Page 50 of Pack’s Prize
This had once been my worst fear: to be exposed like this. To see my grandfather’s cruelty on a stranger’s face. I took stock of my emotions, and was startled to find that I didn’t care. Roman was an asshole, definitely, but… I had other, more pressing concerns.
The soft look in Ava’s eyes after my expression.
What I could do to keep her looking at me like that, tomorrow and the day after, and everyday after that.
What I would tell Theo and Elias.
The lawyer blinked, but her expression remained unchanged. “That may be the case, Mr. Marcus,” she said, and he straightened his shoulders, a smile on his face, before she continued. “However, it is irrelevant to the matter at hand. The documents only stipulate that he must be mated or courting an omega, nothing about his sexual status otherwise.”
“But it’s–it’s disgusting. It’shumiliating!”
“That is enough,” the lawyer said, raising her voice slightly to speak over the man beside me. I was glad she couldn’t smell the scent he was throwing off; it was obvious that he wasn’t used to being spoken down to, and was furious about it. Was it because the lawyer was a beta? A woman? Or just that he wasn’t getting what he wanted? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care.
All I wanted was to get Ava out of there, back to our home. I wanted to pull her into bed with me and cover her body in kisses. I couldn’t tell her how I felt, not yet, not while she’d still feel an obligation to say yes, not while the paperwork wasn’t yet formalized, but I could make sure I showed her, and in the meantime, I could try to convince Theo to see what I saw. Elias, too.
“Mr. Stoll, I have no reason to believe you are not courting this omega, as you say you are. In fact, I have every reason to believe you are enamored with each other, not that my opinion matters.”
I nodded, my heart raw and tender. She was right, at least on my account. I hoped, fiercely, that Ava felt the same. I didn’t know how I would survive if she didn’t. How our pack would go on.
“Butno omega would want–” Roman spat.
“Shut up, Roman!” Ava finally snapped. “Shut up!”
Finally, the lawyer had had enough.
“Silence!” she barked.Nowthiswoman should have been an alpha,I thought to myself, smiling. “The question of the inheritance is settled. Period. You, sir,” she nodded at Roman, “are excused. Please leave this office. The secretary can show you out.Now, Mr. Marcus,” she said, when he hesitated.
I stepped in front of Ava as he passed, but he didn’t even look at her, his eyes fixed on me, his mouth curled into a bitter frown.
“Can I sign this paperwork and be done with this?” I said, and the lawyer nodded curtly.
A few signatures, and the inheritance was mine.
She ushered us out as well, a folder filled with documentation clasped tightly in one of my hands, and Ava’s small, tight fingers clasped even tighter in the other.
“Alphas,” I thought I heard her mutter, as she shut the door behind us, and I grimaced.
* * *
I had thoughtthat the inheritance would be a triumph, that it would feel…satisfying.
But, as we walked home side by side, our bodies carefully distant, our hands not touching, my mood was low: Ava was sad. Her scent was subdued, and when she caught my eye and smiled, it was a pale shadow of her usual grin.
“Congratulations,” she said, “you did it.”
“Youdid it,” I said, forcing myself to smile back. “Thank you.”
She shrugged, and was silent for a long moment. Our shoes tapped against the pavement. It was mid-morning, but this was a quiet, mostly residential part of the city, and there weren’t many cars on the streets. “It was easy,” she said finally.
I huffed out a laugh. “Ha. Putting up with Elias and Theo and I? And this crazy scheme?”
“Well,” she said, looking at her feet as she walked. “You met Roman.”
I stopped. She took a few more steps and stopped too, looking back at me.
Ah. That was it.Some of the heaviness lifted from my shoulders. This, I could fix.
“I did,” I said, “and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you had to see him today. If I had known…”