I was at my marble-topped desk, my back to the double doors that opened onto the balcony that floated sixty stories above Stelline City. I studied the desk for a second, and then my home office, and thought that maybe Rudy was right in his assessment of the decorating. It was cold—everything in black, white, and grey. Oh well. I knew Mom was going for manly when she had this place done for me and I never really cared. But maybe it could have used some warming up. I wondered briefly if it was something that Rudy would want to do. If I ever convinced him to move in.

I tried to shake thoughts of Rudy out of my head and got back to work. My website was almost ready for launch. My promo materials from the graphic designer were back and looked better than I ever thought they would. I fired up my computer and scrolled through social media banners and advertising materials, amazed at how well the artist translated my vision. After checking off on a couple of small changes, I checked in with the programmer. We had a quick video meeting and he assured me he’d worked out almost all the bugs in the code. Just a few more days and the site would be up for a test run. I clicked out of our meeting and felt pretty good about the morning’s work.

Now, I just needed an investor who would fund my initial ad campaign and app development. Naturally, I thought of my father, but I knew he’d never agree to be an investor in a business that took me away from the family business. I wished he’d get on board with this project. It would have meant the world to me to have my father’s approval with this venture and to know he supported me in my passions. But that wasn’t Dad. He supported family first and always had, and anything he thought might put cracks in the family foundation be damned. I knew that was why he took a dislike to Rudy.

Rudy was an unknown for my father. Not from one of the local, wealthier shifter families. So naturally, he thought Rudy was just after my money and name. I didn’t know how to get him to change his mind. I pushed my computer away and scrubbed my hands over my face before checking my watch. I needed to get into the office today, but first I wanted a hard run and a hot shower to take away some of the tension from my family troubles and from missing Rudy. He was answering my texts now, but I hadn’t seen him in a few days and my body was beginning to physically ache from not being near him and able to touch him. I shoved away from the desk and headed to the gym.

I’d run and showered and now I was heading to the office. There was a meeting this afternoon that Dad insisted I be there for. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I had to keep Dad happy for now. I wished he’d just let Ollie take over.

My car got me downtown to the office before I was ready. I spent a couple of minutes in the parking garage, pacing and trying to work out the energy my run hadn’t gotten rid of before I took the elevator up to our office.

Marks Development and Construction took up five entire floors of one of the tallest office buildings in downtown Stelline City. We built it, of course. We built much of this city. My family had been involved in the development of Stelline City since the beginning. My grandfather’s signature graced the charter that hung in the city hall. Which we also built. There wasn’t a corner of this city that didn’t have the Marks finger on it. While none of us actively served in government, my family had its say in what happened in this city. It was a heady notion and one that my father took very seriously. I understood the pressure he was under and why he felt the way he did about me taking over the family business, but I wished he’d understand that it wasn’t the only way. I had to make him see.

The elevator doors whooshed open and deposited me into a gleaming hallway. White marble floors flowed as far as the eye could see, broken only by glass-walled offices and strategically placed potted plants. The entire place was bright and clean and reeked of money. I passed the receptionist at her frosted glass desk—to give her a little a modesty, my mother said—and she looked up with a smile. “Mr. Marks, your father is in meeting room three. Can I get you anything?”

“No, thanks, Amy. I’m stopping by my office first. Don’t call him.”

“Sure thing.” She nodded and went back to tapping at the digital tablet set into the desk.

While all the associates and project manager offices were glass-walled, the executive offices and meeting rooms at the back were brushed steel with frosted glass doors. I snuck past the meeting room where my father was waiting and slipped into my office, letting out the breath I was holding as I eased the door shut.

I stepped quickly into my private bathroom and splashed my face with cold water. I had to find a way to tell my father that I didn’t want to be the head of this business. I gave myself a shake and headed out and down to the meeting room before my father came looking for me.

“There he is.” My father’s voice boomed across the room the second I opened the door. Hewas seated at the end of the conference table with one of our best project managers and a couple of men in business suits I’d never met before.

“Just in time. We were about to start without you. You know Matt.” My dad gestured at our project manager. “And this is Mr. Huang and Mr. Wilson. They’re here about that property west of the Paisley.”

I gave the potential clients a handshake and slid into a chair beside Matt. “How’s it going?” I asked in a low voice.

“Okay,” he answered, his voice just as low. “We haven’t started yet. I just put the finishing touches on the slideshow.”

I nodded and grabbed a bottle of water from the bowl at the center of the table before settling back into my chair. I planned on keeping my mouth shut, hoping Dad would just go on without my input. I hadn’t bothered to read the specs on this project and I had no idea what was going on.

Dad tapped a button under the edge of the table and the room dimmed as Matt’s project slides appeared on the wall opposite the table. Dad stared at me for a long second before he realized that I wasn’t going to get up. He heaved to his feet and snatched the digital remote from Matt before turning to the clients.

The next hour was filled with cost projections, environmental studies, construction blueprints, demographic studies, and Dad glaring at me as I sat and rolled my water bottle between my hands, offering nothing constructive to the meeting.

Finally, the presentation was over and the lights came back up. We stood and shook hands, with Dad telling the men he was looking forward to their proposal. Matt led them out with a look back at me.

“What the hell was that?” my father exploded, as soon as the door closed.

“I told you before there wasn’t any reason for me to be in on this meeting. I’m not interested in this project. I’m working on something of my own. You should have Ollie heading this up.”

“I don’t want Ollie heading this up. You’re going to be in charge here soon. I want you to get ready to take over this company. I want you to know it inside and out. I’m the damn president. I shouldn’t have been in there giving a presentation to the clients. That should have been you.” He stabbed his finger at me. “Do you have any idea how unprofessional that looked? We’re going to be lucky if you can salvage this deal for us. Get your ass in your office, open up that proposal, and learn everything about this deal you can. Then call those clients and take them to lunch. Put yourself at the head of this.”

“No,” I said quietly. “Give it to Ollie.”

My dad’s face turned the darkest shade of red I’d seen outside of beets. For a split second I thought he was about to have a stroke.

“No?” he wheezed at me. “Did I hear you? What do you think you’re playing at, Jason?”

“I don’t want to head this company, Dad. I’m starting my own company. This isn’t the place for me. You should put Ollie in charge.”

My dad flopped into his chair like a deflated balloon. “It has to be you, Jason. You’re my oldest son, the oldest alpha. You’re supposed to take over the company. And Ollie is a flake.”

I pulled out the chair across from him and settled into it. “Can we talk like men? Not like father and son, but contemporaries? And can you maybe not blow a vein?”

The fact that I was calm and measured seemed to take some of the bite out of him. He nodded. “We can try. Am I going to like what you’re going to say?”

“Probably not.”

“Okay then, spit out whatever it is you have to say. And order me some coffee.”

I pushed a bottle of water of him. “Drink this instead. Less strain on your heart, old man.”

He gave me a withering look as he roughly twisted the cap off the bottle.

“Okay, first things first. I have my own ideas and own company I’ve been working on. I’m not ready to tell you all the details yet, but it’s coming together nicely. It’s a website—” I held up my hand when I saw Dad’s mouth open, “—It’s a website for shifters and it’s almost ready to launch. I’m planning on turning it into an app and taking it beyond Stelline eventually.” I gave him a look and kept going. “And you shouldn’t discount Ollie. Stop being so stubborn and bound by tradition. There’s no reason for me to take over the company just because I’m the oldest. Ollie is far more suited to this position than I am. He’s good with numbers and with people. He can pull last year’s figures out of his brain faster than I can call them up on the computer. He’s good, Dad.”

“Not possible. Ollie just wants to sleep and play video games,” Dad grumbled.

“Teenage Ollie wanted to sleep and play video games. When’s the last time you had a real conversation with him? Or with any one of us, for that matter? You just tell us what to do and expect us to be what you think we should be. Well, I’m done with that.” My mouth was suddenly dry, but I kept pushing on. “Ollie is who you should have take over the business. I’m out.”

I watched the line between Dad’s eyebrows get deeper and deeper as he glared at me. “This isn’t the final word on this. Ollie is a slacker and can’t be trusted with this much responsibility. We owe this city as a family. It’s made us what we are and it’s something I take very seriously.”

“I know,” I bit out.

“Get your priorities straight, son.”

“Give Ollie a chance.”

“Fine. I’ll give him a chance. But I need you here, too. If something goes south with him I need you here to pick up his slack.”

“That’s hardly showing faith in his abilities,” I remarked.

“Those are my terms. If you want me to give him a chance, you have to be here with him. Deal?”

“Fine.” I shoved away from table and headed toward the door before I said something that made him snatch this chance away from Ollie.

“And son.” His words stopped my hand on the doorknob. “Find another omega to date.”

I shoved the door open and stomped down the hallway before I said something I’d regret later.