Page 94 of PET

She looks wounded, glancing back at him with a look that probably screamsgo to hell,but words that will never leave her mouth in fear of being fired. If that ever happened, I’d hire her at my future home—Farrah is family; more so than my own parents.

“Thank you, Farrah,” I tell her softly when she heads for the door. My hard glare turns back to my father. “I have places to be. What’s going on?”

He snorts. “Places to be? You’re not going anywhere after I tell you what’s been going on. In fact, I instructed Farrah to pack your things.”

Alarm bells go off in my head. There is no way in hell I’m going anywhere with these assholes, and I’m sure as fuck not leaving Christian or Billie. These fuckers will have to drug my ass and kidnap me in order to get me away from them, but I’ll keep my mouth shut so I don’t give them the idea.

“First off, I’m not going anywhere with you people. Second, you both have some explaining to do yourselves. Why wasn’t I ever told about the society our family has been in for centuries or—”

“Who the hell told you about that?” he barks, slamming his hand down on the top of his desk. My mother and I both jump. “They should be fucking taken out. There are rules in place—rules that bring death if they’re broken.”

I lightly laugh, shaking my head. “I’m not telling you shit. Not untilyoustart talking.”

He smirks as he leans back in his seat. “You’d have made a damn good leader, Ezekiel. It’s just too bad you’re not going to be considered for the position.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I ask, “Why not? Billie’s next in line to serve, is she not? And the last time I checked, I’ve been fucking her brains out every chance I can get. I could easily be the next ruler if I wanted, right—?”

My mother gasps at my outburst, clearly appalled by my vocabulary, but she’ll get over it. The wry smile on my father’s face has me nervous, though. I can talk tough all I want, but he’s been in this society for much longer than me, probably taking down a family or two in his day. From what I’ve seen, every family is ruthless to the bone. Just look at Holden’s father, for example. He’s the most ruthless of them all.

“You have no idea what you’re playing with, Ezekiel.”

I flinch at the use of my full legal name. “Of course I don’t, because nobody has told me a fucking thing.”

“Honey, we’re only trying to protect you,” Mom says with a worried gleam flashing in her eyes, but I know it’s all bullshit.

“Protect me? You think dipping out on me to go on vacation in Europe for the last several months while I’m left here to deal with all the shit that’s going down is protecting me? Do you have any idea how fucking crazy that sounds?!”

“We were over there to solidify a new life for all of us, son,” my father says with a tight jaw, as if calling me son will somehow make things better. “Christian’s mother has been with us, too.”

This obviously piques my interest. “What do you mean?” I ask, knowing she’s been overseas on vacation herself, but never connecting dots. She and my mom are close, so it only makes sense.

“She’s trying to get her and Christian out of here, too.”

“Why don’t you guys stay here and fight? Change the society back to the way it was before everything got fucked up.” I offer, wondering why they aren’t fighting for something they’ve been a part of their entire life. It has to be horrible if families are trying to flee.

My father scoffs, shaking his head. “As if we haven’t tried. Van made it nearly impossible—the greedy, power-hungry motherfucker,” he adds under his breath. “So, we have to leave before the society kills us all off.”

“But why the hell would they do that? Don’t they need us? Without our families and our money, they’d be nothing.”

“They’d be nothing inReaper, Ezekiel… The society is worldwide; there is no way to stop them. We can only end our chapter.”

I’m understanding what he’s saying, but unlike him, I don’t run from my problems. Crossing my arms over my chest, I look him dead in the eyes and say, “I’m not leaving. I’ll stay here with Billie and Christian. We’ll fight to our deaths if we have to, but I won’t leave them.”

Mom lets out a small sob, covering her mouth, as my dad stands from his chair with a look of disappointment swimming in his gaze. “Son, this is out of our hands. If you stay—you’re dead. Billie might be next in line, but you’re sorely mistaken if you think the society is going toallowyou to be with her. And Christian is tainted, impure, no longer fit to hold the title of being a leader.”

“That’s fucking bullshit. Tainted? From a society thatforcedhim to become tainted? I guess I’ll take my chances then because like I said—”

“If either of you knock her up, you’re dead. The society already has the heir they want for her… And it isn’t either of you, Ezekiel.”

My brows crease at his statement, confusion flooding my thoughts. “They already have an heir? But who else could it be if it isn’t me or Christian? Holden’s already married off. That leaves Lauren, right?” I’m asking all these questions, trying to piece it all together.

They share a knowing glance, pissing me off when he doesn’t just spit it out. “It’s already set in blood. Literally.”

My hands fist at my sides, my back teeth grinding as fear and anger rips through me. The society has already promised my girl to someone else? Over my dead fucking body.

“We can sneak out of town while everyone is occupied with the Lucas funeral. They’ll never know we—”

“What?!” I shout, hearing Billie’s last name. “Patrick’s dead?!”

---