Page 79 of Feral Alphas

I sit down on my bed and toy with a wrinkle in the covers. “Quiet right now, but I’ve got a concert in a few weeks. Is something up?” Scott was a cool step-dad growing up, but he’s not the sort to call for a pleasant chat.

“You know your dad’s pretty pissed with you, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well . . . any chance you could meet me for dinner tonight?”

“Sorry, I’m out of state, and will be for a while.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” No one does. I haven’t even found time to call Rachel. He sighs down the line. “Kane’s serious about cutting you off.”

“Yeah, I noticed that when he froze my trust fund.”

“That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry, Kye, but I wanted to give you a heads up that he’s going after your apartment next.”

My brain ices over. “What?” That can’t be right. “I bought the apartment myself in my own name.”

He sighs, his breath scratching across the phone. “Yes, but he was a guarantor and there’s still a mortgage on it.”

“Son-of-a-bitch!” I shout down the line. “Can he even do that?” I jump to my feet.

“I don’t know for sure, but he’s sitting down with his lawyer about it now.”

I pinch my nose and pace the carpet. This can’t be happening. The residual earnings from my Ourtube channel and streaming platforms aren’t enough to cover my expenses, not with an omega to support. I need the rental income from my apartment. Not to mention the amount I’ve poured into the deposit and mortgage for a penthouse over the past seven years.

“Tell me something, Scott,” I say, thoughts lunging in all directions. “Is it because I’m packless or because I turned down the West brothers?”

“It’s the same thing, isn’t it?” he asks, sounding tired. “He was working on a merger with West Corporation for the realty company.”

“Frick! He didn’t say.”

“Because he thought you’d cave.”

I snort. “Yeah, well that wasn’t happening, Scott. They’re haze-taking douches who wouldn’t know good music if it bit them on the arse.”

“Who happen to be coming into about fifty billion dollars.”

I hiss, my skin heating as anger courses through me. “You think I don’t know that? But what did a hundred billion dollars ever do for your pack?”

He goes silent and I know it’s a low blow, but a strange tightness grows in my chest that stops me apologizing; I don’t care about his emotions at this moment.

“What was your original question?” he asks, trying to change the subject.

“I got scent matched to an omega, Scott. And she has a pack.”

“They got money?”

I laugh and press my fingers to my forehead and the movement drops my eyes to the disgusting ochre carpet a hundred years old. “None.”

He clicks his tongue down the line. “Well, I’m not sure. I guess at least there’s a chance his alpha line will continue then. That’s part of the grudge.”

I rest my fist against the wall. “So, I’m supposed to crawl to him on my hands and knees because he doesn’t approve of my pack? Did you all have to as well?”

He hesitates for a moment. “We did. That’s the power of the Romdine name.”

I scoff. “And look where that got you all! Broken apart the moment your omega died.”

“You’re out of line, son.”

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