Page 27 of Harley & Her Ferals

Feral has literally been raised in a cage, and I’ve willingly lived in it right alongside him for the last three years.

I walked in without a gun being held to my head, but was it reallywillingly?

I believed that I was breaking free by rejecting Vinnie’s bond and deciding to train as a fighter instead.

Did I escape the net, only to fly into a cage that Dad had set up for me all along?

Uncomfortable, I shift in my seat.

“I don’t understand.” When Lionzio pushes his plate back, before running his hand through his hair with a jerky movement, I realize with shock that he’s shaking now with anger, rather than nerves. “I thought that the announcement you wanted to tell us was—”

“Yes?” Dad asks, dangerously softly. “Are you going to tell me whatIwas going to say? Surely a dog wouldn’t dare to know the thoughts of its master.”

I expect Lionzio to back down.

Instead, he pushes himself out of his chair, which topples backwards. “We’ve talked about this. You’vepromised. The Betas know. The Alphas in the other fucking packs have been gossiping. It merely has to be publicly announced.”

Dad glowers.

My breathing picks up. Adrenaline rushes through me.

My fingers twitch toward the gun that’s lying on the table.

Can I reach it before Dad does?

“Don’t even think about it, Harley,” Dad says without turning his head toward me. I jump. How does he read my mind like that? He never looks away from Lionzio. “Sit down.”

Lionzio doesn’t.

Instead, he puffs out his chest in a direct challenge. “Announcing me as heir. Isn’t that why we’re here this morning? Surely, it’s time to settle the succession.”

“Why do you think that I’d choose a soft Alpha like you as my heir?” Dad’s eyes flash. “You don’t keep your ward in line. You give your jacket to a Second Omega. And this file is filled with your unauthorized visits to your foster brother, including the food, presents, and extra blankets that you’ve smuggled to him over the years. I’ve been monitoring you. Strange that you’d take a discussion as apromise.”

Lionzio’s hands ball into fists.

He opens his mouth but then closes it again.

He looks devastated.

His life, future, and reality has just been torn down.

Ifucking hate Dad.

Lionzio has dedicated himself to this pack from the moment that he was forcibly adopted.

Yet even he isn’t safe from this asshole narcissist.

Why has Dad done this? To control all of us?

Does he not want to make any of us his heir?

I remember my first sight of Lionzio.

I’d been furious and still grieving Mom. Only five years old, I ran into the guest bedroom and found a strange Alpha who looked a couple of years older than me huddled on the bed. His arms were locked tightly around his knees, and his face was hidden against them.

I didn’t understand why his shoulders were shaking.

He didn’t have a suitcase or any toys. Only a too thin t-shirt and shorts.

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