"You know that would never work," I said dully. "We both know it. But there's an alternative."
My father frowned down at me. "This isn't a negotiation."
"Yeah."
It wasn't.
And I had to choose my words incredibly carefully, because the faintest hint that I was getting what I wanted, rather than giving in to what he wanted, and he'd say no on general principle. "But you think I'm going to try to escape, somehow. I won't. Break the bond between me and Lucian. The ritual can work if I help, and I will. Let him live, let him go, and I'll mate with any other alpha you pick."
His brows drew together, thunderclouds on the horizon, and I hurried on.
"I would anyway, because I don't have a choice. But I won't fight it. Not ever again. You'll get more out of me if it's voluntary. And you'll maybe be able to mend fences with Jace, and not have the Reese pack as enemies."
