Chapter 1: Deal

Rowan POV

Rowan Garnet was entering his father’s home office inside their estate. A fire roared in the fireplace, casting flickering shadows on the burgundy walls.

“What do you need, Dad?” Rowan asked once he walked in.

“Please sit.” Harkin gestured toward the chair across from his ornate and dark wooden desk.

Rowan did as was requested. Harkin’s voice had a serious tone, and Rowan had a hard time trying to place it. He knew his father’s angry tone and his someone-just-died tone. But this was neither.

“What’s wrong?” Rowan asked.

“I want to talk about your . . . problem.”

Rowan sighed. “What about my problem?” It was an endless discussion between Rowan and his family. Rowan, his family, employees, and associates were all wolf shifters. It was the biggest kept secret in the mafia world in New York. Absolutely no one knew the Garnet family consisted of shifters.

In the world of shifters, every single person had a mate somewhere out there. Their perfect match. Rowan had heard that meeting one’s mate was almost a magical thing. It was as if a puzzle piece had fallen into place as his father described it. When one’s mate died, there was no one else out there that could fill their place. Rowan’s own mother had died a year ago, and Harkin never even looked at another woman.

Rowan’s problem was that at the age of twenty-six, he had yet to find his mate. He already knew everyone in their pack, as well as all the other packs in New York, but hadn’t been able to feel the thrill of bonding with a mate. The latest attempt in the search involved Rowan attending mate balls in New Jersey with the hope that his mate was simply in another state.

Honestly, Rowan was beginning to think he just didn’t have a mate.

“I’ve been approached by Odo Sapphire,” Harkin told him.

“The guy with all the illegal casinos?” Rowan asked with a hint of judgment in his tone.

Harkin laughed. “Don’t act all high and mighty. We’re the ones who are involved with stock scams and insider trading.”

“Ours seems more elegant, though,” Rowan joked. “What does Odo Sapphire want?”

“An alliance,” Harkin stated with a glint in his eye.

Rowan scratched his head. “What’s his proposal?”

“You marry his daughter,” Harkin said with a wince.

“What?” Rowan exclaimed with shock. He hopped out of the chair and began pacing around the office. “That’s ridiculous! When was the last time there was an arranged marriage between two families? And they’re human! We can’t expose ourselves like that.”

“I understand your worry,” Harkin told his son with a sympathetic look on his face. “But other families have been poking at us for years to make an alliance. It may be time we actually allow it to happen.”

Rowan shook his head. “Is she going to live separately from us?” That seemed to be the only way she wouldn’t be able to find out about them.

“Of course not,” Harkin said as if that was the silliest idea he had ever heard.

“Then how will we hide our secret from her?” Rowan pushed as he leaned forward in his seat.

Harkin shrugged. “We’ll find a way. We always do. I’ll ask Carmine and Ginger what ideas they have.”

Rowan thought of Carmine Opal, the loyal Beta to his father. The man was serious and opinionated. He always let Harkin know when he thought a decision the Alpha was making was wrong. Ginger was another story, of course. Rowan adored his twenty-two-year-old sister. In pack meetings, she would spit out the first thing that came to her mind and she overanalyzed everything. The two came together with Harkin and Rowan to make an excellent team for leading the pack.

Rowan groaned. He knew that as the future Alpha, he had to do what was best for the pack. Apparently, that meant marrying a human.

“What do we get out of this alliance?” Rowan settled back into his chair. “I assume we’ll be letting them in on some of our schemes.”

Harkin puffed up his chest. “Half the proceeds from several casinos.”

“Is it worth it?” Rowan wondered.

“A few of us think so. And getting you married will allow you to stop all this searching for a mate with the balls and blind dates.”

That did sound appealing to Rowan. It was tiring constantly going to every single mate ball.

“Why is Odo offering his daughter?” Rowan asked.

“He claims he wants to get rid of her,” Harkin said with a frown.

“Oh no. What’s wrong with her?” Rowan mimicked his father’s frown. Why else would this man want to push his daughter off on another family?

“She looks too much like her mother, and he doesn’t believe she has what it takes to be involved in the business,” Harkin told him flatly.

“What a wonderful father.” Rowan couldn’t imagine what it might be like to have a father who wanted him gone. Every memory Rowan had from his childhood with his dad was filled with happiness.

“It’s almost as if she’d be better off with us,” Harkin suggested with a grin.

Rowan threw his hands up. “Fine. I’ll agree to this marriage.”

If it meant no more blind dates and getting more time to learn about the business, Rowan would do almost anything.

*****

Ylana POV

Ylana didn’t understand why her father had asked her to come to one of his underground casinos with him. It was an unspoken rule that Odo Sapphire’s daughter was not to be involved in his various business ventures. That was saved for his sixteen-year-old son, Ylana’s little brother, Indigo.

Ylana stared out of Odo’s black and gray office which looked over the entire casino floor. The two-way glass kept the sound from reaching the office, but the lights from the slot machines sparkled throughout the casino floor.

“Why am I here?” she asked in curiosity. Odo had barely spoken to her in the past hour. She had spent most of her time there sitting on the black leather couch while on her phone to keep herself from dying of boredom.

Odo cleared his throat. “It is about time that you marry.”

“What?” Ylana gasped. “I’m only twenty! There’s plenty of time for that.”

“You know that within my business—”

“You mean the mafia?” Ylana interrupted. She hated that she had been born into such a seedy life.

“Hush, Odo demanded. “Sometimes we have to make alliances with other families through marriage.”

Ylana sensed the conversation was going in a direction she wanted to avoid. “Don’t.”

“What?” Odo challenged.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Ylana questioned as she chucked her phone across the couch. “You want to arrange a marriage for me?”

Odo blinked as if he was surprised that she figured it out. “It’s your duty as a Sapphire.”

“I won’t do it. I refuse. You can’t make me.” Ylana knew she sounded like a child, but what other way could she word it?

“I can and I will,” Odo boomed. “I’m in contact with Harkin Garnet who wants his son to marry too. Do you have any idea what it means if we were to make an alliance with the Garnets?”

She knew he never liked when she tried to disobey him; his eyes would squint, and his voice would become deeper as he tried to appear more threatening.

Just like now.

“I really don’t care.” Being excluded from the business caused Ylana to have absolutely no interest in it.

“Listen to me,” Odo commanded, his voice growing quiet. Ylana had never heard him talk like that before. “The Garnets have never made an alliance with another family. They barely speak to other families despite being in similar businesses. This would be historic.”

Ylana crossed her arms. “Oh yes, I’m sure future generations will write books about this perfect moment.”

“I don’t appreciate the sarcasm,” Odo said with both of his fists clenched on top of his chrome desk.

“I don’t want to get married now! I’m too young. And I want to choose who I marry myself.” Ylana couldn’t believe her father was even considering this. They were living in the twenty-first century after all.

“Too bad,” Odo said simply. “This is your duty.”

“You’ve never involved me in any of this before,” Ylana pointed out softly. “Is this all I was for? To marry off to some random guy for the sake of alliance? How would Mom feel about this?”

Ylana remembered how her father had changed after her mother’s death ten years ago. He used to spend time with Ylana and Indigo; he would take them shopping or to the movies. After the funeral, however, the children mostly interacted with their nannies. It was as if he had lost the only good part of himself with his wife’s passing.

“Don’t speak to me about your mother,” Odo hissed. This was another unspoken rule. “I know your mother better than you ever will.”

“Because she’s dead,” Ylana spat. It was his fault she didn’t know more about her mother. When she was a kid, he would scream if she or Indigo asked anything about their mother.

“Shut up!”

Ylana jumped a little. That was the voice Odo used when he was about to punish an enemy. When had she become an enemy?

Odo ground his teeth before taking a calming breath. “She would tell you to do what is best for our family.”

Ylana had no way to prove him wrong. She truly had no idea what her mother would actually say. Before her death, her mother never mentioned the business in front of her children.

“So, I have no choice?” Ylana asked.

“You do not,” Odo smirked, and Ylana could tell he knew he had won. “This was simply a courtesy to make you aware of the situation. Next week, Harkin Garnet and his son Rowan are going to be coming to our house for dinner. We both wanted you two to meet before making it official.”

Ylana had never hated her father so much.

*****

A few days later, the dreaded night had finally arrived. Ylana was to meet her future husband.

She hadn’t spoken to her father in days as a protest, not that it mattered much. She debated going on a hunger strike, but not eating would just make her even more crabby. Still, she barely left her lavender-and-sage-colored room; she couldn’t stand to look at Odo’s face.

There was a knock on her bedroom door.

“What?” Ylana snapped.

“Miss, it’s time to get ready,” announced Claudia, the family’s housekeeper.

Ylana dragged her feet to open her door. Several people stood behind Claudia, all carrying various cases and bags. Odo had a team that dolled up the Sapphire family for special events and he had declared this dinner one of those occasions.

Ylana pouted as the team did her hair and makeup; she never bothered to learn any of their names. Her brown hair was forced into a tight updo while what felt like pounds of makeup was caked onto her face. She loathed the purple dress her father had picked out for her to wear; it was shorter and tighter than her personal preferences. They also put her in a push-up bra.

She felt like a piece of meat.

Looking at her finalized look in the mirror, she appeared to be some different person. A person Ylana wouldn’t like.

“Time to head out,” Claudia announced.

Ylana was ushered into the main hall of their white and chrome penthouse. The place always felt empty to her. Odo and Indigo were waiting already in matching gray and white suits. Both of them had their dark hair slicked back.

“Don’t look so miserable,” Odo commanded in a hushed tone.

“Not possible,” she told her father. “I want it known by all parties that I am firmly against this.”

“As if your general unpleasantness hasn’t given that away,” Indigo snarked.

“I will kick you,” Ylana threatened. “These heels make me the perfect height to break your nose.”

A buzz sounded in the hall. That was the signal from downstairs that their guests had arrived.

“Be nice,” Odo warned.

A few minutes later, three redheads stepped out of the elevator. The two men had to be close to seven feet tall, and the woman looked to be about six feet tall like Ylana. The older man was obviously Harkin Garnet, and the woman was Ginger, his daughter.

Ylana had no desire to look up pictures of her future husband but, she had not in any way expected the hottest man she’d ever seen. His muscles bulged beneath his all-black suit and his thick auburn hair fell gracefully into his moss-green eyes.

It was a shame she had decided to hate him for all time.

Her soon-to-be husband, Rowan, was looking at her strangely. His eyes went wide, and his face went pale the moment he first looked at her. She assumed it was due to the tiny dress Odo had put her in, which she pulled at several times in hopes of somehow making it longer. His reaction helped her focus on disliking him. She couldn’t find it in herself to respect a man who drooled whenever he looked at a pretty woman.

Ylana stayed quiet during the entirety of the meal. She wanted it known that she was not pleased about the dinner. Rowan, Harkin, and Ginger all attempted to start a conversation with her. She simply turned her head whenever addressed. Seeing her father’s face turn darker shades of red as the night went on made her feel better at least.

She picked at her food as the others talked business around her. The moment Ginger brought up a wedding date she felt nauseous. She debated excusing herself but knew that would raise questions from their guests that she didn’t want to answer.

When it was finally over, Ylana didn’t bother to say goodbye to their guests. She stomped to her room as soon as she could and ripped the stupid dress off.

Odo pounded and screamed behind her door for several hours that night. He asked her if she was happy about ruining all his plans because there was no way anyone would marry her now.

Mission accomplished, Ylana thought.