Chapter 43 Chapter 0043

Chapter 43 Chapter 0043
•DOMINIC•

"Well, since we've all been waiting here for Dad to arrive and get this over and done with, can we call it a day now that he decided to bail out?" I groaned as I looked at the two elders and my uncle on the opposite side of me.

We had been sitting at the dining table for over an hour, waiting for my very punctual father to arrive and scold me.

It was clear that he wanted everyone to speak about my engagement to Kaila, which I had never asked for. I didn't even know why it was so important to him.

"Your father will be here shortly, Dom," my uncle, Silas answered. "This meeting is important, so he won't miss it. He just went out to take care of something."

I swallowed as my fingers tightened on the arms of my chair.

I knew where my father could be. Kaila had told him everything, and since he had always been good at proving a point, he was probably trying to make her understand that I was an engaged man.

And I had no choice but to sit here and pretend that I was okay with everything that he was doing without my knowledge.

"Be patient, Dominic," Silas added. "What happens in this room tonight matters more than you realize."

I didn't answer. I leaned back in my chair and wished I had been brave enough to leave with my mother when she got divorced from my father.

He had always been controlling and wanted her to do whatever he wanted, and whenever he wanted. My heart broke each and every day when I saw my mother holding on to their marriage because of me.

And I had a choice to leave with her after they got divorced, but because I was groomed from a young age to be the next Alpha, I didn't want to lose my birthright to my uncle.

Just when I was about to get up from my chair and head outside to get some air, Kaila and her parents walked in.

Great.

I couldn't even look at Kaila because we were there because of her. Because she couldn't keep the end of her deal.

She knew I was seeing someone and that our arrangement would be nothing but an arrangement, but it suddenly seemed like she thought we would be an official couple.

I looked at her once and frowned. I then looked away before I said something I couldn't take back.

I pressed my back into the chair and kept my expression neutral.

I was still trying to work out exactly what I was going to do when my father walked in.

He greeted Kaila's parents with a firm handshake and a nod to the elders, and then he pulled out his chair at the head of the table and sat down.

"I apologize for keeping everyone waiting," he sighed, folding his hands on the table. "But I have taken care of the problem that Kaila brought to my attention earlier. And I believe that my son has thought everything through and will not make things difficult for us."

My heart raced as I immediately stood up from the chair. I couldn't bear the thought that Aveline was dealt with because of me.

I was the one who wanted to keep our bond, even when Kaila had made it almost impossible for Aveline not to be judged around campus.

And the pictures on the wall were the last straw. Her reputation was already damaged. She didn't have to deal with my father.

"What has been taken care of?" My voice came out rough. "What did you do?"

My father looked up at me and snarled. "Sit down, Dominic. We are not done talking."

"What did you do?" I asked again.

He held my gaze for a moment, then looked back at the room as though my standing up was a disrespect to his authority.

"You are marrying Kaila," he answered. "Two weeks from now, on the full moon. It's already been arranged." He reached for the glass in front of him. "I won't be repeating myself."

I looked at the elders. At Silas, who dropped his eyes to the table. At Kaila's father, who had the grace to look somewhere past my shoulder. At Kaila herself, who was looking at her hands.

Nobody was going to say anything or push back. That was how it always worked in rooms like this one, with men like my father at the head of them.

I turned and walked out.

I walked down the hall, out through the front entrance and into the driveway. The only person in my mind was Aveline. And I wanted to get to her.

She probably hated me and wanted nothing to do with me, but she was still the first girl I had ever fallen in love with, and I didn't want her to be hurt because of me.

"Dominic."

My father's voice came from behind me when I was about to open the door of my car. I froze, looked down, and sighed.

I knew what my father was about to say. He had always blackmailed me when he wanted things to go his way.

He had never once valued my opinions and trusted my decisions. I was one of his projects to fix, to rule, and to be told what to feel whenever he wanted me to do something for him.

"If you get in that car," my father muttered as he leaned toward me. "You will not succeed me as Alpha. Walk away tonight, and that is finished. Permanently."

"You'll take away my birthright because of Kaila?" I scoffed. "Do you want me to pretend like you weren't wrong when you went out of your way to meet Aveline so you could threaten her?"

"Your mother is marrying her father, are you aware of that?"

"I know that, and I knew that since the very first day I saw her. My mother introduced us to each other and made it clear that we were going to be stepsiblings," I sneered. "But I won't stay here and let you think you're the Alpha of every pack."

My father didn't answer for a minute.

After a long moment, he leaned back and sighed. "If you're not back inside in the next two minutes, I will denounce you as my heir."

He walked back inside, leaving me with an impossible choice to make.