Page 4 of The Alpha Grizzly’s Mate (Omegas of the Shifter Mafia #8)

Colson

I had my suit on and walked into the dining room at exactly seven. I knew better than to be late and zero part of me wanted to be a second early. As it was, it was a struggle to go down there at all. If my grandfather was still around, I’d have gone to sleep and played the “ask forgiveness” card. But with my father, forgiveness was off the table.

What I really wanted to do was curl up in bed and go to sleep. Or maybe find one of my favorite books and read until my eyes couldn’t stay open. Both of those ideas were a bazillion times better than dinner, but pissing my father off on the day I came home was not a good idea. Heck, pissing him off on any day wasn’t a good idea.

My father sat in his seat at the head of the table when I walked in. I gave him a nod. I didn’t play the games most people did with him, going over and basically kissing his ass. But respect was nonnegotiable and, long ago, I discovered the nod was acceptable from me and never looked back.

“You know our guests, the Marcus family,” he said.

Fuck. How had I not scented that they were there. I’d been too focused on not making eye contact with my family I completely missed it.

I turned to them and greeted each one by name, grateful I hadn’t forgotten their names over the years. Each and every one of them was there. Fabulous.

Taking my seat, I joined a couple of my uncles and brothers at the far side of the table and listened to the forced pleasantries as dinner was served.

As we ate, most of the conversation going on around me didn’t include me. I was grateful for that. I was not, however, grateful that Edwin stared at me the entire time. It was awkward as fuck.

When my father announced it was time to have drinks in the other room, I dawdled long enough to give myself a breather. It had been a mistake because it left Edwin and me alone.

“You’re still a nerd, I see.” He jumped right in, not hiding his disdain.

“Yeah, that’s true.” I didn’t see anything wrong with being a nerd, but with the disgust rolling off him, he clearly did.

Edwin looked me up and down. “You’ll need to change.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”

He let out a long, exasperated sigh. “You are so disobedient. Your father needs to train you better, or there’s no way this can work.”

And with that, he stomped off.

My father never put up with anyone telling him what to do. Full. Stop. Which meant the “mate my son into the Marcus family” plan was as good as dead. Thank the gods for that. If Edwin had been interested, the process would’ve taken a whole lot longer.

By the time I got into the other room, Edwin was telling his parents he had a business meeting to attend, and they made their excuses and left.

“Father, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to head back to my room. Moving took a lot out of me, and I’m exhausted.” None of it was a lie, but also, none of it was the reason I wanted to get away, either.

He raised his hand and shooed everybody else out, and they scurried like mice. There wasn’t a soul who didn’t fear my father, including me. And it wasn’t without cause. My father was a brutal man.

“What did you say to Edwin?”

“Nothing, really. He said I was a nerd. I agreed. He told me I needed to stop being one. I told him that wasn’t a possibility, and that was that.”

He glared at me as if looking for any indication I was lying. I wasn’t and, eventually, he mumbled, “There aren’t many people left.”

“That’s fine, Father. I don’t want you finding someone for me.” This wasn’t the first time I’d told him that. When I was a teen, he countered that I was speaking out of youth. In college, it was me being rebellious. Now? I wasn’t sure what he thought, and I didn’t care.

“I don’t want to be part of any of this world.”

“This world put food in your mouth, provided you with the best education, and made you the man you are today.”

“And I appreciate it all. But this is not where I belong. Edwin saw that. I wish you could too.” I kept my voice low and meek in the hopes he would listen and not explode.

“What do you want, if not protection, shelter, and food?”

I wanted to shout at him that I didn’t want the violence, hate, and fear, but I knew better and decided to go for broke…literally.

“What I really want is for you to give me access to my trust fund now and let me just go live. I’ll eventually find a job in my career, or maybe a new avenue of study—I don’t know—but let me find my way. This isn’t it. You cannot look at me and tell me you see the next in line to take your place or even stand by your side.”

“Don’t tell me what I can and cannot see.”

“I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way.” Even though I 100 percent did. “When Edwin called me a nerd—it’s because I am. I love learning. I love reading. Staying curled up in bed surrounded by books on a Saturday night sounds a thousand times better than anything else I could be doing.”

“We will not have this argument again.” He wasn’t raising his voice or giving me the death glare. I was calling that a win.

Most people wouldn’t consider what we were doing arguing. My father wasn’t most people. In his mind, anyone suggesting something that wasn’t exactly his idea to a T, was arguing.

“You need to be here. You need to at least try.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I know. And I will…but what if…what if I can’t do it? What if I just don’t fit in here?” At the end of the day, I didn’t. Nothing could make me disregard life the way my family did. It wasn’t in me.

“Three years,” he said. “Three years. You give it your all, and if after that time you want out, you can have out.”

At first, I was relieved, and then I saw the look of checkmate he got, right before he shot someone or stole all they had out from under them. This deal was a trap. It was his way of sounding reasonable, but, in his mind, he already won. And he was right; he had. After three years, my hands would be so dirty, there’d be no way out. Not because of him but because I’d be in too deep. His whole charade of being a well-meaning father just wanting me to give it a go was disgusting.

I walked off, not ready to have this discussion. I was going to continue to fight, but the words ready to flow from my mouth right then and there would have far wider repercussions than I was willing to deal with. They could wait until another day, one where I was rested and had a plan.

Heading straight to my room, I didn’t so much as say hello to my uncles as I passed them in the foyer. I might be rebellious enough to walk away for a few minutes of breathing space before my father reamed me up and down, but I wasn’t dumb enough to leave the house and have him require the services of another family member to come get me.

I tossed the jacket across the room and fell onto the bed. I’d worked so hard for this not to be my reality, and yet here it was.

A knock on the door was no surprise, but as I opened it, there he was—Father. Not only was he standing in front of me, but he didn’t look like the cruel, heartless man I’d known most of my life. This was a different side of him, one I had seen briefly and sporadically over the years. In some ways, he was scarier because I never knew what to expect from his lips.

When I was little, this was the man I liked to believe was the real Father, and that his cruel and horrible ways were just an act, but it wasn’t. The blood I’d seen poured showed that well enough.

“You win.” There had to be a catch. There always was.

“You mean I can leave?”

“No. I still want you to work with the family for three years. You’ve been gone too long. It doesn’t look good on me.”

Because that was the important part of all of this. Of course it was.

“And you still need to work for the family.”

“I don’t see how that’s winning.”

“Because I’ll give you a say in the job.”

“I only want to do legal shit.” Then I really could leave. Plausible deniability and all that.

We didn’t talk about the illegal side of the business very often. It was a given, but the less I knew, the safer it was for all involved.

“Fine. In the morning, come find me. You’ll have your first job.”

He walked away before I could ask a single question, which was fine. Any word I said held the potential of pissing him off and ruining this compromise, if it even was one. I’d find out soon enough.

The next morning, I met him downstairs. “I need food delivered.” He handed me a paper list, money, and said, “Go.”

“Where’s the address?” I expected a lot more guidance than a grocery list for the bulk warehouse.

“I’ll send it to you.”

I walked into the store at open and filled up a flatbed with the list in record time. I wasn’t there buying a couple of random foods—no. I was delivering enough for a restaurant. It barely fit in the van and, if there had been a passenger with me, it wouldn’t have.

Just as my father said, the location was sent to my phone, and I set the GPS and drove the short distance. It was a big estate, and I had to be let in through the gate, which also meant I was going to need to be let out. That had my beast on alert. He was really chill except when he felt caged.

I was greeted by the house manager, who had me drive around back to unload.

Walking in the rear entrance, I instantly felt the weight of what I was part of. This wasn’t a family estate. There were far too many scents for that.

There were lots of people here, and my wolf sensed nothing but abject terror washing off of them. Had I been brave, I’d have investigated. Only I wasn’t brave, and even if I’d managed to summon the courage, there was nothing I could do about what I discovered. This was family business, meaning, I was one of the bad guys.

I climbed back into the van, drove out of the gate, and made it barely a quarter mile down the street before I had to pull over, my stomach revolting.

“I can’t live this life. There has to be another way.”