A University of Betrayal (The Blairville Legacies #2)

Chapter 26

Emely

Impromptu No. 1 in C Minor for Piano

Nicholas Britell

Sitting at this table and eating with guests had never been as strange as it was today. Maybe it was because we rarely had guests or because I was already used to Hunter, his brothers and their father, Maverick, occasionally coming over for dinner. But it wasn’t these four people we were having dinner with this time. No, it was the Rolanows. They were sitting at the other end of the table. To be precise, their Alpha was sitting there.

Dimitrio Rolanow, a tall, dark-blond man about my father’s age, his eyes light blue and cool. His short beard made him look older than he actually was.

Next to him, to his right, sat a beautiful woman. She was younger than him, perhaps in her mid-thirties? She had beautiful blonde curls and freckles that emphasized her blue eyes, as did her thick eyelashes. She was Dimitrio’s sister. Tania Rolanow, if I wasn’t mistaken.

To the other side of the Russian Alpha sat a handsome tall blond man, with striking facial features that emphasized his masculinity, and I would be lying if I said he wasn’t attractive. He had the same blue eyes as the rest of the family. And he had introduced himself as Mikhail Rolanow, son of the Russian alpha.

Father had made a statement, even publicly – though he hated that sort of thing – to let the DeLoughreys know that we weren’t going to let their indirect threats through the murders at our forest borders get through to us. Even if Jenny Bexley was already chasing after me again for that, trying to squeeze more details out of me.

I had put on a loose-fitting dark green evening dress, wore my hair down and was already regretting having put earrings in because, as always, my earlobes were burning like hell. But what didn’t you do to look your best at such an important dinner?

“Word is spreading fast that you have taken the supremacy in Canada.” The Russian alpha smiled at my father as we all ate together. There was the best food, all kinds of food in fact. And my uncle had cooked, which meant it tasted extra good. He had a talent for seasoning meat. “And let’s get straight to the point. I realize you want to extend this power to all of North America.”

My father smiled, but I could feel him tense up.

Dimitrio seemed to know his plans. It wasn’t that hard to guess when you knew why this dinner was happening. And the fact that I was the reason didn’t make it any more pleasant.

“And you want to strengthen your business influences in America as well, as far as I know,” Father replied calmly, although tensely, when Dimitrio cleared his throat and now his tension seemed to be rising as well.

I couldn’t help but conceal my nervousness by once again putting something on my plate. Hopefully it wouldn’t be noticeable that I had already eaten my fifth chicken leg. That’s when I spotted Mikhail looking at me.

Heat shot through my cheeks. I was embarrassed to be eating in front of the son of the Russian Alpha. Alone, the reason why he was here... And now I saw him and he saw me. Oh, God. The nervousness almost threatened to eat me up from the inside.

Nash next to me didn’t seem nervous at all, but strangely tense. Because whenever he was tense, he ate very slowly and observed everything, just like he did with Dimitrio’s son all the time. I would have liked to kick him under the table, but I restrained myself, especially now that Mikhail’s eyes were upon me.

“We both have our interests, otherwise we wouldn’t be here,” my father said, easing the tension considerably by smiling at the Russian Alpha, who smiled back.

“The food tastes very good, Nickolas. Thank you for your hospitality,” the Alpha’s sister said in a warm voice and smiled, looking more genuine than her father and Dimitrio.

“You have to give the compliment to my uncle. He cooked all this,” I replied quickly, earning a serious look from my father, which triggered the familiar confusion inside me.

Tania looked a little flustered, but then she nodded with an insecure smile and continued eating.

“Alarik is here?”

The Russian alpha didn’t sound at all enthusiastic. And immediately all my alarm bells rang.

“Actually, I had asked him to be here, but...” Father began with a sigh as my uncle entered the dining room.

“Good evening.”

There was something strange about him. Either the fact that he was wearing a new dark green vest, which I had never seen on him before, or perhaps the fact that he paused briefly in the doorway and stared at the guests. Alarik was never rude. This time, something in him seemed to be rebelling. Maybe it was his hair, which looked neater than usual. Someone had replaced my uncle.

Anxiety rose in my chest when I saw how rigid the looks he and Dimitrio exchanged with each other were, until my father finally cleared his throat.

Alarik raised his head, nodded to my father and finally walked through the dining room.

I hoped he would sit next to me and the woman, but he took a seat between Mikhail and my brother. Then he gave me a smile, which I immediately returned. His presence put me at ease, because he tended to lighten the mood.

“Alarik... I didn’t think we’d see each other again,” the Russian alpha said. His jaw twitched strangely. He wasn’t smiling.

Had I missed something?

“Me neither,” Alarik replied tonelessly, ignoring the stare from Dimitrio and his sister.

There was something in Tania’s gaze that I couldn’t interpret. She had stopped eating entirely.

Our eyes met, and I quickly turned back to eating.

“And you’re still just as cocky and disrespectful.”

I looked up in astonishment at Alarik, who forked up two chicken legs and laughed. “I don’t owe you any accountability.”

Shocked by Alarik’s disrespectful tone toward the most powerful Alpha of all the continents, I widened my eyes.

“I beg your pardon?!”

Angrily, the Russian Alpha slammed the knife into the dining room table, and I winced.

My father cleared his throat again and exchanged meaningful glances with Alarik.

I tried to catch Alarik’s gaze, but he didn’t look at me, instead looking tensely at his plate before starting to eat.

Mikhail spoke up, probably to lighten the mood. He had a deep, pleasant voice. “Tania said that your food tastes good. I couldn’t agree more.”

Now my uncle looked up, directly at the woman sitting a few chairs away, who was staring at him. She couldn’t hold his gaze for long and turned back to her food. He, however, remained staring, his green eyes full of unreadable emotion, as if he had only just noticed her presence.

I looked at Nash, who wasn’t looking at the two of them, but at Mikhail... tense and with a menacing glint in his eyes.

God, what was going on here?

This was a serious dinner with major political significance for Father, and I seemed to be the only one in this family who understood the assignment. And now it made sense that Finn wasn’t there. He would probably have made some kind of comment that would have made the situation worse.

“Mikhail, don’t you want to tell Emely a bit about yourself?”

I stopped chewing as Dimitrio gave his son an expectant look. Mikhail looked up and looked me straight in the eye. A smile stole across his lips.

If anyone looked like an angel, it was him, even if, as the son of the Russian alpha, he hardly was. I had heard the stories from Alarik. How the Russian pack raised its offspring. Brutal and ice-cold.

“Emely probably doesn’t know that you can cook at least as well as Alarik.”

My uncle looked contemptuously at the Russian Alpha, and I noticed Father kicking him under the table.

“Certainly not better, but yes, I like to cook when time allows.”

Okay, this might all be arranged, but it was a different level when a man could cook.

“Most of the free time I have I spend on the field playing American football, along with a few other sports like karate, boxing, and duel training.”

What sounded like a lot was not unusual for a Senseque. We had to burn off energy somewhere. I was part of the basketball team at Vanderwood and attended the gym at Vanderwood. And when Kieran was there, we always boxed together at Pavati Lake.

“Football. Did you hear that, Nash? I’m sure you’ll show him the team at Vanderwood,” Father tried to include Nash in the conversation.

“Definitely...” Nash growled, but luckily, our father seemed to be more focused on Mikhail.

“And what are you studying?” Father asked with interest.

I was amazed to see the interest in his eyes. Something he rarely showed, and when he did, only with Nash.

“I graduated with a master’s degree in economics two years ago.”

That didn’t surprise me if he was going to be the next Alpha. And of course he had already finished his studies. After all, he was already twenty-six.

“Just like his father, a businessman,” the Russian Alpha laughed and patted his son on the broad shoulder, who smiled proudly, albeit cautiously.

“He’s such an ambitious man,” Dimitrio continued.

Mikhail looked at me and scrutinized me again.

“Now, don’t bore the girl with things like that.”

“Tania...” Dimitrio cleared his throat in surprise.

“Excuse me, but if I were such a young woman, the last thing I’d be interested in is my potential partner studying economics.”

Tania didn’t know that I was very interested in economics and politics. After all, I was studying law, with my focus on international law, and hoped to get a good job that would help my family politically. Not only in Blairville.

Alarik had to grin, and I noticed my father’s displeased look, which was only directed at him.

Tania seemed to be unsettled by Alarik’s grin because it took her a moment before she turned her attention back to me.

“Did you know that Mica plays the piano? He’s my best student.”

Now I was really surprised. He played the piano, just like Julian.

Memories came flooding back... of Monday. He had just turned up here and his looks... They had been so unusual. Not hostile or reserved, but open and curious. He had completely thrown me for a loop.

“Tania, please. That’s not a quality that characterizes a young man.”

Tania looked at her brother with an indecisive expression, as if she wanted to say something else, but left it at that.

It seemed that Tania and I agreed. Playing the piano was something very beautiful, but I couldn’t do it. I was more someone who liked to listen to the familiar sounds of my childhood when I had been at the Bardots and Julian had played. He was talented. And now here was Mikhail, who first had to prove to me that he could actually play the piano.

“Tania’s right, Emely must be bored of me by now.”

“No, I’d love to hear you play,” I quickly blurted out and Nash raised his gaze. He was always so calm, but now he seemed to want to interfere.

“But we don’t have a piano, Emy.”

“The Jones have one,” I reminded him. “A very old grand piano.”

“And I’ve arranged for them to put it in our drawing room,” my father interjected, and I looked at him in surprise.

He looked at Tania, who smiled in gratitude.

“But it belongs to the Bardots,” Nash snorted.

Not exactly.

“It’s Julian’s,” I corrected my brother.

Nash stared at me fiercely. I knew he was thinking about Julian, and I wished I knew what it was that was bothering him at that moment.

“Who is Julian?” Tania asked now. She sat up straight and looked at us scrutinizingly.

“A frien...” I began, but Father seemed to find the subject too sensitive.

“No one...” he began. The Alpha across from me raised his eyebrows. “...that we want to talk about tonight, because there are more important things to discuss,” my father deflected skillfully, which the Russian Alpha seemed to be satisfied with. “Emely, please introduce yourself and don’t leave our guests in the dark like this.”

I looked at my father, who nodded at me encouragingly. It was unusual for him to speak to me directly, to call me by my name. Overwhelm threatened to overtake me.

“Emely is also studying economics as a minor and is very active in sports. She’s on the basketball team at university,” Father then spoke up and I couldn’t say anything.

It felt strange when he talked about me. As if he didn’t know me, which wasn’t far from the truth. My interests were my business. Something that had no place in the affairs of the pack. He could have mentioned my law degree, but had opted for the minor....

“Besides, Emely is very involved in the pack.” Alarik winked at me and I blushed. Did he have to mention that like it was something special? It was my damn duty.

“I’m glad to hear that. A social woman at my son’s side isn’t doing too badly.”

The look Dimitrio received from Alarik was more than devastating, and Tania looked down into her lap, ashamed.

“We’re not living in the sixteenth century anymore, Dimitrio,” Alarik growled with a bitter scowl. “And that’s why you don’t talk like that about a woman, especially not when it’s my niece.”

My father instantly turned pale.

Dimitrio’s thick brows drew together. His jaw moved menacingly.

“Am I understanding this correctly? You’re criticizing the Senseque tradition that every pack follows?”

My uncle looked at him with defiance. “Maybe, yes.”

Tania looked up, startled. A blonde curl came loose from her hair and fell forward.

The Russian Alpha looked in horror at Alarik, then at my father. “Your brother still shows me as little respect as he did back then, even though I’m above him! Are you letting him get away with this behavior?”

“No,” my father pressed out. If only the Russian Alpha knew all the things Alarik was allowed to do, simply because he was Alarik. “Brother, please don’t forget your manners. The Rolanows are just as much your guests as they are mine.”

But Alarik seemed to have a really big death wish today. “Emely is your daughter, and you let him talk about her like that?”

“Alarik…”

“No, Tania.” The woman flinched, and again Alarik’s gaze lingered on her. He addressed her directly by her first name… They must know each other.

“Alarik, damn it!” My father’s eyes began to glow. But that didn’t help with Alarik. He was just as strong and indomitable when it came to the Alpha bond.

“Never mind!” He jumped up, his chair grinding across the floorboards with a loud noise. “I’ll let you negotiate your deals, Brother. But without me.”

Those were his last words before he hurried out of the dining room.

Tania and I watched him leave, and I was about to get up and follow him, to confront him. He may have wanted to protect me, but my well-being didn’t come before the pack’s.

What kind of messy dinner was this? It felt like I hadn’t done my homework, even though I had informed myself about the Rolanows the last two evenings.

“This behavior is inexcusable!”

To make matters worse, the Russian alpha was bubbling with rage. He pulled the knife out of the table.

I knew Father loved this table from the founding days, despite its many nicks, but he tolerated Dimitrio’s anger.

“I have to apologize. He promised me he’d pull himself together.”

“You should never have brought him under my nose!”

I pressed my lips together and looked at Nash, but he didn’t seem to understand what was going on either. His light blue shirt was glowing, which meant he was on his phone again.

God, didn’t anyone here have any manners?

“I should honestly doubt you are interested in this alliance.”

“No!” I’d never seen my father react so quickly. “We’re interested.”

I heard a vase break in the garden. That was too much.

“What’s he doing?” Dimitrio asked angrily.

I pushed my chair back and stood up. “I’m sorry I have to excuse myself, but I’d like to look after him and talk to him.” And before my father could say anything, I was already hurrying through the doorway into the hallway and finally outside.

Crickets Chirping in the Evening Forest

Nature on Record, White Noise Workshop

The cool evening air hit my face. A welcome breeze blew through the November night. Just two weeks to go until the moon was full again. A night I was looking forward to, even if I could change whenever I wanted. However, the full moon gave us Senseque an ecstatic feeling.

“Did you find him?”

I wheeled around.

“Mikhail,” I gasped, startled.

He was just standing there, a few steps away by the railing, his short hair blowing barely noticeably in the wind.

“Call me Mica, please,” he said with a smile and looked around the front of our garden, his eyes glowing yellow.

I didn’t know what to say to that and looked around as well until I spotted the broken porcelain on the patio, as expected. But there was no sign of Alarik.

“Your uncle is very tempestuous.”

“He’s worried. That’s all.”

And I appreciated that about him, but he couldn’t behave like that in front of potential allies. World politics was at stake here. Other Alphas might question Father’s authority once word got around about how little he was enforcing.

“I hope you don’t think I just want you next to me as my trophy.”

I looked at Mica. His gaze was curious.

“I don’t care as long as it makes my father happy.”

I wasn’t going to lie. That was the truth. I would do whatever it took to save my father’s pack. Maybe it would even help my father to prevail against the other species. Maybe even against the Ruisangors.

I couldn’t help but think of the man who had challenged me for the second time now. Miles DeLoughrey. He was terribly annoying and didn’t know his limits. Last time, he’d pushed me into a corner until I’d had to force my way past him. It had taken all my effort not to attack him. And then there had been something else... His look, his body. He had come too close to me. And the worst part was that at that moment, I had been so captivated by the reddish glow of his irises. He had pressed against me…

The thought aroused a strange inner tension, followed by goosebumps. The mere memory seemed far too absurd to actually have happened. And yet it had happened. I was still confused and ashamed that I hadn’t just left, but had stayed there with him, that I had let something like that happen to me.

“Wow” Mica laughed, bringing me back to the present.

“What?”

“I should consider myself lucky that you’re such a dutiful woman. Alarik doesn’t seem to have lied.”

“He didn’t,” I confirmed. “And I would do anything to keep things peaceful between our packs. It just depends on what your goals are.”

I scrutinized the strange man in front of me, his powerfully built body, the neat appearance, the sharp look with which he was scrutinizing me the whole time.

Mica came toward me and stopped just in front of me. I resisted the urge to step back.

Unbound

Gustavo Santaolalla

“I don’t want you to be my wife if you don’t love me.”

I swallowed. That was a pretty heavy confession with a lot of demands behind it.

“Are you trying to force me?” Now I stepped back after all.

He laughed softly. “No.” And suddenly he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to convince you.”

Overwhelming heat shot into my cheeks.

I sighed and tried to distract myself from the warmth of his hand.

“Why is this so important to you?”

“Because I don’t want my future wife to make the same mistake my mother did.”

I gritted my teeth.

Shit. I had apparently touched one of his sore spots.

“Your mother?”

“She was married to my father and after three years fell in love with someone else. She cheated on Father, and in our family, cheating on the Alpha is the ultimate betrayal.”

Damn. That sounded like a lot of family drama. And even stricter principles than we had.

But I was willing to give everything for the pack I belonged to. Without even a second of hesitation.

“What happened to her?” I asked quickly, trying to push away the dark thought that was about to come to the surface.

Mica came closer so that I could smell his eau de parfum. He leaned towards my ear and whispered softly: “Something very bad, Emely. Something I don’t want to see happen to or even do to you.”

A shiver went down my spine.

His mother was dead.

I took a step toward the railing to catch my breath.

This was a heavy story, and maybe it had just ruined my evening completely.

“I want to be able to convince you of me,” I heard Mica close behind me, and a tingle ran down my back.

“I will never cheat on you. I’m loyal and sincere,” I assured him in a firm voice, but somehow these words felt wrong. That was probably because they didn’t come from my heart, but from my head, which put traditions and the pack above everything else. It was my duty to be loyal and obedient to Mikhail, to my husband and eventually the Alpha of the Russian Pack, which I would be part of should we marry.

“Emely. I want that the woman I like very much to return my feelings.”

I turned to him slowly. The conversation was getting awkward. It felt like he was asking more of me than we had actually agreed on.

“I like you.”

I swallowed.

I liked him too. Attractive, muscular, future Alpha position, athletic and maybe even musically gifted. The fact that he could cook was the icing on the cake...

“I don’t know Mikhail... You seem like a great guy, but I can’t force feelings all of a sudden.” I didn’t want to turn him down either, dammit. “Can’t we just play by our parents’ rules?”

His jaw tightened, then he sighed, his expression rigid as if he was thinking over my words.

So, I stepped back up to the railing to look across the garden.

My head was a battlefield of thoughts by now, and I needed time to process this evening. I would love to roam the woods out there now, to lose myself in the hunt.

The pack knew that the Rolanows had arrived today. And if it got back to my father that I had sneaked off for a run, he would not be pleased. Unnecessary problems, the last thing I needed.

I sensed that Mica had come closer behind me when I heard his whisper.

“I want all of you, Emely Copeland.” I held my breath. “And I will leave no stone unturned.”

Director’s office

Methods of Madness

Secession Studios, Greg Dombrowski

“She wants to abolish the elections!” the Vanderwood director huffed and didn’t even try to hide his frustration, even though the new co-director, who fancied herself in her undeserved post, wasn’t the only thing that infuriated him.

His brother had actually meant what he said and invited the Rolanows again. And once again he had done so out of fear of the Ruisangors, afraid that they would take his family away from him. But what his brother didn’t want to see was that – in order to save them – he was actually destroying his family with all of this bullshit.

“Alarik,” the mayor sighed, still standing next to the door. He had noticed that she had barely looked around, knew that she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. “I can only emphasize again and again that I will do everything in my power to get the Councils...”

“What does Gloria want this time?!” He was beside himself. “What else does this insatiable woman want?!”

He noticed how the woman in front of him flinched and tried to calm down. It wasn’t her fault that everything was going haywire here.

“Alarik...” she began, but the director was gripped by a new wave of rage.

“I know what she wants!” He hurried across his office and poured himself a glass of whiskey, offering one to the mayor, but she just shook her head. “This university.” He took a sip, one of his dark brown strands falling into his forehead. “But she’ll never get it!”

He put his glass down as a knock sounded.

Doggedly, he stared at the door. He knew who knocked twice quickly and never waited to be invited in.

The door flew open and the new co-director – wearing a black skirt, white blouse, and leopard print scarf, as well as the ridiculous horn-rimmed glasses – entered the office but stopped to push her glasses down her nose and look snidely at the mayor.

“Miss Blair,” she said observantly, pushing her glasses back. “What brings you to this hole?”

Anger rose again in the director’s chest.

This place was a veritable treasure trove, full of history, full of memories... He wouldn’t let her take that away from him.

“I didn’t invite you in,” he pressed out.

“Because you have no manners, Professor Copeland,” the co-director remarked sharply, not even acknowledging him with a glance, instead looking around as if she were disgusted. “And I see you still haven’t vacated your office.”

“Rebecca,” the mayor reminded her with concern.

“Did I give you permission to address me so informally?”

The director was at the limits of his composure.

“That’s exactly what I mean!” he said, addressing the mayor. “She thinks she’s something special.”

“Unlike you, Professor Copeland, I am,” the co-director laughed, reaching for this year’s student file – which had not yet been digitalized – before turning on her heel. “And you’ll soon see how much better this institution will function under my management.” She paused at the door and looked directly at the director for the first time. “Keep your...” She made a circular finger motion. “Cave.” Then she opened the door. “The office in the west wing tower is the only compromise I’ll ever accept.”

She left the door open and disappeared. Fortunately for her. One more off-the-wall comment and he would have hit the ceiling.

“You have to do something,” he pressed out and walked around his desk, toward the huge window that gave him the second-best view of the campus.

“My power is limited,” the mayor said behind him. “I’m not even supposed to be here.”

Just in that moment, it crossed his mind that he didn’t even know why she was here. He hadn’t asked her to come to him, had tried to handle the Harlow problem himself. So far without success.

But he would not let this madwoman abolish the elections and rob the university of the democracy it needed to bring together what belonged together.

“Why did you come?” he asked the mayor. “Did you miss this place?” He made a sweeping gesture with both hands without turning to face her. “Did you need something to remind you of her?”

He hadn’t asked this last question to the mayor but to Amara.

“Don’t do that,” he heard her fragile voice.

He knew he was right.

“You know me,” he sighed, watching one of the DeLoughreys park his matte gray sports car next to his niece’s car far too quickly, as if he wanted Nash’s guys, or even his niece herself, to go for his throat. “I won’t shut up.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s just like it was back then. Go ahead and look around.”

His gaze wandered over the meadow, the old oaks, the Midnights, and in the distance, rising up behind the thicket, he could even make out the town’s abandoned funfair with its Ferris wheel and curling rollercoaster rails.

These were not the places he meant. He meant this office. And the secret he had been hiding here for years.

He turned to Amara, but didn’t see anyone in his office. She was gone.

If Harlow hadn’t noticed the mayor, he would have wondered if he was still sane.

She had probably left because she couldn’t bear the thought of her dead sister.

Alice wasn’t the only old friend on his mind. Now Tania was back, threatening to dig up old memories. And the painful realization that both women still occupied two incomparable places in his heart made him desperate.

He had to put them out of his mind, had to concentrate. On one specific person. The person with whom he would raise this place from the ashes or burn it completely into the ground.