Page 6 of The Alpha Grizzly's Mate

Fuck. How had I not scented that they were there. I’d been too focused on not making eye contact with my family I completely missed it.

I turned to them and greeted each one by name, grateful I hadn’t forgotten their names over the years. Each and every one of them was there. Fabulous.

Taking my seat, I joined a couple of my uncles and brothers at the far side of the table and listened to the forced pleasantries as dinner was served.

As we ate, most of the conversation going on around me didn’t include me. I was grateful for that. I was not, however,grateful that Edwin stared at me the entire time. It was awkward as fuck.

When my father announced it was time to have drinks in the other room, I dawdled long enough to give myself a breather. It had been a mistake because it left Edwin and me alone.

“You’re still a nerd, I see.” He jumped right in, not hiding his disdain.

“Yeah, that’s true.” I didn’t see anything wrong with being a nerd, but with the disgust rolling off him, he clearly did.

Edwin looked me up and down. “You’ll need to change.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

He let out a long, exasperated sigh. “You are so disobedient. Your father needs to train you better, or there’s no way this can work.”

And with that, he stomped off.

My father never put up with anyone telling him what to do. Full. Stop. Which meant the “mate my son into the Marcus family” plan was as good as dead. Thank the gods for that. If Edwin had been interested, the process would’ve taken a whole lot longer.

By the time I got into the other room, Edwin was telling his parents he had a business meeting to attend, and they made their excuses and left.

“Father, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to head back to my room. Moving took a lot out of me, and I’m exhausted.” None of it was a lie, but also, none of it was the reason I wanted to get away, either.

He raised his hand and shooed everybody else out, and they scurried like mice. There wasn’t a soul who didn’t fear my father, including me. And it wasn’t without cause. My father was a brutal man.

“What did you say to Edwin?”

“Nothing, really. He said I was a nerd. I agreed. He told me I needed to stop being one. I told him that wasn’t a possibility, and that was that.”

He glared at me as if looking for any indication I was lying. I wasn’t and, eventually, he mumbled, “There aren’t many people left.”

“That’s fine, Father. I don’t want you finding someone for me.” This wasn’t the first time I’d told him that. When I was a teen, he countered that I was speaking out of youth. In college, it was me being rebellious. Now? I wasn’t sure what he thought, and I didn’t care.

“I don’t want to be part of any of this world.”

“This world put food in your mouth, provided you with the best education, and made you the man you are today.”

“And I appreciate it all. But this is not where I belong. Edwin saw that. I wish you could too.” I kept my voice low and meek in the hopes he would listen and not explode.

“What do you want, if not protection, shelter, and food?”

I wanted to shout at him that I didn’t want the violence, hate, and fear, but I knew better and decided to go for broke…literally.

“What I really want is for you to give me access to my trust fund now and let me just go live. I’ll eventually find a job in my career, or maybe a new avenue of study—I don’t know—but let me find my way. This isn’t it. You cannot look at me and tell me you see the next in line to take your place or even stand by your side.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and cannot see.”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way.” Even though I 100 percent did. “When Edwin called me a nerd—it’s because I am. I love learning. I love reading. Staying curled up in bed surrounded by books on a Saturday night sounds a thousand times better than anything else I could be doing.”

“We will not have this argument again.” He wasn’t raising his voice or giving me the death glare. I was calling that a win.

Most people wouldn’t consider what we were doing arguing. My father wasn’t most people. In his mind, anyone suggesting something that wasn’t exactly his idea to a T, was arguing.

“You need to be here. You need to at least try.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

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