Page 67 of Down Knot Out
The lawyer clears his throat and shuffles papers, aligning edges that don’t need aligning. The gold pen between Uncle Gregory’s fingers catches the light as he taps it twice on the table in an impatient gesture I remember from childhood. Bad news always followed.
“For the record,” the lawyer begins, “I am Harrison Wells, chief counsel for the Sinclair family holdings.” He gestures toward Uncle Gregory. “And I believe you know Gregory Sinclair, though perhaps not as well as you should.”
Uncle Gregory’s mouth curves into what might be considered a smile on anyone else, but on him, itjust rearranges his facial muscles. “Chloe, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll be direct. I’m not your uncle. I’m your father.”
The words land hard, leaving my ears ringing, blood rushing so loudly I wonder if everyone can hear it.
“That’s impossible.” The words scrape my throat. “Augustus?—”
“Is sterile,” Gregory cuts in, confirming my previous guess. “A fact we were unaware of when we agreed that he was the better fit to lead our pack. I had a vasectomy shortly after to eliminate any further contestation on what line would continue to head the Sinclair pack.”
Dominic shakes his head, his braid swishing. “But, if you have a vasectomy, then how…?
Gregory’s lips tilt down. “Such things can, on occasion, heal themselves.”
“Wait.” I hold up my hand, my mind struggling to process. “Are you saying you had an affair with my mother? Behind my father— Behind Augustus’s back? Or… Did heknow?”
“Of course, he didn’t,” Gregory scoffs. “It was a mistake that would have jeopardized the fragile peace we achieved when I stepped aside in the first place.”
Dizziness threatens to take me, and I reach forDominic’s hand. “I don’t understand.”
“Things had just started to settle in our pack when Augustus arranged to marry your mother.” Gregory’s attention drags across me, setting my skin on edge. “There was no way to know, when I met her after their honeymoon, that we would feel the pull of a true bond.”
He lifts a shoulder. “By then, it was too late to change the arrangement. Vivian was already contractually obligated to stay with Augustus until she produced an heir.”
Dominic’s fingers squeeze mine.
“True bond?” The skepticism in my voice could cut glass. “With mymother?”
Gregory’s features soften, the first genuine emotion I’ve seen from him. “Vivian wasn’t always the woman she is now. When we met, she was vibrant, ambitious… intoxicating. We were both young and foolish.”
The lawyer slides a document across the table. A DNA test result, my name listed beside Gregory’s, the percentage of match highlighted in yellow.
“We tried to resist it,” Gregory continues. “For a year, we fought the pull. But a true mate bond can’t be denied forever.”
I stare at the paper, the numbers and scientificterminology swimming before my eyes. My skin feels too tight across my bones, as if my body is trying to accommodate this new version of myself.
“We met in secret, behind Augustus’s back. What could be the harm when I had been assured no child could come of it?” Gregory runs a hand through his silver hair. “When your mother told me she was pregnant, I didn’t believe the child could be mine. I thought she was manipulating me, using a pregnancy to force my hand.”
His lips thin. “We weren’t exclusive, after all. How could we be when she was married to my brother?”
The bitterness behind the words stings, as if he had no other choice but to sleep with his brother’s mate behind his back.
“Our pack was already fractured,” he explains. “If the pack discovered I’d had an affair with my brother’s mate, if there was even a hint that the line of succession might be in question…Well, you understand. And it wouldn’t have been the first trick Vivian tried to escape the contract with Augustus. It was the final wake-up call that I needed to stop seeing her.”
If Vivian had pushed the issue of my paternity, my birth would have reignited a power struggle. Better to deny me than risk pack stability.
“Augustus couldn’t wait to announce that his mate was with pup.” Gregory straightens a cufflink. “He was desperate for an heir to prove his virility. It wasn’t difficult.”
Disbelief fills me. “And my mother just went along with it?”
“Of course.” Gregory’s eyebrows lift. “Why do you think she pushed you toward the Sterling pack? She wanted power and connections, and she had that with Augustus.”
I think of my mother at the doctor’s office, her spiteful words about my real father rejecting the pregnancy. No, I don’t think she simply accepted it. She had just bided her time. As Gregory said, my mother was a tricky woman, and her true mate had rejected her as well as me.
“Years later, when your Omega registration was processed, the genetic markers confirmed my belief that you weren’t mine.” His fingers drum once on the table. “It was surprising, though, that you weren’t Augustus’s, either. I believed that your mother had been sleeping with more than just my brother and me to get her heir and cement her place within our pack.”
My throat constricts, each breath shallower than the last. “So you just stood aside while we were severed from the pack? You let your true bondmate be stripped of everything and thrown out like trash?”
