Page 94 of Trust No Alpha

Thorne had seen Trigg that day he’d come to make his claim on Kris. But never up close.

“And lastly, there’s Father. My little brothers are probably with their tutors this time of day.”

Mathias, the first to arrive, looked Kris up and down, nostrils flaring, and then turned to Thorne with an outright, freezing glare.

Thorne found it annoying that Mathias seemed to show no affection to his litter-mate, not even enough to embrace him after not seeing Kris for so long.

“Come to return the flawed merchandise?” Mathias asked, puffing out his chest and lifting his shoulders.

“He’s not returning me,” Kris answered. His clasp tightened on Thorne’s hand.

Varian Vandergale came up alongside Mathias with Trigg trailing a little behind.

“Kris,” he said.

Vandergale made no move to embrace his son, or show any form of affection.

Kris stiffened.

Thorne moved even closer to his side, their shoulders brushing.

“What are you doing here? Is your Alpha throwing you back on my doorstep?”

The words were cold, insulting, but Kris stood his ground.

“Father.” Kris’s voice came out strong and dominant. He tilted his head toward his other brother. “Hello, Trigg.”

“Hi.”

All gazes now went to Kris and Thorne’s clasped hands.

“What is this?” Vandergale asked.

Thorne felt his own Alpha energy puff up in Vandergale’s presence.

“We have come to tell you, as the official parent of an Omega, as stipulated in the rules on page five of the mate-bond document, that the mate-bond between has succeeded and been verified. You have no jurisdiction over me or my actions for the rest of my life.”

“What?” Vandergale looked at once furious and stricken. “You can’t do that. Kris, as an Alpha you can’t mate-bond with another Alpha. It’s a trick.”

“An Alpha, Father? You are calling me that now?”

“You have the Alpha gene. You were raised Alpha. You’re an Omega, too, but it’s obvious you are both lying to me because you want my blessing after your legal year is up. Well, I won’t give it!”

“Whatever I am, it worked for us, Father. You can have your lawyers double check all the documents themselves.”

“I assure you, I will. This isn’t over. It’s impossible that you are mate-bonded. Impossible!”

Thorne let his eyes wander about the room as he listened to the sounds of a typical family. Broken, but typical. He wasn’t surprised that an un-mated Alpha like Varian Vandergale who obviously held no value in Omegas except as holes to fill would continue to assert his authority.

“It’s true,” Kris said softly.

“I don’t believe you,” Vandergale said. “What you need to do is be a good son and come home and stay home.”

“You had better believe it,” Thorne interrupted calmly. With his free hand, he pulled a card from his pocket. It had the official hologram logo of certification that he was mate-bonded to Kristofer Vandergale, complete with magnetic strip.

Vandergale stared at the card in Thorne’s hand. His face darkened.

“I will have my lawyers verify it. Any forgery will be detected.”