Page 22 of Forsaken Fate

“Theo.” Adam’s face was sheet white. “I told you I didn’t prepare the final trust document. I worked on a draft with Theo Sr. But he never executed it. I tried to get him in to do it. I hounded him about it. In the end, he went with another lawyer. I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. I didn’t want to risk Diana not letting me see him. I’m sorry, Grayson, but your mother was vindictive like that.”

Grayson just shrugged. The fucker was smiling. This whole thing had been a set up. He knew damn well I expected those lands to revert to me. This was a conversation we could have had without the theater.

“Look,” he said. “You guys can rant and wail all you want. The fact is my mother was married to Theo Sr. for fifteen years. She took care of him when he couldn’t take care of himself. She knew him better than either of you did in the end. I’m sorry if you don’t like how they decided things. Theo ... I really am sorry. And you don’t need this shit anyway. You can find another place to hunt. Dad knew that.”

“You can’t hold those lands, Grayson. You’re not strong enough. How long do you think it’s going to take before a rival pack catches wind of all this and challenges you? You’re a beta.” I decided to take a breath. Grayson wasn’t Diana. Maybe he could still see the truth beyond her insecurities. I left something else unspoken. If I chose to challenge him, he could never beat me. But then I’d have to kill him. As weak as he was physically, his mother still had powerful allies who might prefer Grayson in power over me. He would be easier to control. To them, I was the outsider now.

Grayson threw up his hands. “What do you want from me, Theo?”

I took another deep breath. “I just want you to do the right thing.”

“No,” Grayson said. “What you want is to take something from me that belongs to me. You’ve always wanted that. Everything has always been a competition with you. Well, I’m going to honor what our father wanted. If he’d wanted the land to go to you, he would have given it to you. He didn’t. He wanted my mother to decide. So you do the right thing and drop it.”

For that brief instant I wanted to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze him until he turned purple. Instead, I rose slowly and towered over him. Grayson flinched and the color drained from his face as I realized he was afraid I was about to put him down. He was shaking from it. I let my wolf out just a little. My fangs dropped. I could do it. Right here. Right now. I could subjugate him. Force him to bend to me as his Alpha.

Only then, I’d be responsible for him. That’s the last thing I wanted. And for an Alpha to subjugate another wolf without his permission…it was perhaps the worst crime our kind could commit. I would find another way.

“We’re done here,” I said. “For now.”

“I, uh ... I’ll talk to you later, okay, Theo? I think Kyle needs me to hang back and sign a few things.”

Kyle looked perplexed but nodded. I almost laughed at him. Grayson was hiding behind the lawyer like he used to do his mommy’s skirts. He was afraid I really was about to kick his ass. We both knew I could do it without breaking a sweat.

In the hallway, I spoke quietly under my breath to Adam. “I’ll ask again. Do I have any legal footing here?”

Adam sighed. “Maybe a little. Not much. We’d have to challenge the language of the trust in court. Find outside evidence about what your father intended. Then we’d have to show he was mistaken or coerced when he signed that trust. It would have to be a smoking gun and I’ll tell you; I don’t have it. Kyle’s right. That document gave Diana pretty much carte blanche in how she could administer the assets of the trust. I’ll fight it with you until my last breath if you want. This isn’t right, Theo.”

We had reached the lobby and Brynna was still there, looking striking and sexy in her green suit. She waited patiently for Grayson to come out. And she would leave with him. I made a choice in that instant that I wasn’t proud of later ... but just then I didn’t care.

“I’ll meet you downstairs, okay, Adam?” I said. “I need to talk to Brynna for just a second.”

Brynna’s eyes widened and color came into her cheeks as I got close to her. I put a hand on the small of her back, maybe just an inch lower than was appropriate. She didn’t stop me. If Grayson was going to take something I cared about, I could return the favor.

And it would be so easy.

CHAPTER 10

Theo

“How did it go in there?” Brynna’s eyes were wide. Her heart raced. I felt it in my blood. It took every ounce of self-control I had not to give in to my wolf.

“Lousy,” I said, drawing her away from the nosy eyes of Earnest’s receptionist. I led her around the corner. “But I’m glad you’re here.” She squirmed a little under the hand I held at her back. I had the urge to run my hand under her green blazer, find the waist band of her skirt and slide my fingers down until I found her bare ass. There was something sultry in her gaze, a small twitching of her mouth. I wondered if she’d stop me if I tried. Then I knew. She wouldn’t.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Are you going to be all right?”

For a minute, I thought she meant financially. I would have laughed but she was serious. She arched one thick black brow, and I knew she wasn’t talking about money. She was actually expressing concern for my emotional state. I didn’t know what to make of this girl.

“I want to see you again,” I said. I was quick and bold, and I leaned forward, taking in the smell of her perfume. The soft hairs on the nape of her neck moved when I breathed. She wore a silk button-down blouse and goose bumps rose across her flesh just below her clavicle and ran down between the swell of her breasts. I wanted to taste her there. Fuck. I wanted to bite her there.

“That’s probably a terrible idea,” she said, her voice husky, barely above a whisper.

“Probably.”

I let her go. She put a hand to the back of her neck, her fingers trembling. My blood raced. My primal urges nearly blinded me. I decided then and there, I had to give in to them. I had to see her again. Alone. I reached into the breast pocket of my suit coat and drew out one of the two key cards to my hotel room.

“Tonight,” I said. “I think you know where I’m staying. After nine. Room 814.”

“Wow,” Brynna said, taking a step back. She narrowed her eyes at me. Her posture stiffened and the muscles of her neck tensed. I knew an oncoming rant when one was about to be hurled at me.

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