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“Why not?”

“Fuck off, Grant. Give me an answer,” I demand.

He tilts his head, his eyes burning into mine. “I want you. I knew when you were little that we would be perfect together.”

“That’s not possible. Plus, we aren’t mates,” I point out.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t you know how mates work?”

“I do. I just choose not to fall into the bullshit,” he shouts. “Why should I wait for the fucking universe to choose my mate? What gives them the power? I don’t let anyone hold their power over me. I should be able to pick who I want as a mate. I choose you. I will have you.”

“No,” I growl. The universe knows he doesn’t deserve someone to call his own.

He shakes his head sharply. “That is not your decision.”

“Pretty sure it is,” I spit.

“I have watched you for years. I have waited for you. I won’t be denied what I want.”

“Grant, what’s the big deal? What is so special about me? Years of following me, never catching me. Why keep coming?” I don’t understand his obsession.

“You are mine,” he declares. “My father gave you to me.”

“What?” I ask weakly.

“He promised you to me. He said I would be the one to break you. He said you would make me a powerful Alpha. I swore to him as he was dying that I would find you and mate you. He chose you for me and I will complete his wish,” he says, his breath becoming ragged in his passion.

“He had no right to give me to you.” I take a step back.

“He did,” he says, eliminating the space I created.

“What gave him that right?” I ask, inching backward away from his advance.

“Your father did,” he says, blowing my mind.

“What?” I gasp.

“Did you know they were best friends?” he asks, his body stopping.

“No,” I whisper.

“They were the best of friends for years,” he says, almost overjoyed at my shock. “They grew up together. My dad always knew he would be Alpha and yours didn’t care and didn’t want the position. They did everything together. They spent years building a friendship that nothing could tear apart. Then they met your mother. She was everything they wanted: beauty, kindness, and fearlessness. She changed them. She was your dad’s mate. The bond started to work its magic between them. Except, my dad was left out. He loved her, too.

“She hurt all they built. She threatened their friendship. Your dad saw the longing in mine’s eyes. At first, he hated the wall that grew between them. He did anything he could to ease it. One night, your dad convinced your mom to be with both of them. He thought if he gave them a night to be together it would help.” I cringe. I don’t think I want those answers I was seeking any longer. How could my dad do that?

“She agreed. I suppose she loved my dad in her own way and could see the trauma she was causing between them. After that night, my dad was never the same. He became obsessed with getting a repeat of that night. He had to have her. He knew she felt more for him than she admitted.” Grant runs his hands through his hair and stared out at the water. “He told me she did things to him that no other woman did. That the universe got it wrong. She was his.”

“Stop,” I protest, swallowing the bile that crept up my throat.

“Fuck, he said, the mouth she had on her,” he says dreamily.

“Stop,” I say, my voice getting harsher.

“He wanted more. You father wouldn’t allow it. So, my dad had to do what he did. He snuck into her room and gave her what she was begging for.”

“No,” I cry.