Chapter 179: Chapter 179 Family Pressure
Elara
At breakfast the next morning, my grandmother brought up a shocking topic.
"Elara, you and Dominic should really try for a baby next year."
I nearly choked on my coffee. "Grandma, my career just started. I don’t have time to raise a child right now."
"I’ll help you raise it!" Her eyes lit up with excitement.
Dominic’s amber eyes sparkled with laughter. "Actually, Grandma, I’m the one who doesn’t want kids yet."
I stared at him.
[ What was he doing?]
"We still have two weeks until the wedding," he said calmly. "After that, I want to take Elara on a real honeymoon. We’re young. I want us to travel together, see the world."
He took my hand in his. "We can talk about babies in two years."
Grandma’s face went serious. "Two years? Dominic, you’re not getting any younger!"
I tried not to laugh. He walked right into that one.
"Elara’s still young, of course. But I’m thinking about you too. Your father keeps asking about grandchildren..."
Linda, who was drinking water, nearly spit it out.
Every woman at the table turned to stare at Dominic like he had some kind of problem.
I looked down at my plate. I ignored the desperate look he gave me.
[Sorry, honey. You got yourself into this mess.
He wanted to save me from baby talk?
Fine. Now he could deal with it.]
Dominic laughed easily. "Don’t worry, Grandma. I promise we’ll give you twins in two years."
Grandma smiled, happy with his answer. She changed the subject.
--
In the car, Dominic grabbed me before I could put on my seatbelt.
His mouth crashed into mine. His teeth bit my lower lip hard.
"Ow! That hurts!"
I tasted blood. I pulled down the mirror. "Dominic, you bit me! I’m bleeding!"
"You heartless little thing." His voice was rough and low. "Grandma was making fun of me back there. You just sat there watching."
My voice got quiet. "That doesn’t mean you can bite me."
"Let me make it better."
He held my face and kissed me again. This time it was soft.
His tongue touched the cut gently. My brain went fuzzy. My eyes started to close.
I pushed him back with my last bit of willpower.
My hair was messy now. "Stop it."
"Dominic, I’m going to be late for work."
He licked his lips like he just tasted something sweet. "Fine. I won’t make you late."
Author
After Alpha Zack refused to help her, Selina ran straight home and collapsed into her father’s arms, tears streaming down her face.
"Dad, when Mom died, you promised you’d always protect me. But now your new Luna’s daughter is trying to destroy my life! You have to divorce her! If you don’t, how can you look me in the eye? How can you honor Mom’s memory?"
Alpha Enzo felt his heart break. His marriage to Nadia was already falling apart, and he couldn’t let Elara step on his daughter to get ahead.
"I’m sorry, sweetheart. I let you down," his voice cracked. "I’ll do whatever I can. Maybe we can work out a plea deal. If you show the judge you’re truly sorry, you might avoid jail time."
Selina buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing. "Dad, it hurts so bad. You used to call me your little princess. Am I still your princess?"
The guilt crushed his chest. He wished he’d never married Nadia. "Baby girl, I made a huge mistake. Once we get through this mess, we’ll start fresh. I promise."
Upstairs, Nadia sat on their bed, staring at the wall. She didn’t move until his dress shoes appeared in front of her. When she slowly looked up, Alpha Enzo’s face was cold as stone.
"Nadia, I want a divorce."
--
A few hours later, Nadia sat across from her father at his kitchen table. She watched his face turn red with anger.
The smell of his rage filled the air.
Her wolf started to shake inside her chest.
"You walked away with nothing? No money? No settlement?" Alpha Grant’s voice was hard and commanding. It was the same voice that kept their small pack in line for years. "Nadia, when did you become such a pushover?"
"I couldn’t fight him anymore, Dad." Her voice sounded tired and empty. "Half the Vance family money was already gone. At least this way Anthony might get something."
"The Amber pack owns half the county! You were Luna for fifteen years!" He slammed his fist on the table. "You’re almost fifty years old. Do you think this pack can take care of a broken she-wolf?"
Nadia stared at him. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. "Dad, I’ve done everything for this pack. I got Tommy that big deal with the Amber park. I helped Jack get the Park Hotel Group. And now you’re saying this to me?"
"I’m not trying to be mean, but you can’t even control your own daughter," her father said. "She got Jack fired. His wife left him. His son won’t talk to him. That’s all because of your daughter!"
"She’s bad luck!"
That pushed Nadia over the edge. "Jack’s wife left because he was cheating on her. His son hates him because he’s a cheating bastard. How is that Elara’s fault?"
Jack’s face turned bright red. "Every man cheats! If your daughter hadn’t told everyone, my wife never would have found out!"
Alpha Grant took his son’s side, like always. "Just because your marriage went bad doesn’t mean you can come here and start fights."
Nadia took a deep breath. "Dad, I didn’t come here asking for help. I have a house. I have money. I just thought you’d be nicer to me."
"Nadia, calm down." Tommy finally spoke up. "Dad, you need to stop."
"Look, Dad’s just worried about you. You said your house needs work, right? I have an empty place. You can stay there."
Nadia looked a little less angry. "Thanks, Tommy. At least you’re acting like family."
She was clearly taking a shot at Jack.
Tommy kept talking in a nice voice. "It’s in the same building as my place. If you get lonely, come visit. Sophie keeps asking about her aunt."
Nadia said yes. She had brought Tommy a lot of business over the years. Living in one of his places seemed fair.
"Thank you, Tommy."
--
That night, Tommy went home and told his wife everything.
"Are you crazy?" she asked.
He smiled. "You don’t understand. Do you know who my niece married? Dominic Wolfe. The Alpha King."
"Whatever money falls from his table could keep us rich for years."
"But didn’t you say Nadia and her daughter are fighting?"
"They are. But they’re still mother and daughter. What if they make up?" Tommy’s smile got bigger. "We haven’t fought with Elara. Let Sophie spend more time with her. See what happens."
His wife understood right away. "I’ll talk to Sophie."
"Don’t worry. Alpha Dominic is young, rich, and hot. Our daughter will definitely be interested."
