Page 29 of Harley & Her Ferals

“Keep quiet,” Dad growls. “Battles don’t cry. Haven’t you learned this lesson yet? Or are you a crybaby because you’re not our blood?”

“Is that why you’re not making me heir?” Lionzio retorts. “Because I’m adopted?”

I wince.

Say no.

“Did I say that I wasn’t naming you as heir?” Dad glances around at the three of us. He appears satisfied with our confusion. “Those files are for me to help to assess who to choose. Competition makes everybody stronger. So, I called you three here to announce an Heir Contest.”

My eyes widen.

Do I truly have a chance to be named as Heir to the Underworld and this mafia empire, even as a Second Omega?

It would make my place in the pack more stable. I’d have a higher status than Allegra.

I’d finally be able to scheme a way to save everybody.

I try not to look too eager, but Allegra doesn’t bother.

She claps her hands. “Papi, that’s amazing. How do I win?”

“You haven’t won yet,” I bite back.

When Lionzio painfully raises his head to meet my gaze, I die inside at how betrayed he looks.

Yet this is my chance. I need to take it.

On the other hand, Dad is deliberately dividing and setting us against each other.

He’s turning us into rivals.

My heart sinks.

This is his game.

Lionzio’s gaze hardens, before he deliberately looks away from me.

“You all have three days to impress me.” Dad caresses Lionzio’s hair like he isn’t still crushing his wrist. “Don’t you dream of bending that sunny Italian Beta over and rutting him? I see how you look at your ward. Whoever I choose to win the HeirContest will be allowed to choose a pack of their own. Then you can bond that little Beta bitch.”

Lionzio wildly twists in Dad’s grip. “Are you going to take back this promise as well? Or do you mean it?”

My heart is in my throat.

I can tell by Lionzio’s hopeful expression that hedoeswant River.

He’s going to do everything to behave well and earn him.

Dad doesn’t force his own kids into bonds but he’ll force whoever we choose into them.

Including River.

How the hell can I convince Dad that I would make a better heir than the Alpha who has been brought up and trained for the position?

Is this whole thing nothing but a charade like this humiliation over breakfast? Simply a way for Dad to show my brother his place and how much he can still be controlled, before he hands him the position of heir to his criminal empire?

Allegra tosses her hair. “Papi, you know that I will make the perfect heir alongside a bonded pack with Vinnie.”

“Hmm.” Dad raises his eyebrow at me. “What about you, Harley? I would let you choose an Alpha, Beta, fuck it, a male Omega. You can have an entire pack with you, the first ever Omega mafia heir, at its head. It’d be a fucking sensation through the Underworld.”

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