Grayslake: Furrever Yours(33)

Fenris glanced at Eugene, who scowled and looked away. Eugene’s political strength was draining away by the second. Whatever happened here today, whether he won or lost, Eugene would never be as powerful as he had been before. He’d lose alliances, and soon he’d lose his position.

But he was too stubborn and stupid to see that the best thing he could do was go home before the killing started.

Kevin let out a growl, and crouched low as if to lunge at Knox. He glanced at his father, who didn’t move to help him. Here in the house, without the power of his father’s men, he didn’t stand a chance against Knox, and he knew it.

“Right here, right now,” Knox scoffed.

Kevin straightened back up, cleared his throat, flexed his shoulders. “Nope. On the field of battle. Only appropriate place to do it,” he muttered, his cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Reid openly snorted in disgust, and Eugene and Kevin pretended not to hear.

“Only safe place for you to do it, you mean. Daddy’s boy,” Clarence sneered at him.

Eugene let out a snarl. He was losing control of the situation. “Don’t talk to my son like that if you want to take another breath.” He looked at Fenris for help. Fenris shook his head.

“Fight your own battles,” he said coldly to Eugene.

“I’ll challenge you right here and now,” Knox said to Eugene. “You and me. Hell, I’d even go up against you and your son together. I have no worries.”

He’d just called them weak in front of everyone.

Eugene shot his son an angry, disgusted look and then turned to face Knox. “I will tolerate no more disrespect, Knox. I call for your head. You die no matter what. And you’ve got ten minutes to hand her over, or your whole pack dies.”

Before Knox could answer, he heard footsteps banging down the hallway from the back of the house. The door to the living room flew open, and Heather stormed in.

“Not now,” Knox snapped at her. She ignored him and marched right up to him, unafraid. While a strong Alpha’s mate was a blessing, this was not the time or place for her to interfere.

“You’re the mighty Southeast Alpha?” she said furiously to Fenris.

“So they tell me,” Fenris drawled,

“And you’re about to stand there and let these men violate a fourteen-year-old girl?”

Kevin sucked in his breath. “She’s not fourteen. She’s eighteen,” he said quickly.

“Wait, she’s fourteen?” Knox said, his eyes lighting up. “Why didn’t you say so?”

“Does it matter?” Heather asked cautiously.

“I don’t have to listen to this,” Kevin said, but he’d gone pale. “Y’all are a bunch of liars.” And he turned and literally ran out the front door.

“Get back here!” Eugene roared at his son’s retreating back, but Kevin ignored him and kept running. He started to follow, but Fenris grabbed him by the arm. Eugene let out a snarl of fury and his fangs descended; Fenris stared him down.

Aloysius was trying to scuttle for the door. Knox lunged and grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him back, wailing and blubbering.

“Hell yes, it matters,” Knox said with a ferocious grin. “Heather, you’re not the only one who’s been studying the pack laws. I’ve been studying the laws up, down and sideways. And one thing I learned is that a fourteen-year-old girl can’t sign a marriage contract. Now, she denies signing anything, so if you had any signature, that must have been forged. But it looks like it doesn’t matter anymore – even if she had signed it, it wouldn’t be legal. So, you basically tried to sell a child to a grown man, is that right, Aloysius?”

“She’s eighteen! She’s a liar!” Aloysius wailed.

“Damn you, Aloysius, this whole union   was illegal from the start! Did my son know she was underage?” Eugene roared, his face flushed beet red with fury.

“She’s not! I swear!”

“Your son’s pack lived right next to hers. How could he not know?” Knox said scornfully. “What are they, the pedophile pack? You make me sick.”

“We’re going to make a few phone calls,” Eugene said to Aloysius. His furious gaze held the promise of a brutal end. “It won’t be hard to establish how old she is. And if you lied to me, then you’re dead.”

Aloysius began wailing hysterically, struggling to shake off Knox’s iron grip. He shrieked about how the little bitch was a whore anyway, who cared how old she was, and she was eating him out of house and home, and who was she to turn down an Alpha’s son, all she was thinking of was herself, and…