Pucking My Ex’s Alpha Rival

Father Dearest

Wren

The last person I expected to see beside my father when I stepped into the living room was Veronica.

But there she was, smiling way too brightly for her own good. She stepped forward, wrapping me in an embrace that made me stiffen.

“Wren, darling, it’s been too long,” she said, and I forced a smile, ignoring the way my body tensed against her.

Clearly not long enough.

Eventually, she released me, and I turned to face my father, expecting the usual mask of indifference I was used to, but to my surprise, he asked, “How have you been?”

I tried my best to hide my surprise, but I knew it didn’t work. “Good. You?”

“Adequate.”

I blinked, unsure of what to make of his response.

Veronica clapped her hands excitedly, drawing my attention back to her face. “Fortunately, you came at just the right time. I spent all afternoon making sure everything was to your liking. Wren, I hope you like seafood.”

I didn’t. “Sounds great.”

She led us toward the dining area, which was all the way on the other side of the house, so I had to pretend to listen while she talked about how much she’d been looking forward to my visit.

I briefly glanced at my father. He’d always been a big man. Tall and imposing, not just in his size alone but in his very presence. Brown eyes that reminded me of mine stared straight ahead, barely noticing anything else.

Including me.

The fact that he wanted to have lunch with me was shocking, to say the least.

I assumed it would be just the two of us, like old times, but I clearly overestimated how much of his time my father was willing to spare me.

Nevertheless, I was willing to accommodate Veronica’s annoying chatter if it meant I got to spend even a fraction of a second with my father.

The truth is, I missed him. He was the only parent I had left, which sucked because he wasn’t exactly great at it.

When lunch came, I pretended to pick at a piece of sea bass, moving it around my plate to fake progress.

“You’ve hardly touched your food, Wren”, Veronica said, pointing at my plate with her fork. “Is it not to your liking?”

“It’s fine. I’m just not very hungry.”

She nodded slowly. “So I take it your mate is feeding you well, then.”

I froze and turned my head.

“What?”

With Ryan’s status and who I was, I’d expected the rumour to have spread far by now, yet it still surprised me that she, of all people, knew about it.

Veronica barely paid attention to the media, which was why she made a lousy assistant to my father but a good wife.

“That’s enough, Veronica.” My father said, and she turned to him, her smile as bright as ever.

“What? Can’t a mother know when her daughter is being taken care of by her potential life partner?”

“You’re not my mother,” I snapped, not caring how harsh my voice sounded.

Her smile faintly wavered. “Of course. My apologies, I just meant that—”

“Leave us, Veronica.” My father interrupted. He didn’t raise his voice. You didn’t need to when you were him.

Nodding once, she excused herself from the table, leaving my father and me alone.

Once she was gone, I tried my best to keep my voice level as I slowly set my fork down and lifted my gaze.

“You know.”

“I know everything that happens within the new world, Wren, especially when it is regarding my own daughter.” He sliced into his steak. “But I have to admit, I’m a bit lost on which parts of the rumours are true or false.”

He paused and levelled me with an assessing stare. “Are you really the mate of the Silver Fangs Alpha?”

My stomach churned as I nodded slowly. “Yes. I am.”

Everyone had to learn the history between supernaturals and humans at a very early age.

And I was no different.

Twenty-five years ago, a sickness spread amongst the humans, killing half the population. The supernaturals, fearing the illness might spread to them, came out of hiding not just to help the dwindling human population find a cure, but to regain their place in the world.

Many believed they didn’t come out to help us, but were waiting for an opportunity to claim the new world as their own.

To keep the peace, they set up a council.

Each council member was represented by an elder of a supernatural subset and one human elected by both humans and supernaturals.

The reason was that while the supernaturals trusted themselves not to breach the agreement, they didn’t trust the humans, so anyone representing us on the council had to win the votes of all species.

My father was at the end of his first tenure as the fourth human representative on the council, and while we both knew he would have no problem getting humans to vote for him for a second tenure, getting the supernaturals on his side was a different feat.

The truth? They didn’t trust him.

“When did you find out?”

“On Friday. We met at a party.”

I wasn’t sure how much he knew, and I wasn’t willing to give myself away.

“And how does he feel about this bond the two of you share?”

“He’s all for it,” I stated, not sure where he was heading with this.

“Have you two talked about sealing the bond properly?”

I shook my head.

“Why not?”

“Are you kidding? We just discovered the mate bond even exists. We’re still trying to figure things out.”

“That sounds idiotic.” My father sighed and dropped his fork. “Wren, darling, this is fate we’re talking about. Sooner or later you’re both going to end up together. Why not just make it sooner?”

Heat flooded my cheeks “Because I’m not ready.”

“Then be ready. My election comes up in six months; do you think the bond will be solidified by then?”

I stumbled, “I-I don’t know. Why is it so important?”

“We both know securing our kind on my side would be easy, but the supernaturals are a different story. Clark already has most of them on his side because his wife is a vampire. They believe he understands their kind and doesn’t view them as a threat.”

Dread pooled in my stomach. “What does that have to do with me?”

“Everything. You’re the mate of a supernatural and not just any supernatural but a werewolf. An alpha of a pack that commands respect and control in every major werewolf territory in the region. Once you publicly cement the bond with him as your mate, his status becomes my leverage. His people will vote for me simply because you’re one of them.”

In other words, he wanted to use me.

I dug my fingers into the flesh of my lap. “Is this why you invited me over?”

“My position on the council is the reason you have everything you do today. It guarantees both our futures and ensures that this family will forever be protected.”

But what about me?

What about what I wanted?

“And if I said no?”

“You won’t.”

I scoffed, “Don’t sound so—”

“Tell you what, if you do as I ask, I’ll finally tell you what happened to your mother.”

My heart skipped a beat as my frame went rigid.

My mother disappeared when I was young.

I don’t remember what happened, only that I went to sleep and woke up at the hospital covered in blood.

My father refused to tell me what had happened, no matter how much I begged.

But now he wanted to use it as leverage.

“You’re kidding.”

“I assure you that I’m not. Seal the bond in six months, and I will tell you everything that happened that night.”

I wanted to tell him no; I did. After all, it would mean using Ryan again, and I already promised myself that I wouldn’t.

But I needed to know what happened to her.

I needed to know why she left.

My father tilted his head, the corner of his mouth curled slightly. “Do we have a deal?”