“What was she doing?” Isobel pressed. “Where was she? Were you with her?”
“I was there,” Braun confirmed, easing down into an armchair, the same grief Isobel had felt the day he had told her about her mother edging past the rage he was pushing out at her. She resisted the urge to pull down her walls and take it all from him, the way she had been taught.
“I deserve to know what happened.” She tried to sound unyielding and unafraid, but she was pretty sure it had come out sounding more like a question.
“I know you think it’s my fault.” Braun turned away from her, looking out the window, his jaw tensing again. “You were always so much weaker than Caran. She could handle me. She didn’t die because she was levelling me out. She died because she weakened herself. She stopped taking her medication.”
“What medication?” Isobel frowned, unsure how to react to her father actually talking to her instead of dismissing her completely.
He stood and walked to where his soft leather briefcase was sitting on the hall table. He pulled a small white bottle from inside and brought it over to his chair, sinking down again as he smacked the bottle onto the coffee table before him.
“The surrogate pills,” he said. “They were keeping her alive. Along with me.”
“S-Surrogate?” Isobel stuttered.
“God, you really can be stupid, Isobel.” He pinched his nose, annoyance now overtaking his tendrils of grief.
Behind her, Mikel let out a low sound of warning, but Braun didn’t seem to hear it. It was almost as though he had forgotten the presence of the other Alpha altogether.
“Mom wasn’t your mate?” Isobel asked, something like fear choking up the back of her throat.
“Her mate was my brother. He was her Anchor.” Braun levelled Isobel with a tired look. “He died, and I offered to help. I’d heard about the pills, but they weren’t available in the settlements—hell, the people in the settlements still don’t know about them. I pretended she was my mate, otherwise, they never would have issued the pills to me. It was simple enough, since we have a similar eye colour. They issued the pills on the basis that I would be travelling most of the year for work and she would be home alone. Between me and the pills, she survived.”
Isobel’s mind was spinning, her eyes fixed to the little white bottle. “What are they?”
“Surrogate pills. Do you listen, girl?” He snapped his fingers in front of her face. “They stop the bond side effects and sustain people when their bonds aren’t available.”
The anger rose within her so swiftly she spluttered for a moment before the words burst out of her. “Why didn’t you give them to me?”
“I’ve been carrying them around in case you need them.” He rolled his eyes like she was being overly dramatic. “Your need for a surrogate has brought you more attention and screen time than any plan I could have possibly come up with. I would have stepped in if the situation had become dire or if none of your little boyfriends offered to help.”
“That’s fucked up.” She stared at him, shocked into disbelief. “Is that what you did to Mom? You stopped giving her pills?”
“Accuse me of killing Caran Carter one more time, I dare you,” he growled, suddenly turning his full attention on her, his fury clawing over her skin. “She stopped taking them on her own. Stashing every second one away. She was trying to build up a stash so that she could run away. It was stupid. Reckless. How was I supposed to know she had grown so weak? I barely gave her an inch of what was supposed to be our burden to carry before she collapsed.”
Isobel jumped up. “I’m done here.” She was trembling, vibrating anger and grief—half of it hers, half of it his.
“Not so fast.” Braun snatched up the pill bottle, stuffing it into his pocket. Even now, he wasn’t going to offer it to her. “We have to discuss what’s happening over the break.”
She paused, her back still turned, waiting for whatever he wanted to say.
“I’ve arranged a surrogate for you. He’ll be coming to stay with us.”
She met Mikel’s eyes, and he shook his head slightly. It wasn’t one of the Alphas.
“Who?” she croaked.
“Adam Bellamy.”
She spun around, her mouth falling open. “I already have several surrogates. I’m not even friends with Bellamy.”
“I don’t care who you’re friends with, Isobel. I made a deal with Adam’s father. It’s a Hollywood thing—you wouldn’t understand. He’s going to step down from the movie role I’m interested in, and in return, you’re going to give Adam the bump in popularity he needs before the start of year three. This is how the business works.”
“No.” The word fell out of her mouth before she could even think it through.
Braun’s honey-gold eyes narrowed into slits. “This isn’t a discussion. It’s happening whether you like it or not.” He took a threatening step toward her but paused, seeking out Mikel again. “I think you’ve intruded enough, don’t you, Professor? This should have been a private discussion between me and my daughter.”
“The matter of my student’s safety is a discussion for us all,” Mikel countered calmly. “And that plan isn’t going to work.”
“Did I miss the episode where they made you her new daddy?” Braun gritted out, making a grab for Isobel.
She slipped out from beneath his hand. For a moment, he seemed too shocked to move, and then he barrelled forward again, but Mikel was there in an instant, gripping his wrist and twisting it behind his back until the larger man was bent forward and twitching with pain, a grunt vibrating out of his throat. Mikel’s movements were so fast that the whole thing happened in a blur. He released Braun just as quickly, and Isobel found herself blinking at his back as he planted himself before her.
“Think you’re gonna hook your cart to her cash wagon, eh?” Her father laughed cruelly. “Too bad, Professor. She already has a manager. Signed a contract with him and everything. And she’s under my control until she graduates.”
“The academy retains the right to intervene where they see fit.” Mikel’s voice was chillingly calm.
“Aren’t you getting a bit greedy?” Braun asked. Isobel peered around Mikel to see the smug look overtaking her father’s face. “Don’t you already have eight perfectly fit Alpha horses in this race? Why don’t you leave the silly little Sigma foal to me? Adding her to your roster won’t do shit to overcompensate for that god-awful face.”
“Why don’t you shut the hell up for once?” Isobel stepped out from behind Mikel. “I’m done with your abusive crap. Why don’t you watch what you say for once? Why don’t you try to talk like an adult for once?”
Her father didn’t look at her like he was surprised that she was finally learning to stand up for herself. He looked at her like she had plotted out the most annoying thing she could do to stand against him, and had gone ahead and done it just to spite him.
She wasn’t being strong in his eyes. She was being small.