Viktor arched a brow as he deposited two more ice cubes into his glass. “Did your spy of whores inform you of this?” he asked.
“Does it matter who told me anything if it’s true?” Matthyw asked. He stepped further into the room, a hand grabbing the back of a chair. Squaring his shoulders, he looked at Viktor.
“If you know this is true, why confirm it with me?” This time, Viktor did drink from his glass, taking a generous gulp.
Matthyw wrinkled his brow as he watched his father consume the alcohol; Viktor had never been one for indulgence or losing control. Like most wolves, he enjoyed a strong glass of liquor, but it was more a social habit than something to soothe him.
“I want to know what you intend to do about it,” Matthyw said. His voice tightened with each word, annoyed he had to explain himself since the answer should be obvious in the first place. “How do you intend to get her from marrying a fucking human?”
Viktor glared. “Don’t you think I’ve been thinking about this?” he asked.
“Do you really want to know what I think?” Matthyw asked, clenching the chair to support him. Not because he was off-balance, but because he was ready to throw something at Viktor for his ineptitude. “I think you’re more focused on finding a way into Adrya’s friend’s pants than you are about ensuring your own daughter is removed from the lottery completely. Surely, she can’t go through with this. She’s the heir to a pack, to the Fire Pack of Bloodmoon Academy. We’re more like gods than anything else, and the humans have the nerve to think they can marry her off to one of them, dilute the bloodline, weaken it?”
“Of course they do,” Viktor said through clenched teeth. “Why do you think I had to marry once more?”
“You would have had to marry regardless because you’re the Alpha and it’s expected of you,” Matthyw said. “This Law just sped up the process. Adrya should have more time to graduate from the damn school and marry someone within the pack in order to strengthen it.”
“Oh?” Viktor’s lips curled up into a hollow smile as he brought the glass to his mouth. He took another long swig. When he finished, he refilled his glass. “And who do you propose we marry her to, my son? Who is worthy of your sister, hmm? Because she doesn’t have the time you so desperately want for her. She will be part of that lottery if we don’t do something about it, and quickly. I have a few candidates I’m looking into, but now I’m curious: what does Matthyw think?”
“You taunt me?” Matthyw asked.
“You serve as little more than an assassin, and yet, you want some claim over who Adrya marries when you aren’t around and don’t know her,” Viktor said.
“And you do?” Matthyw asked. “You chose to marry a professor who’s had it out for Adrya ever since you announced her as heir.”
“Matthyw,” Viktor growled. “I will not have you stand here and waste my time. You wanted to discuss this, over everything else, and yet, you haven’t said anything worth noting. I don’t want Adrya marrying a human – as I said, she won’t. I have a few candidates in mind. What more do you want from me?”
“Marry her to me.”
“What?” Matthyw had never heard Viktor sound shocked before, and he would revel in the sound, replaying it during his darkest moments.
“Marry her to me.”
Viktor started to laugh, a hollow sound that echoed throughout the room. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. Matthyw wanted to leap for Viktor, to attack him, to make him see why this was the best solution for everyone involved, but he couldn’t allow his emotions to get the best of him. He wouldn’t persuade Viktor if he indulged in his emotions.
“You’re serious?” Viktor asked after his laughter died down.
“Deadly,” Matthyw replied. “Wed Adrya to me –”
“Mind your tongue, Impure Prince,” Viktor said with a sneer, taking a step forward. He set the glass down so both of his hands were free. “Convenient, isn’t it? Your father is Alpha of the pack and your sister will inherit it. And what do you have? The blood of your latest kill in the root of your silver hair.” His eyes flickered to Matthyw’s hair, lips twitching in obvious disgust. “Need I remind you where you come from? What you are?”
Matthyw’s teeth tightened as he flashed a grin. “You think my offer is ingenuine?” he asked.
“I know it’s not,” Viktor said with a scoff. “She is your sister —“
“Not by blood,” he pointed out, taking a step forward. “As you like to remind me with every opportunity you have, she is not my blood.”
Viktor shook his head. “That is a revolting explanation,” he said.
“And yet it’s the best solution to the problem at hand,” Matthyw said. “I give you this opportunity to defy the Marriage Law and to ensure her safety. You know I will protect her. You know I will do whatever it takes to ensure she is safe. More than that, we come from the same pack –”
“We don’t know where you come from,” Viktor said cruelly. “You could be a mutt, for all we know.”
“I am not a mutt,” Matthyw said, his voice sharp despite a deadly whisper. He released his hold on the chair and walked around the table separating him from Viktor. “Marry her to me. I’ll take her as she is, strengthening her claim to the pack. I am a full-blooded Fire Wolf, as is she, and together, we will make the pack stronger than it has been.”
“You think I don’t already do it?” Viktor asked.
“I know you’ve done it in the past,” Matthyw said. “But your choice of a wife will not unite the pack. You will make everyone draw lines in the sand. You will –”
“You only want the Fire Pack, and you’ll stoop to nothing to obtain it for yourself,” Viktor said through a growl. Whether his frustrations grew because of Matthyw’s critique in Viktor’s choice of a wife or because of the proposal at all, Matthyw didn’t know. “You will corrupt her with your vile tongue. She is an innocent You think you help her reputation? And what of those that point out she’s to marry her brother?”
“I am not her blood brother,” Matthyw said. His lips quirked up. “Tell me, Father, what of your wife. Who was she to you?”
Viktor narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
“Cousins, wasn’t it? Specifically to keep the lines pure? Something inherently common for the pack royalty.”
“That doesn’t take away from the fact that you yourself have a reputation,” Viktor said roughly. “You meander with whores, fuck anything that moves. And you would turn your attention to Adrya? To do the same wicked things to her?”
“I can teach her the ways of the wicked,” Matthyw said. “Maintain her childlike wonder all while removing her ignorance.” He stepped forward, suddenly serious. “I would never hurt her. I would never challenge her authority like some men who would no doubt be threatened by her position of power. I would worship her –”
“You will ruin her,” Viktor snarled, and this time, he picked up the glass and threw it against the wall so it shattered into pieces. “You’re a selfish ingrate whose only purpose is to follow orders and slaughter his enemies. The thought that you could come in here and command me to marry my only daughter, my only heir, to the likes of you —“