Three Alpha Princes for an Unwanted Omega

”Get in here. Right now.”

Willow stalked into her father’s study, her arms folded across her chest.

Soren turned to her.

”Do you have any idea what you have done?”

Willow lifted her chin. She had been crying; her eyes were still red-rimmed, her cheeks blotchy but there was no shame in her stance or apology.

”I know exactly what I did.”

”You held a girl hostage. You beat her sister. You drugged a member of the royal family. And you stand there like you have done nothing wrong?”

”Are you going to have me arrested?” She laughed. ”Are you going to drag me to the cells yourself, Father? It would be the first time you have paid any attention to what I do.”

Soren straightened slowly. ”What is that supposed to mean?”

”It means exactly what you think it means.” Willow stepped forward, her voice rising. ”You have never once asked me what I wanted. What I dreamed about. Who I wanted to be. I have spent my entire life, watching you ignore me for your mistresses and your secrets and your endless fucking schemes. And now you want to play the concerned father? Spare me”

Soren’s jaw tightened. ”That is not true.”

”Is it not?” Willow’s voice cracked. ”When was the last time you looked at me and actually saw me? When was the last time you asked me how I was? I have been drowning in this pack, Father, and you were too busy fucking your way through every low-born woman in the territory to notice.”

Soren’s hand slammed down on his desk. ”That is enough.”

”No.” Willow’s voice rose to a near-shout. ”No, it is not enough. It will never be enough because you have never been there. You let my mother die and you replaced her before her body was cold. You let Ayla’s mother slither into your bed and play lady of the house. You let that bastard walk around like she belonged in our world when she should have been on her knees scrubbing floors for the rest of her miserable life.”

Soren stared at her, his face pale. ”What does this have to do with imprisoning a girl and drugging the prince?”

Willow laughed again.

”You would not understand.”

”Then make me understand.” Soren said, closing the distance between them. ”Make me understand why my daughter...my only daughter...thought it was acceptable to become this person. I raised you to be better than this.”

”Raised me?” She scoffed. ”You did not raise me. You paid servants to raise me. You gave me money and clothes and a roof over my head, but you never raised me. You were never there and when you were, you looked at me like I was a reminder of something you wanted to forget.”

Soren’s throat worked. ”Willow...”

”Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted to be matched with one of the princes? Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wanted Ares? That I have wanted him for years?”

Soren went still. ”What did you say?”

”You heard me.” Willow’s chin trembled. ”I love him. I have loved him since I was old enough to know what love meant. And you did nothing. You never pushed for a match. You never spoke to the Alpha on my behalf and now he is...”

Soren’s face had gone ashen. ”You cannot love Ares. He is...”

”He is what, Father?” Willow stepped closer, her eyes blazing. ”He is already mated to Ayla...your other daughter? Is that what you were going to say? Is she more important than I am too?”

”That is not what I meant.”

”Then what did you mean?” Her voice cracked. ”Explain it to me. Make me understand why the bastard Omega gets three princes and I get nothing. Make me understand why you let her take everything from me.”

Soren reached for her, his hand hovering near her arm. ”Willow, I will give you the world if you ask for it. Anything you want. But you have to forget about Prince Ares. He cannot be yours.”

Willow’s eyes searched his face. ”Why?”

”Because he just cannot.”

”That is not an answer.”

”It is the only answer I can give you.” Soren’s voice was strained, desperate in a way Willow had never heard before. ”There are things I cannot explain to you. Reasons you would not understand. But I need you to trust me when I tell you that you need to let him go. Do not think of him that way again. Do not...”

”Do not want the one thing that would make me happy? Do not reach for the one man who could have given my life meaning?”

”Willow, daughter please...”

”No.” She stepped back, out of his reach. ”You do not get to play the wounded father now. You do not get to pretend you care about my happiness when you have spent my entire life proving otherwise.”

Soren’s hand fell to his side. ”I am trying to protect you.”

”From what? From Ayla? She has the princes, she has the pack’s attention, she has everything I ever wanted. What else could you possibly need to protect me from?”

Soren said nothing.

Finally, Willow straightened her spine. She smoothed down her dress with trembling hands and lifted her chin.

”Well, good thing I do not have to listen to anything you say.”

She turned away from him.

”Willow.” Soren’s voice cracked. ”Do not walk out of this room.”

She paused with her hand on the handle but she did not turn around.

”You cannot stop me, father so except you plan to have me arrested and locked up in my room then this conversation is over.”

She pulled the door open and stepped through, letting it slam shut behind her.

Soren stood alone in the silence of his study, his hands hung at his sides, trembling.

He raised his hand and swept the contents of his desk onto the floor. The crash echoed through the empty room.

For the first time in what could have been the entirety of his life, the Beta Soren did not know what to do.