck to me. I peered inside the office, my pulse racing in my ears.

My dad was already speaking to the girl, his arm on her shoulder. The girl smiled from ear to ear, and her eager eyes widened.

My dad waved me in. “Don’t be shy now, Sawyer.”

I stood in the doorway, unable to make myself move.

There was nothing wrong with the woman. She was pretty by normal standards, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, but she wasn’t Sloane.

Dad put his hand on the woman’s back as he led her to me. “Sawyer, I’d like you to meet Fiona.”

Fiona’s smile grew so wide I was worried it might split her face. She jumped up onto her tiptoes and then bounded toward me. She threw her arms around my neck and jumped, wrapping her legs around my waist.

I stumbled back, hit the doorframe, and had no choice but to put my hands on her hips, or we might both topple over.

She smelled like perfume and rot mixed together. It made me gag. Why did she smell like that? It was unnatural. Maybe because she wasn’t my mate, and she was coming onto me? I couldn’t be sure, but I did my best to breathe through my mouth.

She pulled back and put her hands on my shoulders, letting one trail down my chest. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“I’m so excited to meet you, Sawyer,” she said, her voice high-pitched.

My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach. This girl was nothing like Willa. She wanted to be here. She wanted every bit of what my dad offered to her.

I was in trouble, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of it without drawing attention to myself.