Chapter 21 – The Future
Father–in–law
Sebastian.
I had to bite the inside of my cheek and clench my fist in order to maintain my emotionless expression. But Kylo is screaming inside my head, desperate to come out and pounce on Alexander any minute.
‘Seriously? This guy is going to be your brother–in–law?‘ he roars. ‘Are you punishing me with this excruciating life of misery? What did I do to you?‘
I raise my head and keep a steady face as I face Alexander. I am not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me furious or miserable. Alexander does not deserve to see me with any
emotion at all.
Seeing that I don’t seem affected at all, he continues goading me. “Do you think Cassie will be okay with the fact that you are marrying another wolf in her place?”
“Cassie would want me to be happy,” I tell him. “It’s been five years. Everyone expects me to move on.”
Alexander smirks. “I haven’t.” His facial expression changed into a dark, menacing scowl. “And I wasn’t her husband!”
“Then you don’t know Cassie as well as you think you do!”
It’s true. Cassie was the kindest person I knew. She would want me to be happy. She would want me to move on. It’s
me who didn’t want to. I don’t believe that there’s a second
chance mate for me out there. I can’t feel it for anyone. I still
feel that Cassie is waiting for me in the afterlife.
“If what you say is true, then you won’t have a problem with me pursuing Miss Jones, do you?”
I feel Kylo’s anger bubbling inside of me, threatening to take over. But I keep it in check. I can’t afford to lose control in front
of Alexander, not when he’s trying to provoke me.
I raise a chin towards Alexander. “Miss Jones is a good woman. She deserves a more decent man than you. A man who will love her for her, not just because she looks like a distant memory of a lost love.”
‘Preach!‘ Kylo snorts. ‘Are you telling that to him or to
yourself?‘
‘I know what I did to her, alright! She may never forgive me
for it. But what can I do? Loving her feels like I’m forgetting
Cassie. And I won’t do that. I can’t love Gabrielle.’
‘You do, you dimwit! You just refuse to acknowledge that! She may not be our mate because she’s not a wolf. But damn! We
love her!‘
“I can be a decent man,” Alexander says. “You know that. I may never get over Cassie. But looking at Miss Jones really makes me feel like that I can love again.”
I stare back at Alexander. For the life of me, I think I hear sincerity in his voice. And damn! I’m not sure which one is worse for me. Him, playing with Gabrielle, or him, turning her into a wolf and making her his queen.
‘Damn! Gabrielle being your sister–in–law will be seriously fucked up, man!‘
‘That’s never gonna happen!‘ I tell him, heaving in frustration.
We are interrupted by my mother as she saunters right between Alexander and I, with Alpha Malcolm in tow.
Alexander immediately tenses up in attention, bowing his
head to his father.
“Father…”
His father barely acknowledges him. Instead, the older Alpha turns to me. “Sebastian…”
I bow my head slightly. “Alpha Malcolm.”
“Pretty soon, you will be calling me ‘Father‘,” he chuckles.
“You’ve always been the son I wished I had. And now, it looks
like it just might happen.”
Fucker! In spite of my dislike for Alexander, I actually feel bad that his father talks like this in his presence.
“We should be preparing for the wedding soon!” my mother says enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to have grandchildren to
dote on!”
“She is my only daughter, Sebastian. She’s the apple of my
eye.” Malcolm puts a heavy hand on my shoulder, squeezing it meaningfully. “Treat her better than you did your dead wife.”
‘This man has some nerve!‘ Kylo snorts. ‘Must he rub it in your
face that our mate is dead?‘
Suddenly, I hear Benjamin’s voice through mind–link.
‘Alpha.‘
I smile at both Malcolm and my mother.
“Excuse me,” I say as politely as I can manage. “My beta wants
to speak to me.”
I turn around, thankful for the interruption.
“What is it?”
‘Something happened in the office.‘
“You rarely have to interrupt me with things like this,
Benjamin.”
‘I’m sorry, Alpha. But I thought you’d like to know about this since… it involves Miss Jones.
Oh, damn it!
“Meet me up front.”
In a few minutes, I hop inside my car, and Benjamin starts
driving.
“What happened?”
“Miss Jones is fighting with one of the other female employees. Apparently, it got a bit violent.”
Gabrielle is not a violent person. And she’s definitely not the
type to let her emotions get the better of her.
“Is she okay?”
“I am not sure. I heard she hit someone in the head.”
Fuck it!
“Drive faster!”
Benjamin nods, looking at me from the rearview mirror. He must be wondering why I care so much about my former secretary. But right now, I don’t care what he thinks. I just want to make sure that Gabrielle is okay.
When I enter Gabrielle’s office, I am shocked to see that the office is a mess. There are broken pieces of glass on the floor, even some drops of blood.
“What the hell happened here?”
Immediately, a woman, whose name I can’t remember, comes up to me. She is holding an ice pack on her forehead.
“Mr. King,” she cries. “You have to make Miss Jones pay for what she did to me! She threw a water bottle at me!”
“Oh, come on! Quit being a pussy,” another girl from admin interrupts. “It was just a plastic bottle! Besides, it was you who broke her mug first!”
“But did you see how angry she was? She threw that bottle at me like she was throwing a knife! And she’s an expert at it!”
I turn to Gabrielle and find her kneeling on the floor, picking
up pieces of a broken mug with a wounded hand. I recognize the mug she is desperately trying to piece together.
‘You gave her that mug, remember?‘ Kylo asks.
I remember it well. We were on a business trip in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She was in high spirits, saying that it was her first time visiting the place, but she was already in love with it. I remember, on the spur of the moment, I bought her that mug, to remember a town she loves so much. I remember because Stockbridge was Cassie’s hometown.
“You threw a bottle at her because she broke your mug?” I ask
Gabrielle.
She refuses to look at me. Instead, in a voice laced with ire and frustration, she says, “She accuses me of seducing you, Mr. King. She said that I am in my position because I seduced you.” She finally raises her eyes and stares at me. “Did I seduce you, Mr. King?”
She puts me on the spot with her question. Now, every single employee of mine in the room with us is holding his breath for
my answer.
