Chapter 2 #2
Cousins and uncles protectively surrounded me and Nena, escorting us from the house toward the sacred site where the Knocking would be conducted.
Through the veil, I couldn’t see much of anything, and my pounding heart drowned out any noise.
I just had to go where I was led, and everything else would be handled for me. Just like always.
Even with the ceremonial veil in place, I kept my head down, ensuring that I wouldn’t meet anyone’s gaze.
This was yet another trial that I had to endure, and if there was one thing I’d managed over the years, it’s to endure.
Most wolves would disagree, saying that to struggle and resist is the only honorable choice.
But I’d long since accepted that I wasn’t a fighter, and life hadn’t given me the option of valiant resistance.
As we neared the ceremonial ground, I began to make out voices, gradually and vaguely. My pack separated until only Nena was at my side. My father must have gone off to find the head of the Redrows and see that everything had been arranged properly. This was all business to him.
One of the voices grew louder, and my heart thudded in my chest as I realized he was approaching from the Redrow side. What was he doing? Didn’t he know how the ritual was supposed to go?
And then fear and confusion gave way to dread as I recognized the voice. After all, mere moments had passed since I had heard it just below my window.
“Well at least they finally managed to show up,” Hunter Redrow scoffed. “And here I thought they were going to keep us waiting all day. I thought they would have wanted to spend some of this time prettying up my bride, but that clearly wasn’t the case either.”
My breaths came fast and hard, just shy of genuine panting. At my side, Nena had stiffened. I was certain she was mere hairs away from leaping to my defense, so I clutched her arm and forced her to be still.
“Can we hurry up and get this over with?” Hunter whined. “I have better things to do.”
How had I ever had any sympathy for him? And, more to the point, where was my father? Where was the rest of my pack? Shouldn’t one of them be intervening right now and putting him in his place?
He stepped closer, Nena growled at my side, and I dared to look up. However, the moment I did, the air was ripped right out of my lungs.
Not by the sight of my groom-to-be, oh no. His lip was curled in mocking disdain, but I barely even registered his presence.
“Monte? What is it? You’re white as a sheet.” I heard Nena say, but it sounded like she was miles away.
All of my attention was focused on the glowering wolf beside Hunter Redrow, a hulking presence with hair as black as night and silver eyes that bored right into my being.
No, not quite silver, I realized as I found myself sinking deep into the whirlpool of his gaze. There was the faintest touch of gold right around the pupil, and the effect was mesmerizing. Even if I lost every other memory, I’d remember those eyes for as long as I lived.
This was the wolf I had kissed on the Night of the Bloody Moon. I had barely seen anything on that fateful night, but that face was a face I’d never forget. It was him. I could feel it in every prickling hair, and with every thud of my heart.
My eyes drifted down to the cloak he wore over his impeccably tailored suit. The same cloak I had seen on the street.
I nearly stumbled, and only Nena’s unwavering presence at my side helped me remain upright.
This wasn’t just one of Hunter’s followers, it was the family member with whom he had been arguing.
This was the short-tempered wolf who had ordered Hunter to do his duty for the family.
My heart crumpled as if crushed by his own demanding claws when I realized—he was the Redrow Alpha.
And if I was disappointed with Hunter for being as bad as I’d expected, then I hated this silver tyrant for enforcing the treaty just when it was about to expire, and forcing two wolves into a marriage that neither one of them wanted.
My frustration quickly morphed into horror the second the Alpha’s eyes locked with mine, realization immediately filling them. His face grew dark and his lips pressed into a hard line.
My heart stood still.
There had been no sign from the Goddess in that glade. Just me and a moment of weakness, with the worst possible partner.
“Hey, what’s gotten into you?” Hunter asked, nudging the Alpha with his elbow. “Shouldn’t you be growling and huffing, telling me I’m being an irresponsible wolf? Felix? You’re kinda scaring me now.”
But the Alpha didn’t react at all. All his attention was on me, and those eyes narrowed into pinpoints of silver daggers, shooting straight at me with pure, undiluted fury.
“I was not aware that the SanGraal Omega was such a promiscuous one, throwing himself upon anything with a pulse,” Felix said, his gaze hard as stone. “I am warning you now: that sort of behavior will not be tolerated after the alliance is sealed.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Hunter asked, eyes bouncing from his brother to me.
Suddenly, I was very glad that my father wasn’t intervening. I hadn’t told anyone about that night. I’d cherished it as a precious memory, but now it had turned into the most humiliating moment of my life.
I felt Nena’s eyes on me, but she didn’t say anything.
Hot indignation pricked at my eyes. This Alpha was blaming me when he was the one who had started the kiss.
I’d never been with another wolf—hell, I’d never even kissed one. He was the one who’d taken my first, and now he had the nerve to accuse me, as if I were some shameless feral mutt. The thought was so absurd I couldn’t help but let out a scoff.
Felix stepped closer, lowering his voice so only I could hear. “You knew you were betrothed to my brother, yet you gave yourself to me that night?”
My eyes went wide. He spoke as if we’d done more than just kiss. “I didn’t know you were Hunter’s brother.”
His lip curled into a sharp snarl. “Is that supposed to make it better? You would have done it no matter who had chanced upon you that night?”
“That’s not what happened, and you damn well know it.”
The Alpha leaned in, his silver eyes gleaming with controlled fury. “Then tell me, Monte SanGraal, what did happen? Because all I remember is you melting under my tongue.”
My throat worked in a swallow. I had nothing to say to that. I shouldn’t have allowed it to happen no matter what. No matter how swayed I was, I shouldn’t have given in to my wolf’s basic instinct.
But I also wasn’t the only one in that clearing devouring under the moonlight.
“Call the engagement off,” he growled. “I will not have you dishonoring my pack.”
A bolt of panic shot straight down my spine. It was one thing for me to suffer the indignity of his insults, but I couldn’t let my family down.
“That’s not an option,” I said, internally cringing at how weak my voice sounded in comparison.
The Alpha’s scowl intensified as if to shame me for all my sins within a gaze, and my veil did very little to diminish the effect. If anything, it just felt like I was alone in a darkened house while a monster prowled just outside the windows, looking for an opening to pounce.
“The marriage terms,” I reminded him, praying that my voice didn’t waver too badly. “If I call off the engagement, then my pack will lose half its territory to Redrow. You of all people should know I can’t let that happen. Hell, it might even spark another war.”
Something flashed across Felix’s face, a mixture of disgust and begrudging respect for my strategy.
He knew as well as I did that the contracts had no clauses in place to punish infidelity.
Before today, that exclusion must have been intentional so that Hunter would never have to answer for his clear attachment to debauchery.
The Alpha before me would never have expected that the SanGraals would be the ones to take advantage of such an omission.
“Come on, can we hurry this up?” Hunter sighed, reminding the both of us that he was here.
Yet again, he had managed to surprise me, this time with his sheer inattentiveness.
Surely he must have noticed that there were some intense undercurrents here.
Did he not even stop to wonder what his Alpha and prospective mate might be arguing about?
I focused intently on the Alpha, praying that his political acumen would win out over his fury.
He had to understand how important this alliance was to both our packs.
With any luck, he would hold his tongue and allow the marriage to go forward.
And if he wanted to take out his displeasure on me privately, then so be it.
At that last thought, I shuddered slightly. At least I hoped that I could survive whatever sort of punishment he wanted to inflict on me.
But all my hopes sank down in my gut as Felix eyed me balefully. His lips curled in a snarl, and I knew that everything was ruined. He took a step back, resuming his position next to Hunter.
“I refuse to accept this engagement.” Without even seeming to raise his voice, his pronouncement carried to everyone present at the ceremony ground.
From the corner of my eye, I could make out my father stiffening and hurrying over, but it was too late.
Where had he been while this disaster was unfolding?
Why was he only showing up after it had reached the point of no return?
But even as I was silently furious at him for leaving me to fend for myself yet again, I knew it was pointless.
I only had myself to blame, and now I was going to pay the price.
Gasps and whispers spread throughout the crowd, but one noise cut through it all: Hunter’s laugh.