Page 76 of Trust No Alpha
Of course he would have checked. Father was nothing if not thorough.
“But it doesn’t matter. I’m eighteen and I’ve chosen him.”
“You’ve chosen him?” Father let out a laugh, but he was not smiling. “You ignorant, stupid Omega. I choose here! I choose everything for you, what you eat, when you sleep and everything else.”
“You raised me to be strong, Father. To be an Alpha, so excuse me if I don’t instantly submit to your authority!”
“You’re my son. I am your authority! You’re an ungrateful, sniveling whore, fucking about the neighborhood, aren’t you? You haven’t even asked after my health. After what you did!”
I had never heard Father so angry unless it was pertaining to business. He disciplined his children hard, but he rarely raised his voice. He was stern and unbending, with a pervading aura of dominance. He didn’t have to yell.
My younger self might have been intimidated. Not now.
“After what I did? What about you, Father? What about what you did!”
He came toward me so fast I almost couldn’t deflect him in time. As he reached out to smack my face I ducked.
I heard Trigg gasp. The men stood with Reilly by the door, all silent, all on Father’s payroll and no doubt instructed to not interfere except by his order.
I stood up straight and faced him. “Do you really want to do this? With these men here? With what I could say about you?”
“You would tell Omega lies to subvert Alpha dominance.”
He was right, not about the lies but that no one would believe me. They would all believe I lied to save myself. Only he, Trigg and Mathias knew the truth. I couldn’t count on any of them. Thorne knew the truth as well, but Thorne wasn’t here.
Father was the first to break our stare. It wasn’t much of a victory because right after that, he said, “You will go to your rooms and stay there.”
“I won’t be locked away!”
“Would you rather I order my men to escort you?”
Continuing to defy him felt good, but it wasn’t getting me anywhere. Pleading my case when he had calmed down might help. If he would listen to me.
I had had no time to think about Thorne and what he might be going through. Knowing him quite well now, he’d be making plans to win me. To confront Father.
“I would ask you to ask them to keep their filthy hands off me,” I said. I turned and headed for the stairs.
Trigg, mouth still open, seemed to wake from his shock. “I’ll go with him, Father.”
When I passed by him on the stairs, he came by my side, keeping pace, and took my hand. I started to pull away before I realized his gesture was not one of force, but of comfort. His fingers touched mine with gentle reassurance.
When we were out of ear-shot of Father and his men, Trigg said, “I missed you.”
I bit hard on my lower lip, the pain helping me focus. “I missed you, too, Trigg. But being forced back here against my will is--”
“Wrong,” he finished for me. “It’s wrong in every way.” He sighed. “Is it true you found a bondmate?”
I glanced at his face to see if he was teasing, but saw instead only curiosity and affection. “It is. And Father won’t let me go to him.”
“But how can that happen? You’re not really an Omega. You can’t form the mate-bond, can you?”
“I don’t know, brother. I never had the chance to try.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Thorne
Within minutes of Varian Vandergale’s men taking Kris away from him, Thorne was on his computer researching everything he could about Alpha claims, Omega rights (or lack thereof), and what the actual legal definition of bondmate was. He’d been mated before, but he’d never had to research the subject. Everything fell into place easily for him and for Ian. They hadn’t had to fight for their rights.
