Page 217 of Broken Bonds

Freya mutes the TV. She wears a mix of fear and rage. “Is it time?”

“Almost.” I look at Mal. “Do you know what you want to say?”

He looks as enraged as his mother and sits up. “Yeah. I’m going to tell him to go fuck himself and that he’ll never meet his first grandchild.”

Freya’s grim smile almost chills me. “If we’re lucky, maybe he’ll stroke out.”

“I’m never that lucky,” Mal mutters.

“Oh, I don’t know, sweetie.” This smile is full of love as she plays with his hair. “I think you hit a grand-slam of luck.” She points at me. “The Goddess balances the scales in unexpected ways.”

Mal meets my gaze, smiling. “That’s true.” He pats his stomach. “In a monkey-paw kind of way, though.”

“Eh, nothing’s perfect.” She drops me a playful wink.

Despite expecting it, we all jump when the burner phone rings. I answer it and put it in speaker mode.

Mal answers. “Hello?”

Morning speaks. “We’re connecting you now. The call will appear to come from Freya’s phone at the decoy nest in Birmingham. Say whatever you want to piss him off and make him think you’re at the nest. Take as long as you need. The more you enrage him, the better. Let him think you’ll be leaving here by tomorrow evening and heading out of the country. We want to force his hand. Pretend you have no idea he can track the phone call. Freya, if it comes up, you met Mal in Maine, and the two of you drove to Alabama together. Don’t get into the weeds on details; act cagey. We don’t want him suspecting it’s a setup.”

“Okay,” Freya says.

We tensely wait when we hear the call connect. By the fourth ring, I wonder if it’ll go to voicemail when it’s answered.

“There you are, mate,” Sterling growls. His cruel tone makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “You’ve been absent. I’ve had to make uncomfortable excuses.”

“Fuck you, Randolph.” The wide-eyed shock on Mal’s face makes me clap a hand over my mouth so I don’t laugh out loud.

“What did you say to me?” Sterling roars.

“Is your hearing going, asshole? I clearly said ‘fuck you.’ Mal and I wanted to let you know you don’t have to worry about us anymore.”

His growl turns even more threatening. “You’ve got that right. Just wait until I get my hands on both of you.”

Rage radiates off my mate. “Hey, Dad? Fuck you. Oh, and by the way? You’ll never see my daughter.”

There’s a long moment of silence. We all lean in to look at the phone to make sure the call didn’t drop when a literal roar slithers out.

“You’re fucking PREGNANT?”

Mal grins. “Yep! Got laid, caught, and you should see my baby bump. Despite everything, your firstborn grandchild will still be a girl, asshole. And born to your gay omega son. Bet that would make my Insta account go viral, huh?”

Another nearly incoherent roar erupts from the phone, but Freya leans forward. “Enjoy your whores, Randolph. Enjoy your sycophants. Enjoy your money. You and I are done.”

“I will hunt you both and strip the flesh from your bodies while you’re alive!”

“Oh, well,” Freya says. “Then I guess I can send the US Attorney in Atlanta a copy of a certain thumb drive. That’ll keep you busy, won’t it?”

A strangled, gasping question. “What?”

“You heard me, fucker. I made a copy a few months back. You left me at the campaign office while you went to fuck your secretary, and I got to talking to people. They were very helpful, and they let me use your computer there. So come after us. I dare you. I’ll happily ruin you and every other shifter in this pack.”

His tone changes, menacing. “Oh, my sneaky little mate. Why didn’t you display this side years ago? Life would’ve gone so much easier for you.”

“Fuck you. I didn’t want to marry you, and you knew it. You raped me. And fuck you for making me get rid of my daughters, you homicidal asshole.”

“Dad, just admit it, your mate and your pregnant gay omega son outsmarted you. If you even think about coming after us, I’ll start posting pics of my baby bump all over Insta. Hell, I’ll livestream the birth. Just forget about us. We’re leaving the country tomorrow night, anyway. Good riddance.”