Page 7 of The Alpha Grizzly's Mate

“I know. And I will…but what if…what if I can’t do it? What if I just don’t fit in here?” At the end of the day, I didn’t. Nothing could make me disregard life the way my family did. It wasn’t in me.

“Three years,” he said. “Three years. You give it your all, and if after that time you want out, you can have out.”

At first, I was relieved, and then I saw the look of checkmate he got, right before he shot someone or stole all they had out from under them. This deal was a trap. It was his way of sounding reasonable, but, in his mind, he already won. And he was right; he had. After three years, my hands would be so dirty, there’d be no way out. Not because of him but because I’d be in too deep. His whole charade of being a well-meaning father just wanting me to give it a go was disgusting.

I walked off, not ready to have this discussion. I was going to continue to fight, but the words ready to flow from my mouth right then and there would have far wider repercussions than I was willing to deal with. They could wait until another day, one where I was rested and had a plan.

Heading straight to my room, I didn’t so much as say hello to my uncles as I passed them in the foyer. I might be rebellious enough to walk away for a few minutes of breathing space before my father reamed me up and down, but I wasn’t dumb enough to leave the house and have him require the services of another family member to come get me.

I tossed the jacket across the room and fell onto the bed. I’d worked so hard for this not to be my reality, and yet here it was.

A knock on the door was no surprise, but as I opened it, there he was—Father. Not only was he standing in front of me, but he didn’t look like the cruel, heartless man I’d known most of my life. This was a different side of him, one I had seen briefly and sporadically over the years. In some ways, he was scarier because I never knew what to expect from his lips.

When I was little, this was the man I liked to believe was the real Father, and that his cruel and horrible ways were just an act, but it wasn’t. The blood I’d seen poured showed that well enough.

“You win.” There had to be a catch. There always was.

“You mean I can leave?”

“No. I still want you to work with the family for three years. You’ve been gone too long. It doesn’t look good on me.”

Because that was the important part of all of this. Of course it was.

“And you still need to work for the family.”

“I don’t see how that’s winning.”

“Because I’ll give you a say in the job.”

“I only want to do legal shit.” Then I really could leave. Plausible deniability and all that.

We didn’t talk about the illegal side of the business very often. It was a given, but the less I knew, the safer it was for all involved.

“Fine. In the morning, come find me. You’ll have your first job.”

He walked away before I could ask a single question, which was fine. Any word I said held the potential of pissing him off and ruining this compromise, if it even was one. I’d find out soon enough.

The next morning, I met him downstairs. “I need food delivered.” He handed me a paper list, money, and said, “Go.”

“Where’s the address?” I expected a lot more guidance than a grocery list for the bulk warehouse.

“I’ll send it to you.”

I walked into the store at open and filled up a flatbed with the list in record time. I wasn’t there buying a couple of random foods—no. I was delivering enough for a restaurant. It barely fit in the van and, if there had been a passenger with me, it wouldn’t have.

Just as my father said, the location was sent to my phone, and I set the GPS and drove the short distance. It was a big estate, and I had to be let in through the gate, which also meant I was going to need to be let out. That had my beast on alert. He was really chill except when he felt caged.

I was greeted by the house manager, who had me drive around back to unload.

Walking in the rear entrance, I instantly felt the weight of what I was part of. This wasn’t a family estate. There were far too many scents for that.

There were lots of people here, and my wolf sensed nothing but abject terror washing off of them. Had I been brave, I’d have investigated. Only I wasn’t brave, and even if I’d managed to summon the courage, there was nothing I could do about what I discovered. This was family business, meaning, I was one of the bad guys.

I climbed back into the van, drove out of the gate, and made it barely a quarter mile down the street before I had to pull over, my stomach revolting.

“I can’t live this life. There has to be another way.”

Chapter Five

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