Page 85 of Laurels and Liquor

“You have done nothing but cause me pain, and I won’t stand for it anymore. I have a pack who loves me for me, and I don’t need you. You can live the rest of your life in misery, but I won’t be in it. We’re not paying the dowry, and I’m sure as hell not going to sign that fucking NDA,” Lydia finishes.

She looks back to me and Lex as her mother sputters, turning to her husband for support, but the man appears to be too stunned to speak. Lydia starts toward the door, and the rest of us move to follow. Lydia has made herself quite clear, and to say anything else would be to undermine her. Not that any of the words I have for Diane Anderson would be ones fit for polite company.

But as Lydia and I move past Diane, she moves faster than I can react to. One of her hands shoots out and locks around Lydia’s upper arm, the other cracks across Lydia’s cheek hard enough to send her head whipping around and stumbling into me.

I blink, my vision going red. Absolutely the fuck not.

“Omega, let go,” I command, stepping into Diane’s space and towering over her as I bring the full force of my alpha bark down on her.

Diane whimpers and complies, cowering back a step. She’s shaking again, but then again, so am I. I’ve never put my hands on a woman who didn’t ask for it, but I want to hurt this trash dump of a human in front of me.

“Sam—”

“You don’t get to speak, Omega. Get down and beg,” Mateo barks, appearing at my side.

Diane crashes to the floor at our feet, head bowed even as she fights against the commands. She’s trying to throw me off, but I push back, hard enough to make her drop her chest to her lap as she curls into a ball.

“Matty, Rhett—”

Lydia’s whimper from behind me feels distant, secondary to the task at hand. I want to punish this omega at my feet, make her hurt like she made my love hurt. Lex is there, watching us, and very specifically, not stopping us. That’s all the permission I need to continue.

“Hands flat on the floor,” I order, ice cold.

“Sam, help—”

“I said, quiet!” Mateo shouts, and Diane whimpers.

I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. Sammy’s returned, it seems. He’s looking at his father in disbelief. “Dad, why—”

“She overstepped. Lydia isn’t ours to discipline anymore. Your mother had no right to put her hands on another pack’s omega,” Samuel Sr. states simply.

I look up at him, finding him glaring at his wife as she kneels on the floor, both of her hands pressed flat, with palms down on either side of her. There’s a moment of silent communication between us, and someone solidifies. He’d wanted to believe his wife wasn’t capable of the things we claimed, because he loves her, even if I’m skeptical that the toxic cesspit masquerading as a heart in her chest is even capable of the emotion. But he’s seen with his own eyes what she’s truly capable of.

“Okay. Whatever crock of shit you were trying to peddle didn’t work. So, it’s my turn. This is what’s going to happen,” Jason says, stepping around me and Mateo to stand between us and his father.

I blink, careful not to let my surprise shake my hold on Diane and her supplication. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with her yet, and I don’t want her scampering away.

“We’re going to walk away from this house, and never come back. You’re going to release me from my pack bond, and Lydia from this bullshit dowry demand. We’re going to get a written guarantee that you’ll never darken our doorway again, and you’re going to make Pastor Joe and his fucking son leave Lydia alone. You’re never going to contact us again,” Jason explains calmly.

“That’s one hell of a proposal, son. Why should I agree? What’s the benefit for me?” Samuel Sr. responds, sounding intrigued despite himself.

I swallow, throat going dry. We agreed that we weren’t going to go down that road. What does Jason think he’s doing? Lex tenses at my side as she comes to the same realization a moment later. Her scent shifts, turning bitter, and the hurt coming from her is sour, like unripe fruit.

“You’ll stay out of jail, probably,” Jason says simply.

Diane squeaks, and Mateo and I growl a reprimand, forcing her forehead to the floor now without even needing to speak. I look to Lex, and the only sign of her distress is the tightness around her mouth and eyes. Otherwise, she looks as cold and calculating as ever. Lydia is tucked into her side, and Lex’s fingers are making gentle circles over the bond mark on her throat. But I return my focus to the standoff before me as Samuel Sr. speaks.

“That so? I don’t think you know how negotiations work, Jason. See, you need to make proposals that are mutually beneficial for both parties, not make empty threats,” he says, the patronizing tone making my teeth grind.

“Oh, you misunderstand me, Dad. This isn’t a negotiation, and these aren’t empty threats. We’re going to walk away. You’re going to leave us alone, and we’re going to get a legally binding contract to confirm that. Or my new friends at the FTC are going to get a special delivery,” Jason replies, not remotely shaken.

I blink. We’d agreed not to extort Samuel and Diane. We’re better than that, better than Seth. And looking at Lex, she’s as silently furious as I’ve ever seen her. But she can’t undermine Jason, not now that he finally seems to have gotten his father’s attention.

“The documents…”

“I promised that you’d regret taking your children and their loyalty for granted,” Jason says, picking up when his father trails off.

“And how do I know that you won’t blow the whistle, even if I agree to this extortion?” Samuel demands, an edge of panic creeping in now.

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