Page 62 of Dark Wolf Soul
“I’ll be inside,” Mia says, rising and squeezing my shoulder on her way into the house.
I wait until she’s gone before heading for the riverbank. They’re probably going to be all glued to the fucking window, but at least, if they’re inside, I can pretend we have some privacy.
Lexi looks up as I approach.
She doesn’t stand, so I take a seat in the grass beside her, careful not to get too close. Even so, she pulls her knees into her chest and wraps her arms around them in a protective stance. I can sense how nervous she gets around me, and I can’t blame her, nor have I done much to counter it before now.
Fuck, this is awkward. Being a grumpy kidnapper was way easier than actually being nice.
After a minute, I look over, and she glances at me uncertainly.
“Is this the part where you tell me you’ll kill me if I talk?” she asks.
“What?”
“You let me sit in on a meeting where you all planned a coup against your father and a war against Franco. I’m a threat to you now. I know too much.”
I sigh. “I let you sit in because you deserve to know what I plan to do to Franco. He is your family.”
“No,” she says, looking out over the water. “He’s not.”
I nod. “You’re right. He’s never been there for you. In fact, he’s a monster. They all are. Franco, my father—everyone in charge. All they care about is obtaining more power, and they don’t care who they hurt to get it. It’s why we’re planning to stop them. And I think you want that too.”
She looks back at me.
“I don’t want any of this,” she says. “I just want to go home.”
“I can’t do that,” I say, guilt pressing on my chest. “If I take you back, someone else will come for you. And they won’t—”
“Won’t what?” she asks when I pause. “Be this nice to me?”
She snorts, and I don’t bother defending myself.
“They won’t find you useful if you’re alive,” I tell her quietly. “And they won’t hesitate to hurt your friends to get to you, either.”
Her head whips to mine. She looks like she wants to argue, but then she sighs. “What the hell do you want from me?”
“Marry me.”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
“Or pretend to marry me,” I amend. “Like my father asked. Go along with the engagement so that our families look united.”
“But you said you’re going to—”
“Stopping my father will take time. And I’m going to do my best to find a way to do it without violence, which means remaining compliant for as long as possible. And earning the support of both sides of this fight.”
“How does a fake marriage help that exactly?”
“My father’s supporters don’t trust me. I’ve been gone too long. I need to win them back, and love stories tend to do that.” I look away as I say the words, my gut twisting with each one.
“And Franco’s people?” she asks.
I blow out a breath, relieved she’s not calling me out on the L-word. “Even if he disowns you, you are his rightful heir, and there’s nothing he can do about that. Your alliance with me—”
“Makes you the next alpha of his line,” she finishes.
This time, I do meet her eyes, and the words fall out of my mouth way too easily as I say, “Or our children.”
