Changed Fate

Chapter Twelve - uneditted

Thank you RachelleCordero for the picture! 

Mikko POV (two days after Finn's failed party)

I was late. With two sick kids and one getting over it, we were busy. 

Tomorrow Mike, Nikki, and Em's father George, would be leaving, which would make this situation harder for Em. She needed to rest, but it would be harder once they left. 

I quickly made my way up to the study and let myself in. Alpha Russo and his beta both looked annoyed with my late arrival. It was only five minutes, but too long for them. 

"Looks like we can finally start," the alpha said with attitude. 

"So it seems," Finn replied monotonous. 

Shall I send someone to your home? Finn asked through the pack bond. 

Nikki, Mike, and George are there. Em's resting. 

"And what is the decision regarding my proposal?" The alpha asked as he sunk into his chair. The expression on his face was full of confidence as he looked from me to Finn. He thought Finn would agree to it. 

"Mikko is not going to be bonded to your daughter." 

I felt relief flood from my head to my feet. I had expected that answer, but hearing it aloud gave me relief. 

Jones wasn't nearly as surprised as his alpha, whose shock quickly turned into anger. "Then why are we even here anymore?"

"Another agreement can be made. My sons won't be bonded to a girl who threatens my family," he replied in a tone that acted more as a threat than anything else. 

The alphas eyes narrowed on Finn, who had decided to ignore the disrespect. "I think our packs need a break from these negotiations." 

Finn nodded and stood up from behind his desk. "That sounds like a good idea. We shall reconvene in two months and until then, there will be no contact between the packs or its familial connections."

The alpha smirked. "You want my beta to stay away from Mikko's play thing." 

Even though he was taunting me by calling Emily my play thing, I stayed in my spot. I wouldn't allow him to goad me into attacking him and starting a rivalry between the packs. They wouldn't win, they couldn't, but it would be a pain in the neck. 

"Precisely," Finn said with a smile. "I don't want my daughter compromised or tricked by Beta Jones."

"She's a grown woman, and she is not your daughter," Jones replied. 

"She is and she is also very young." Finn would defend his stance on protecting Emily from Jones. "And she is my daughter." Finn put force behind his words. Anyone would think twice to call Emily anything but one of Finn's children.

"I am very young as well," Jones shot back. 

"You will stay away from her." Finn demanded the young pup's obedience. "You will not contact her because I have commanded so. Stray from the agreement and there will be no peace for your pack."

The alpha gave a short, reluctant nod and stood up. "This will end up backfiring."

"Emily will be pissed when she finds out what you've ordered," Jones stated. 

Both wolves shook Finn's hand before leaving. 

"He's right." I said in Norwegian. "Emily won't be pleased about her date's inability to call her."

Finn sat back down at his desk. "Then tell her about it," he replied very sharply in the same language. 

"She'll still be mad."

Finn's eyes met mine. I could see the annoyance stirring in them. 

"That's your problem, Mikko. You're an adult; tell the mother of your children what happened. Don't leave anything out, that's why she doesn't trust you." He clicked on his computer.

"She doesn't trust me because of your schemes."

He shook his head. "She doesn't trust you because she thinks you're a heartless bastard."

I sat down on one of the seats in front of the desk. "It's easier."

Finn shook his head. "It's not."

"You loved the mothers of your children. Look how that ended up for you."

"I was happy," he said truthfully.

"And they died because of you."

Finn nodded in acknowledgement. "They died because of the circumstances that arose because I am what I am. I didn't influence their death directly. It wasn't my fault that my wives died."

I shook my head. "I don't want my children to grow up without their mother."

"Keep her at a distance and your children will grow up without their father."

I didn't have an answer for that, so I stayed quiet. 

"You can fix what you've broken, son, but you must not keep anything from the girl," he said gently. 

She couldn't know everything. Every wolf has a darkness in their past. The dark spots of the Madill's were considerably blackened compared to others. 

"She is impressionable, but she was raised to put family first. You know she wouldn't put up much of a fight if you gave her what she wanted."

"I offered her what she wanted," I muttered as I crossed my arms over my chest. 

Finn's brows gathered in confusion as he finally put at his attention in my direction. "When was this?"

"The night Russo offered his daughter."

Finn winced and sat back in his chair, entwining his fingers in a lock behind his head. "And you told her that much before offering for her."

I nodded. 

Finn shook his head with a smile. "You have forgotten all you used to know about women."

I rolled my eyes. "I know all about women."

"You don't." Finn shook his head again and brought this hands down to sit up straight. "Your expertise with women was seducing them and using them for whatever you needed. It's keeping a woman that you don't understand."

"I had a wife," I countered. 

Finn nodded at the validity if the point. "You had a wife a lifetime ago. Women change with the times. It's not enough to have sexual relations or accidentally impregnate anymore. They want to feel like equals with love, respect, and understanding." 

Again, I kept my mouth shut. 

"Emily may look like Jess, but she's not. She's a whole different breed of woman. You need to understand that and accept it."

"Everything is too fragmented for me to fix."

"You're a smart boy, you'll figure it out." He waved me away and returning to using the English language. "Make sure they leave. I won't have any stragglers creating problems."

I stayed seated for a bit before getting up and following the trespassing pack off of our lands.