Reluctant Mate

Gray stepped out of the car after parking in front of his father’s house, one of the many mansions on St. Charles Avenue. He sighed. The summons had come two hours ago. The order had been to be there within one, but Gray sometimes stretched the boundaries of his father’s tolerance. After all, it wasn’t as if he was a child. He was twenty-eight, a man, capable of handling his own affairs. Of course, those affairs were all family-related. The luxury he was able to live in was because of the hard work his father and grandfather had put into the company business over the years. Gray wasn’t ungrateful. He just figured he shouldn’t have to jump to attention every time his father snapped his fingers.

He used his key to let himself into the house. All was in silence until he walked down the hall. His father’s voice boomed from one of the living areas as soon as he opened the door. Gray braced himself for the coming tirade.

“Gray!” his father shouted. Scarcely five feet separated them, and Gray refrained from frowning at the noise level.

“Good morning, Dad,” he answered. Years ago, his father had insisted he call him Father. Gray had almost choked on the sip of coffee he’d been drinking at the time. Needless to say that idea died a swift death. “You summoned?”

His father narrowed cold golden eyes at him, eyes that matched all of his peoples’ except one, but Gray didn’t have many dealings with his cousin. “I expected you an hour ago, Gray. I don’t appreciate being made to wait.”

“I apologize, sir.” Gray drew in a deep breath to start spinning a story that would drive his father more insane. The older man waved an inpatient hand.

“Never mind why you took so long,” his father said. “I have something very important to tell you. I’ve been thinking it over for these past few months and spoke with a few men I respect who have a good grasp on the future for our people.”

Gray froze. Something told him whatever conclusions his father and his advisors had come to wouldn’t be good for him. Now he wished he’d stopped by a bar and downed a few drinks before coming here. Of course he didn’t indulge this early in the day. As much as he enjoyed pushing his father’s buttons, he respected what his father did, and that was to protect their reputation.

“Should I sit down for this?” he asked and then crossed the room anyway to take a seat. His father had dressed in a business suit that morning as he usually did, but Gray had opted for simple slacks and a collared shirt. He felt he looked neat without appearing stuffy, which was what he’d classify his father as being.

“I’ve decided,” his father said, “it’s time for you to take a mate.”

Gray raised an eyebrow. He bent one leg over the over and leaned back in his chair. With an arm extended out along the couch’s back, he shrugged. “Sure.” He’d been thinking it was time himself. After all, his grandfather had passed three years ago, leaving his father in charge of their business. Gray’s mother hadn’t been the strongest woman, so she’d had only two children, Gray and his younger brother, who wasn’t expected to mate any time soon. That left Gray and his blue-eyed cousin to carry on the name. Gray knew his father thought only of him in that capacity. “I have no problem with it. See, Dad? I can agree with you sometimes.”

His father grunted in annoyance. “I’ve also taken the liberty of choosing your mate. We—”

“Now, hold on,” Gray interrupted. “I think I can choose my own wife.”

“—have to think of what will be most advantageous for our people.”

Gray frowned at being ignored, but his father obviously didn’t give a damn.

“We have money. That’s great, but I don’t have to remind you of how we were almost revealed just a few years ago. The fact that there are wolf shifters in this world is still a secret, but it won’t be for long. One day, what we are will be revealed, and I fear that money will mean nothing. We need political influence. We need to be able to control the laws and get them changed to our favor in order to survive.”

Gray couldn’t fault his way of thinking there either. “Okay, what does that have to do with my mate?”

To his surprise, his father hesitated, something he never did. His father was one of the most self-assured people he knew, and he thought so much of himself, no one to Gray’s knowledge had ever intimidated him. “You understand it would be best if your mate is a shifter?”

“Of course.”

“We know of several families like us. I’ve made it my business to cultivate relationships with every one of them we’ve learned of over the years, following after your grandfather’s example.”

Gray gritted his teeth. “Get to the point, Dad.” He wasn’t overly worried. All the shifters around his age who were not married were hot. The trait was strong in his kind whether male or female. Of course, good looks didn’t mean they didn’t have other challenges sometimes, such as his mother’s ill health.

“The Cain family,” his father announced. “I’ve decided you will mate with their head to take advantage of their strong connections with people in leadership.”

Gray sat there blinking at his father, at a loss for words. Maybe he’d heard wrong. Cain. He knew the name. Everyone did. They were rumored to be poor as church mice now, but even he with his disinterest in anything having to do with politics knew that they had influence way beyond any of the other shifters across the United States.

He cleared his throat. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Dad, but the head of the Cain family is male.”

“Yes.”

Gray surged to his feet. “Let me get this straight, sir. You expect me to mate with a man? A man who is rumored to be the worst gambler and drunkard in all of New Orleans? The word is they are poor because of this idiot, and I’m supposed to...” He cringed in disgust. “Marry him! Are you insane?”

His father stood up as well now that Gray was yelling and towering over him. “You will do as I say, Gray. The arrangements are already made. You’ll meet Lucas here on Friday night, and—”

“No!”

A low growl began in his father’s throat, that of the wolf, and his eyes, which had been humanlike a moment ago, brightened to a pure gold, almost glowing. Gray was not intimidated, but he did use caution. His father might be getting up in age, but he had years of experience connecting with the beast within. He’d been in a fight six months ago with a younger wolf down on the docks, a shifter who’d thought he could come in and disrupt the order they commanded at the company. Gray had been prepared to take care of the idiot, but in moments his father had pinned him at the throat with sharp, deadly teeth. Not that he thought his father would do the same to him, but he wasn’t a fool either. Knowing his stubborn parent, he could wound Gray, fully expecting him to heal by the end of the week.

“You will be here at dinner on Friday evening to meet your mate. Dinner is at eight.”

Gray strolled to the door and wrenched it open. Before he walked through, he looked back at his father. “I respect you and your ways. I will agree to mating, but I will never—not now, not ever—mate with a man. Period!”