Forcing me to marry Lachlan is the evidence he wants his buyers to see.
Everyone knows I’ve been here forever and that I haven’t been interested in any of the Alphas that come here. He can make the case that Geraldine tried everything, but that he was the one who finally got me to marry someone. An Alpha who’s known to be abusive to women, no less.
That’ll impress his disgusting clients. It shows it doesn’t matter how awful they are. They can still have whatever they want in whatever way they want it.
I’m so distracted by my anger that I almost miss my father whispering, “Be a good girl, now.”
“Be a good girl, now,” I whisper, repeating his trigger phrase to make me stand still expectantly while I wait for the vows. This command overrides the echo command, but I know he’ll utter that again once it comes to that part. I don’t intend to allow that to happen.
The music, thankfully, stops, and he leaves me standing at the end of the pathway next to another creep in a suit. A priest moves onto the platform. God only knows where he came from.
He starts a dull sermon about marriage, and Lachlan makes a noise to get my attention.
I ignore it, and he leans in close, whispering in my ear, “The wedding part is boring, but think of all the fun we get to have later.”
I’m certain he’s grinning as he moves back. It takes all my restraint not to shudder at how close he was, his hot breath on my ear. My father can’t see my face right now, but he can see my posture.
I stay calm and composed as I wonder what damage one of my hairpins would do, depending on where I stabbed it into him. They won’t be quite as lethal as the hatpin, but I think I’ll be capable of summoning enough force to do some real damage.
When we’re told to face each other, my father issues his command from before.
I stare at Lachlan’s smirking, over-privileged face and I know I can’t contain my anger for another goddamned second. I reach back, as if to scratch my head, and I tug one of the hairpins free.
“Brooke!” my father seethes a foot away from me, shaking his head.
He gets to his feet as I slip the pin between my fingers, grasping the jeweled head tightly.
“I preferred it up,” Lachlan says, giving me an unimpressed once-over.
“And I prefer it this way,” I tell him, as I lash out at my father’s face.
I turn to watch Daddy Dearest stagger back, falling into his seat, his hand reaching up to clutch his bloodied face. I straighten the pin between my fingers as he pushes back onto his feet, his shock turning quickly back into anger.
Bring it on.
FROST
The sight of my mate in a wedding dress makes my heart leap into my throat. The music cut off just before I got to the door and found it locked. I smack my fist on the glass before Kellan reminds me we’re with two guards who have keys.
Brooke just vanished from sight, clearly reaching the end of the aisle her father was forcing her to walk down. Pausing to unlock the doors is fucking torture.
When I get them open, I bolt around the corner to see Brooke smacking her father across the face. No, not smacking. Slashing. He crumples to his seat in front of her, clutching the wound.
The split second of terror in his stare makes me smile.
My mate is capable of saving herself, but I’m already sick of this shit, so it’s time to step in.
Her father stands back up as I approach, and the groom yanks her arm back when it looks like she’s about to slash at her dad a second time.
“Take care of our guest!” Warren Corvina roars at his daughter.
She laughs, yanking her arm out of the groom’s grasp and tearing the material. “You seriously think that shit still works on me? I know what you’ve been doing, and it all stops now.”
Marissa Sawyer gets to her feet and starts darting back toward the building, muttering under her breath, “Everything’s fine. Stay calm.”
I don’t know who the fuck she’s supposed to be talking to, but when she realizes I’m in front of her and she tries to step past me, I block her path. “Go sit the fuck back down, or it won’t be fine in a minute.”
She stares at me, horrified. “You … You’re not on our approved list!”