CHAPTER 119: SUBTLE THREAT...

Rhett

My dad looked past me, gazing out at the vast expanse of farmland behind my house. When he looked at me again, he said.

"Explain in detail what happened. Plus, tell me the real reason why you’re anxious about the whole thing, please don’t give me bullshit about friendship. I’m old enough to differentiate between a lot of emotions."

I took a deep breath and nodded.

"First, Dad, don’t be alarmed, but Eamon is a girl."

I waited for a few seconds, waiting for some reaction from my dad, but he just shrugged. "And?"

"You’re not surprised?" I asked.

"It was obvious, Rhett," he said with a sigh. "The way three of you gravitated towards her, only a woman can do that to a man. Now tell me what happened."

I told him about the video, the logs and the way the Inquiry would tear Charis open if this escalates. I told him about her father, and from the tidbits of story I’ve gathered from Slater about her past, and how remaining at Ravenshore was her only redemption.

I wanted to tell him about her being a Direwolf or my mate, but I skipped that.

My dad’s face didn’t change much. He kept nodding intermittently until I finished.

"All right," he said. "We can make the Founder’s Provision work with what you have, but Vale is under a lot of pressure now, and she won’t cave in easily. We can call for a closed-door meeting, but we’ll need a neutral witness and some paperwork to prove our claim."

At that moment, the back door opened and Lydia appeared.

"Dad, I turned off the stove. Can you come check if I did it right?"

"Okay, dear, coming," My dad replied and started walking towards the house.

"Dad?" I chased after him. "She’s calling you, Dad, now?"

"Yes," he looked at me strangely. "You’ll both be married soon, what’s the big deal?"

When we got into the house, my father made a beeline to the kitchen while Lydia stood at the door, waiting like a dutiful child.

"Did I turn it off, right?" she asked again.

My father came out and nodded with a proud smile. "You did well. I’m impressed."

"So, a neutral?" I turned to my dad, bringing his attention back to Charis’ situation. "How do we get a neutral?"

"I can get you a neutral," Lydia piped in, surprising me. "Deputy Registrar Pallas in the Capital city town hall owes me a favour. She handled my transfer last year when I nearly missed the deadline for my internship in the human city. She’s boring and painfully honest."

I’d wanted to mention Kael, but I nodded. "Can we use her, Dad?"

"Sure," he agreed.

I turned to Lydia. "Thank you," I said with a smile.

She brightened like I’d gifted her the sun. "Anything for you, dear."

Guilt tugged in my chest as I remembered the kiss I shared with Charis this morning. Later, I told myself. One disaster at a time.

"I’ll have my secretary prep the forms immediately. We’ll need your seal and mine. We’ll also need a clinical justification, something to add weight to the ’student welfare’ clause."

"Dr. Maxwell?" I said immediately. "He’ll write it."

"Well, we can consider him," My dad shrugged. "If he’ll agree, though."

"He will, he has to," I said.

"Alright, call him and tell him. Let me make a few calls. We should be ready within an hour and Rhett..." he paused and met my eyes.

"Yeah?"

"This is not a guarantee that he’ll be saved. This is only to take him out of detention, okay?"

I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. "I know."

He nodded and disappeared down the hall with his phone to his ear. Lydia, who had gone back to the living room, suddenly muted her show and patted the cushion beside her.

"Come sit," she said. "You look like you might faint any moment."

I did actually. I sat anyway. She tucked the blanket over my knees, and I let myself lean into the softness of her shoulders, which she provided.

After a while, she asked quietly.

"Who is Eamon to you?"

I froze beside her, looking at our reflection on the blank TV screen. She had a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I know I’m not supposed to pry and all of that, but it’ll give me clarity and help me understand the kind of person you are."

I swallowed hard, hating myself for what I was about to say. "Well, Eamon is my friend and the reason I’m still breathing. That’s all."

"Okay," she nodded. "If you say so, I believe you."

"You believe me?" I scoffed. "Were you doubting me before? Eamon is a boy. Why should you..."

I trailed off when I saw her expression. She had a knowing look on her face.

"Is Eamon truly a boy?" she asked quietly. "That time you all came to my house; she was on heat and I could tell. Boys don’t have heats the way women do. I may be stupid, but I’m not..."

"You’re not stupid, Lydia," I rose to my feet. "Stop saying that."

"But you like this, Eamon, more. But that doesn’t matter because we would still go through with the joining ceremony, right?"

"Lydia!" I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"I just need to know," she said quietly, flashing me a smile. "My mom says sometimes to keep the peace in the house, it’s okay for your mate to have someone he can always turn to outside the house. I don’t mind this Eamon acting like a boy and all that, I just need to know that you’ve not changed your mind about us."

"Your mom is wrong, Ly," I said quietly, gritting my teeth as I turned to her fully. "From the moment we got engaged to each other, I must remain loyal to you, no matter what. Cheating is cheating, and there’s no excuse for a man to act that way. When we finally become one, you don’t need to worry about someone I can always turn to outside the house. I would never che—"

I trailed off, remembering the kiss I shared with Charis this morning.

"You slept with her," Lydia asked quietly. "Is that why you couldn’t come home last night?"

"No!" I shook my head. "I didn’t sleep with her. We kissed this morning and that’s because we’re mates and..."

I trailed off, stiffening with horror as I realised what I’d just done.

"Oh!" Lydia blinked several times, reaching out to touch the emerald pendant around her neck. "She is your mate, too?"

I sighed in regret and walked up to her, reaching for her hands. "It doesn’t matter," I heard myself saying.

As I said the words, my wolf, Cian, howled painfully inside me, but I had no choice. There was so much at stake now, and since I’ve made commitments with Lydia, I couldn’t just break it off.

"Really?" She looked up at me, her beautiful blue eyes filling up with tears.

"Yes," I inhaled deeply. "We haven’t accepted the bond yet, and everything is going to go as planned."

"Then will you sleep with me tonight?" she asked eagerly, batting her eyelids at me. "I want to get pregnant and as quickly as possible, like we talked about, and my heat is tomorrow, perfect time to make babies."

I couldn’t say no. I felt so miserable.

"Okay!" I agreed.

She squealed with joy and threw her hands around my neck. "Thank you, Rhett and don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone that Eamon might be Alpha Greye’s missing daughter. Her father was just in our pack the other day?"

I pushed her away and saw she still had a smile on her face, but there was a certain hardness in her eyes that set off alarm bells.

"Her name is Charis, right?" She nodded slowly. "Don’t worry, I know how important she is to you, so I won’t tell a soul."