Truth: A Valkyrie Saga Book 3

Chapter 18 - Allies

No freaking way. This was not okay. I had planned and plotted and manipulated for years. I even lowered myself to have a fucking disgusting relationship with that pompous asshole, because that was what needed to be done to win. And I had won. My prize was to live out my days with Mariana by my side while Nahuel suffered the lonely, pitiful life they wanted to doom me to. I won. It was only fair that I got that prize. So it was not okay that now he found his pair. That the missing fourth Gatekeeper had returned and would keep Nahuel from experiencing the misery that he deserved. It wasn't fair.

"Don't look so defeated, my boy. You are looking at this the wrong way. All we need to do is get her on our side and we will be even stronger than we had planned for when we attack. If you play this right, you can have both Mariana and Sierra. You will be the first generation to have three of the four Gatekeepers fighting for the Northern City," Valerie said and I sat up in my chair.

She was right. The reappearance of Sierra, or whatever she was calling herself now, didn't automatically mean that Nahuel would get her. I had won the game and now it was time for me to kick his ass in the bonus round too.

--Louka Le Roux, Gatekeeper of the Northern City

After Logan left, I turned my attention to Lawerance because I knew that he was stepping up and taking more and more responsibilities as he learned how to be Pack Master, so I figured he would tell me what this was all about. Maybe they wanted to invite me to something too. Lawerance eyed me for a moment and I saw a shadow of the fear and doubt that he used to look at me with creep into his expression. This wasn't about an invitation.

"We are here to formally petition for Renata to be allowed to spend her nights at Tony's house. Because they have just formed their mate bond, it is important that they spend time physically in the same location every day. Without that contact, both of them will grow sick and be less able to complete daily tasks in their weakened state," Lawerance said in a stilted cadence.

Umm, what? I took a moment to run his words back through my head, but I still had no idea what Lawerance was talking about. Why in the world wouldn't Ranata be living with Tony? Where else would she be living? And why did it sound like they were asking me for permission of where this girl could live?

"I promise to work extra hard and cover any duties that you would assign to my sister during the nights, so you will not be inconvenienced by allowing them to safely and completely cement their mate bond," Santiago said with a heavy Mexican accent. This only confused me more and once again turned to Derik and silently asked him to explain what on earth was going on right now.

Derik hit me with a guarded look and I could see that he was hesitant to answer this one. "When you negotiated with Prince Romero, he agreed to sign over Renata's and Santiago's work contracts to you. Legally, they now - work for you," Derik said with a clear hesitation, as if he was first going to say something else but decided to reword himself last minute. I didn't like that. I thought I could always depend on Derik when I needed the honest truth.

But I didn't really need him to spell it out for me anymore. I was finally getting the gist. Prince Romero hadn't released these two from their contracts, rather he had gifted them to me as if they were property instead of people. I looked down at the thick leather folder sitting on the desk in front of me and flipped it open. Inside was a handwritten note declaring that both contracts had been signed over to my name in good faith and that the rather huge balance of funds would be transferred into an account of my choosing when the Romero Royal Line received the signed corresponding paperwork outlining my agreement to reserve and announce my first dance for Prince Mateo Romero. Behind that note were two very official-looking legal documents that each had a bloody fingerprint stamping the bottom edge. If I had to guess, I would say that these contracts were spellbound through blood.