Page 27 of Wolf Sacrificed

I scrubbed a hand over my face, wishing I could dissolve into a pile of goo on the floor that could slither away undetected. “Dad…”

He whirled on me so fast I flinched. His hand thudded against my shoulder, squeezing it to the point of pain.

“It’s up to you, Sawyer. I tried taking a woman a few nights ago. Then I had to shower five times and drink a whole bottle of liquor to drown out her scent. Your mother was the only one for me. I can’t do that again. Hopefully, my seed took.”

That explained the other night when he’d been drinking. I thought he’d had other women over the years. I guess I’d been wrong about that. Mom had been gone a long time, and he couldn’t stomach lying with another, so he knew how I felt. Maybe I could say Willa was my mate, and I didn’t think I could cheat on her.

I shook the thought away. Dad would never believe that. Mates loved each other and craved each other’s touch. Willa couldn’t stand to be around me even in public.

Dad motioned to the front room. “We didn’t build all this to let some other alpha come in and claim it. I’m building an empire that we can pass down to our family for generations. But you need an heir.”

He stepped toward me and jabbed a finger down at the ground. “This is our home, our pack, and our land. We will never give that up.”

I swallowed and nodded. I didn’t have a choice but to go along with this insanity, at least for now. “You’re right. It is. It just sucks now that things have changed it.”

Dad let go of my shoulder, his eyes a void and his face haunted. “This isn’t at all the future your mother and I envisioned. Luna destroyed that when she took her and Hannah. It’s up to us now to make the best of it.”

I looked at the floor and then let my gaze wander around the front room. When Mom had been alive, it had been full of color, life, and love. If I strained my ears, I could almost hear an echo of laughter.

Now the front room looked dark and dreary, with no character. Sleek but bland decorations went with the black leather furnishings. The warmth and vibrancy had slowly been snuffed out.

I pressed my lips together into a thin line. “It’s hard to believe that it’s just the two of us now, Dad. We used to be a family.”

His face fell, and his jaw worked. “Luna has spit on us since the mall shooting. She lost faith in our pack for whatever reason. Now we need to show her the mistake that she made. We will be gods instead of her. When we take over all the packs, she’ll have no choice but to bow before us and beg us for our mercy.”

He was delusional. I’d never put much faith in higher powers, but I knew one thing. We were not gods. We were men, and we had no right to control others.

A weight pressed against me, the pain unbearable. I couldn’t breathe.

Dad must not have expected a comment from me because he strolled through the front room toward his office. He whistled, and he had a pep to his step that told me he was all too excited about my future coupling.

I was living my worst nightmare.

I followed him, knowing I didn’t have another choice. My feet felt like they weighed a million pounds, each step harder and harder to take.

I needed to think of a way out of this. Or maybe it was time for me to gather up whatever intelligence I could and leave.

The office door creaked open, and my dad waved me inside. His excited grin was back, which made me more nauseous.

Sweat continued to trickle down my spine, and my shirt stuck to me. I peered inside the office, my pulse racing in my ears.

My dad was already speaking to the girl, his arm on her shoulder. The girl smiled from ear to ear, and her eager eyes widened.

My dad waved me in. “Don’t be shy now, Sawyer.”

I stood in the doorway, unable to make myself move.

There was nothing wrong with the woman. She was pretty by normal standards, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, but she wasn’t Sloane.

Dad put his hand on the woman’s back as he led her to me. “Sawyer, I’d like you to meet Fiona.”

Fiona’s smile grew so wide I was worried it might split her face. She jumped up onto her tiptoes and then bounded toward me. She threw her arms around my neck and jumped, wrapping her legs around my waist.

I stumbled back, hit the doorframe, and had no choice but to put my hands on her hips, or we might both topple over.

She smelled like perfume and rot mixed together. It made me gag. Why did she smell like that? It was unnatural. Maybe because she wasn’t my mate, and she was coming onto me? I couldn’t be sure, but I did my best to breathe through my mouth.

She pulled back and put her hands on my shoulders, letting one trail down my chest. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

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