Tilly Ann.
I made it three steps toward the door before it opened.
My mother stood there, flanked by my father and a man I'd never met but recognized instantly.
Alpha Kale Dubois.
Chase's father.
He was massive. Broad shoulders that barely fit through the doorway, a jaw like cut stone, and the same piercing blue eyes as his son—but colder. Where Chase's eyes could flicker with amusement or heat, his father's held nothing but calculation.
"Ah," Alpha Kale said, his voice a low rumble. "You must be Matilda."
My spine stiffened. "Tilly Ann, actually."
Play nice. My mother's eyes warned.
He didn't acknowledge the correction. His gaze swept over me—my dress, my hair, the flush still lingering on my cheeks—and I felt myself being assessed like livestock at the market.
"Chase," the Alpha said without looking at his son. "You could have waited in the proper room."
"I was ordered to get acquainted," Chase said from behind me. "We're acquainted now, Father." Then under his breath he whispers "More acquainted than you know"
I refused to turn around and look at him. If I did, he will see through me. He would see that I was wearing my feelings on a sleeve.
My mother stepped forward, her smile bright and nervous. "Alpha Kale, this is our daughter, Tilly Ann. Tilly, this is—"
"The Lycan King," I finished. "I know, Mama. The second most powerful man in Atlanta." I met Alpha Kale's gaze. "An honor, really"
My father coughed. He knew that tone. It was my I am being polite but I am furious voice.
"The honor is mine," Alpha Kale said, though his face suggested otherwise. "Your father and I have discussed the terms at length. A spring wedding, I believe."
"You should have discussed them with me, maybe I would have saved you the trouble and inform you that this marriage won't—" I started to say sweetly but was cut off.
"Tilly" my father warned.
"The way of royalty," Alpha Kale interrupted smoothly. "Children marry where they're told. Surely your parents have prepared you for this."
I opened my mouth to tell him exactly what my parents had prepared me for—which included wrestling boars and avoiding diplomatic incidents, not being sold to a stranger's son.
But Chase spoke first.
"She's spirited." His wheelchair squeaked as he rolled up beside me. I took a step away from him.
"I like that, Father"
"No, you don't," I muttered.
"No," he agreed quietly, so only I could hear. "I don't."
Alpha Kale's eyes moved between us, sharp and assessing. "You'll learn to manage each other. That's what marriage is."
"That's what your marriage is, mine won't be" I said, and something in my tone made the temperature in the room drop.
Silence.
My mother looked at the floor. My father shifted his weight. Even the servants in the doorway seemed to hold their breath.
Alpha Kale smiled. It didn't reach his eyes.
"Indeed," he said. "And my wife learned her place eventually."
My blood went cold.
Learned her place.
I looked at Chase. Really looked. The emptiness in his eyes from earlier was back—but now I understood it wasn't exhaustion.
It was something worse.
"I won't be learning anything," I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I am Tilly Ann Winchester of Ze. My family has ridden dragons for three thousand years. We do not learn our place. We make our own."
My mother made a strangled sound.
My father's eyebrows climbed toward his hairline like he was yelling. He's an Alpha, Tilly.
And Alpha Kale Dubois—the second most powerful man in Atlanta—stared at me like I was a bug he hadn't decided whether to squash.
"Is that so?," he said.
"It is."
Chase laughed. A real laugh, not the hollow one from earlier. "Father," he said, "I think she might actually survive you. If not anything, our marriage will be anything but boring"
"That remains to be seen," Alpha Kale said. "But one thing is sure"
"Which is?" I asked.
"You are a Queen, through and through. You are the best choice, after all" There was a pause. " Tilly Ann"
I stared at him. I don't think my point went through his head or that of his son. Because this marriage was NOT happening.
I would sooner fake my death than let it.
He turned to my father, dismissing me completely. "We'll finalize the contracts over dinner. Seven o'clock. I trust your kitchens can accommodate us."
My father nodded stiffly. "Of course, Kale"
Alpha Kale strode past me without another word. His shoulder brushed mine—deliberately, I was certain—and I had to lock my knees to keep from flinching.
Before the door clicked shut behind him, he asked his son. "Have you seen your brother?"
"No. But I will find him though." Chase answered.
Weird. I didn't even know he had a brother.
Afterwards, my mother exhaled. "Tilly Ann Winchester. You do not speak to a king like that."
"He spoke to me like I was cattle."
"Because that's how his kind treats women," Chase said from behind me.
I finally looked at him. Really looked.
He was watching the door his father had walked through, his expression unreadable. But his hands—resting on the wheels of his chair—were clenched white-knuckle tight.
"His kind," I repeated. "You mean your kind."
Chase's jaw tightened. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I suppose I do."
For a moment—just a moment—I forgot to hate him.
Then he looked at me, and the mask slid back into place. The careless smirk. The empty eyes.
"I should go. See you at dinner, Maltida"
"It's Tilly Ann" I whispered.
He nodded and followed his father.
"Seven o'clock, Tilly," my Father said. "Don't be late. And maybe wear something that doesn't make you look like you wrestled a boar."
"I did wrestle a boar. And this is my best dress, Papa!"
"I know. You smell like one, chicken" He turned to my mother. Panic on his face "Aurora, love of my life...a little help, please. Make her sane and presentable before dinner"
Mother looked at me. Then at him. "That's an impossible task, my dear. She is your feral child, Adonis. You make her sane!"
I groaned.
And I stood there, in my mother's receiving room, furious and humiliated and—despite every instinct I had—curious.
Because Chase Dubois hated his father.
And that, at least, was something we had in common.