Kidnapped in Sister’s Place and Emotionally Numbed: The Tragic Twin Cuts All Ties Chapter 04
I found a place to eat and had the first real meal I’d had in days.
Mother and Father were sitting in the living room when I got back.
“Sit down, Liora. We need to talk.”
I already knew where this was going.
They didn’t know about Royal Evergreen yet.
A daughter with no future of her own had exactly one use: a pawn for an alliance.
In our world, power stayed concentrated in a handful of Alpha lineages. Mating alliances were how they kept it that way.
They just didn’t want Veyra to be the one traded.
Besides, Evander and Veyra had been growing closer; anyone could see where that was heading.
My parents were thrilled.
If Evander chose Veyra as his Luna, the pack’s power would stay in Rothmere hands. That was the plan.
Which meant they didn’t need to offer up Veyra to another pack anymore.
Then I came back, and they had a spare.
The daughter nobody wanted made the perfect bargaining chip.
Father went first.
“Kaelis, Northglen Pack’s youngest son, just got back from London. You two are about the same age. Why don’t you meet for lunch, get to know each other?”
“After everything you’ve been through, your father and I have been worried about you.”
“We’d feel a lot better knowing you had someone looking out for you.”
I used to say no to these arranged matches every time.
Most of the Alpha heirs I’d heard about had grown up with too much power and too little oversight. Half of them were abusing their pack power.
But none of that mattered now.
If one lunch got them off my back, fine.
“Sure.” I nodded. “When?”
They both blinked. They hadn’t expected a yes.
The whole guilt trip they’d rehearsed was suddenly pointless.
An awkward silence. Father recovered first.
“Tomorrow, noon. There’s a restaurant on Northglen territory.”
“If you hit it off, great. If not, no big deal.”
“They’re a powerful pack, so don’t be surprised if they think they’re above us. And Kaelis isn’t exactly their golden boy either, so keep your expectations low.”
I nodded. “Got it.”
Silence again.
“Anything else?”
“No… that’s it,” Mother said.
I got up and headed for the stairs. No hesitation.
Mother and Father looked at each other. Neither of them said anything for a long moment.
“Something’s off with her.”
“I’ll have Elara watch her. Last thing we need is her making problems for this family,” Mother said.
“God, if she had half of Veyra’s sense.”
“How could she? We didn’t even raise her…”
I let out a quiet laugh.
Right. To them, they only ever had one daughter.
…
I met Kaelis the next afternoon.
He was leaning against his car with an unlit stick between his fingers.
He didn’t actually inhale. Just liked looking like he did.
He flicked the unlit stick away, ran a hand through his hair, and pushed off the car.
I watched the whole performance from across the lot.
He was irritatingly striking. As I approached, he dropped into a chair at an outdoor table, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar, slouching like he owned the place.
“Kaelis?” I said, stopping by the table.
“That’s me.” He tilted his head. “…Liora?”
“Word is you’ve turned down every match they’ve thrown at you.”
“Hard to reject someone you never bother showing up for.”
He smiled at that.
“So what’s your take on all this? The arranged thing.”
I didn’t have an answer for that.
The abduction hadn’t made the rounds yet, but Kaelis Calder knew. I could tell by the way he looked at me.
Something shifted behind his eyes.
“You and me, Rothmere. We’re the same breed.”
He lifted his glass and angled it toward mine.
I slid my glass out of reach.
“Not exactly.” I met his eyes. “Actually, I have a proposition for you.”
