Page 13 of Forced Pregnant Mate

“Thank you, Decker. I accept. I will do what is required.” I hear myself say the words, but they don’t feel like they come from me.

“Excellent,” Decker says. “I’ll be in touch. Planning is already underway.”

He gives Father a long, hard look before he leaves.

“I give you my regards, Peter. I look forward to seeing you at the coming meetings.”

Father flashes his fake, far too friendly smile.

“I’ll be there to do my duty to the pack,” Father says. Decker nods, turning to leave. After a second, I hear the door squeak and click as he leaves.

“Well, how about that!” Father announces cheerfully. “He picked you! That’s a surprise but a happy one.”

“Uh-huh,” I mutter, staring at the floor.

“It’s a blessing to this family,” Father goes on, smiling with pleasure. “This is going to turn our luck around! The connections we’ll make in the new pack with you married to the beta will be invaluable.”

I don’t answer. I don’t think he even wants me to.

“Don’t you dare mess this up!” he snaps, changing from warm to cold in less than a blink of an eye. “Are you going to run again? Because I’ll chain you up like a bad dog if you try!”

I take an involuntary step back, unable to handle the palpable threat that reeks from him.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he growls. “That Jack, he’s not a nice guy. Violent, dark, and quick-tempered. He beat the hell out of me one day—came at me from behind! I was just innocently loading my truck.”

This is all news to me, but I don’t believe a single word of it.

“I don’t trust him, and you shouldn’t, either,” Father says. “But you’ll keep him in line. I know you will.”

I don’t realize it, but I’ve taken another step back. Father suddenly notices and launches himself across the kitchen to grab my arm.

“Where do you think you’re going? What did I just say about running?”

“I wasn’t!”

“That’s not what it looked like! I will chain you up—I’m not fucking around here!”

My chest is constricting against my violently beating heart, and my mind is reeling. I can’t follow any of what’s going on. Father wants me to marry Jack, even though he thinks Jack is a bad person? I still can’t figure out if it’s better for me to stay here with Father or accept the marriage.

Father’s fingers dig deep into my wrist, hard enough to make the bones grind together. I cry out, buckling at the knees.

“Please!” I cry, trying to yank my hand away.

“If you don’t accept this marriage and promise to obey me in everything you do, I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what!” I scream at him. Suddenly, I’m getting a clear vision. My marriage to Jack will put Father in an excellent position to manipulate the elders of our pack and prominent members of Jack’s. He could exploit everyone through me.

“What can you possibly do to me?” I ask miserably. “I won’t be your puppet. Do whatever you want to me. I don’t care.”

Father glares at me for a moment. Slowly, he lets go of my wrist, and his eyes take on a strange look.

“You’re absolutely right,” he says. “Going after you isn’t good enough. You’ve proven that to me over and over again.”

I glare at him, my lip trembling as I fight against tears.

Is he finally backing off?

Then he grins, and that malicious, joyful expression is truly the work of demons. “I won’t lay a finger on you,” he says. “But just imagine what I can do to your little baby brother without you here to protect him.”

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