Page 25 of The Alpha’s Heir

“No, but you will be married at the end of the month, and you will be presentable for it,” Helen snapped.

He turned back to his mother. “What are we waiting for? Why not sell me at the altar tomorrow?”

“The invitations need to be sent.” Helen deadpanned. “And the other dignitaries from around the country still have to travel here.”

“No.” He shook his head. “We’re not making this public.”

Helen leaned back in her chair. “The press release went out this afternoon.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Justus cried. “My friends. My followers… What are they going to think?”

“Poor spoiled boy. Your playboy days are numbered.” The councilwoman was losing her temper. “I don’t think you understand the severity of this. We’re already recording volatile weather patterns that occurred this afternoon just after the arrival of one goddess.”

Justus scoffed. “We control the climate. What’s the problem? Just make some adjustments.”

Helen’s lips flattened into a thin line. “The problem is that half our electrical grid relies on the sun. And we don’t control the world’s climate, we manipulate the elements to alter the climate of the dome.”

“So what?” Justus’s voice grew louder as drunken passion took over. “A few uncomfortable days should get those scientists working faster to figure out a solution. None of this explains why I’m being forced to marry a mutant like some eighteenth-century cattle exchange. As a species, we are better than the backwoods logic of feral mutts.”

The growl that sounded in the room had Justus letting out a squeal and Helen putting her hand on her heart.

I had to admit, the growl was kind of cute. Something like an angry purr that made my lip quirk.

Meg pushed back her chair. “I’ve made a mistake.”

“I’ll say,” Justus sneered.

“Megaera, sit down.” Helen sighed. “Don’t listen to my idiot son.”

“The idiot son I’m supposed to marry?” Meg shook her head. “I can’t believe I did this.”

Her eyes met mine, and I saw the anger there, almost as if it was directed at me. For the first time in my life, I felt the urgent need to distance myself from this family.

“You’re doing the right thing,” I told her, even though I didn’t believe it myself. But I understood her reasons and admired her for the sacrifice she was willing to make. “I can’t imagine this is easy for you, but we are grateful you came.”

“Science, Roman. Mom already wants to write me out of the will. Can you not lay it on so thick?” Justus groaned.

“Maybe if you had a tenth of the discipline he does, then you wouldn’t be such a disappointment.” Helen’s rant blended in with Justus shouting.

“You can’t do this to me.”

“I can and I will.”

Meg marched out of the dining room, pausing to give me one final look.

I didn’t understand why that made my chest tighten like it did.

*

“Meg, wait up!” I called after her.

She paused with one hand on the stair railing, but her eyes were a million miles away and I could almost hear her thoughts racing.

“I didn’t know,” she said. “I didn’t know it would be him.”

The poor woman. “Justus isn’t normally this bad. Give him a few days. He’ll grow on you.”

“You don’t understand.” There was panic in her voice. “I thought he was you.”