Page 6 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

I whirled around, alarmed by the tremor in Kate’s voice. My grandmother wasn’t crying, but my grandfather was, and the sight crushed me.

I saw it all in his face, saw that he blamed himself for the way my mother turned out, saw the way he couldn’t understand why his own flesh and blood could be like that to them.

And Kate, my lovely, strong grandmother...

I could see it in the way she was hugging her husband, the way she wished she could take all his pain and absorb it inside of her.

All of this because of my mother and how odd she was.

Rushing to them, I wrapped my arms around Kate and Chris.

“ I’m sorry .” The tears started to fall, and the oddness started to disappear.

“I’m so sorry you had to meet her again because of me.

” The more I spoke, the harder I cried. But I didn’t stop because it also made the oddness go away, and I wanted that. I needed that.

“I love you, Gran, love you, Gramps, always.” Closing my eyes, I hugged them more tightly, destroying the oddness by allowing the pain of love to fill me.

My mother was odd because she only wanted love without the pain.

But I wasn’t going to be like her , I promised myself fiercely. I wasn’t going to be odd. I wasn’t going to hate. Instead, I was going to fall in love, find a man who would love me back, and with him, I’d give Kate and Chris a son, and we’d be a family.

Together, we wouldn’t ever be odd.

“WE CAN’T ALWAYS PLAY this game,” the council member warned Alessandro from behind. “If you persist in continuing with such actions, a fine will no longer be sufficient. You need to remember, Alessandro: being a prince won’t protect you forever.”

The words continued to echo like a taunt in Alessandro Moretti’s mind even after he was already home.

Fucking Lyccan Council, he thought grimly as he reached for a fresh strip of gauze. All they wanted were peace talks and mediations, like that would really stop those stupid pups from talking shit about his family.

A knock sounded on the door then, and Alessandro said immediately, “Come in.” He didn’t need to ask who it was, the scent tingeing the air letting him know who it was without turning around.

Domenico Moretti walked in. Taller than the twins, Alessandro and Alejandro, by a few inches, he was also more powerfully built, as befitting the heir apparent to the Moretti clan.

He also used to be considered the strongest and most respected member of their race, someone whose mere glance would have Lyccans quivering in fear.

But that was then.

Now, Domenico Moretti was a mere shell of who he once was. Now, he was a laughingstock, someone almost the entire race loved to ridicule because of the way he had allowed love to make a fool out of him.

Seeing Alessandro seated on one of the bar stools, applying a special salve to his wounds, Domenico came to a stop.

Since most wounds, even those considered mortally fatal by humans, would have healed in mere seconds for Lyccans like them, Domenico knew there were only a few reasons to explain why there were still red gashes on his brother’s chest.

“How bad is the poison?” Domenico asked, his face and tone equally impassive.

“Nothing strong,” Alessandro answered dismissively as he finished applying the salve and started bandaging his lower chest. “It’s just what I’d expect from cowards like them.

” His lip curled as his spoke, his disgust evident as he recalled the way the pups had ganged up on him, thinking they’d win because they had the numbers on their side.

Idiots. Goddamn idiots, thinking that they could beat him just like that.

“As they were obviously cowards...” Domenico’s mildly spoken words drew Alessandro’s attention back to him. “There shouldn’t have been any point in beating them up, don’t you think?” His older brother paused. “And all eight of them, too?”

Another shrug. “You and I both know they deserved it.”

“Well, both of us also know it wasn’t truly you they were trying to offend.”

Teeth gnashing at the way Domenico was still able to stay calm after everything, Alessandro threw away the used gauze into the waste bin as he asked violently, “What the fuck do you want me to do then? Do nothing even if I hear them call you a fucking dog? Or maybe you want me to do it Alejandro’s way and get revenge by fucking their girlfriends? ”

“Not quite.” Domenico’s voice remained even despite the fury displayed by his younger brother. “But yes, I would appreciate it if you do find a woman to regularly fuck.”

Alessandro’s head shot up.

Domenico’s gaze remained inscrutable.

His jaw dropped. So he hadn’t been wrong then. That odd note in his brother’s voice wasn’t something he had imagined, making him demand incredulously, “Are you threatening me?”

Domenico was unsurprised by the way Alessandro chose to interpret his words. For a moment, he debated with himself, knowing the risk he was taking. Once he gave Alessandro his word, there wouldn’t be any way he could take it back.

It was a huge risk, but if there was something he had learned since his wife had disappeared, it was how much power love could wield over a person.

Making his decision, Domenico looked at his brother. “I’m not threatening you. Rather, I’m offering you a deal.”

“A deal?” Alessandro fought to keep his wariness in check.

Making deals up front wasn’t something Domenico was known for.

His oldest brother tended to be a manipulative bastard, one who liked to pull everyone’s strings without anyone knowing it, not even the person whose limbs were under his control.

Domenico clasped his hands behind his back.

“ Yes. A deal. I want you to find a woman you can fuck regularly – just one woman, be able to fuck her every day for thirty days, and upon finding that woman, if you still want to kill everyone who throws insults at us, I give you my word. You will not have to defend me again.”

Only a moment of silence followed before his younger brother said disbelievingly, “You’re serious? You just want me to fuck someone for thirty days straight—-”

“One woman, ” Domenico emphasized.

“And that’s it?” Alessandro’s eyebrows shot up. “You’ll go back to being normal if I do that?”

“I have given you my word, haven’t I?”

Alessandro slowly shook his head. “What the hell is this about, Domenico?”

The fact that you have to ask only means I have done the right thing , Domenico thought.

“My reasons for it are immaterial.” Domenico started for the door, saying over his shoulder, “Just let me know when you’ve found her and we’ll start counting the days.”