A Duel with Darkness (Dark and Devilish #3)

Chapter 1

PRIVILEGES AND EXPECTATIONS

NIA

Laughter floods the air around me as children play in the summer sun. They shriek and scream as they chase each other, lost in games of tag and imagination while adults chat and watch. The young ones are happy and content, ignorant of the troubles weighing on their parents.

Problems that are too pressing to ignore, despite the gentle breeze that tries to sweep our concerns away on this glorious afternoon.

I glance at my father, aware he’s still talking with the Elders. They’re huddled together and their closed-off posture signals their conversation is not for prying ears. Lesser ears. Whatever they’re talking about threatens the pack, but we’re not allowed to know the details.

It’s why they’ve closed down the pack bonds, keeping us from communicating among ourselves.

“Nia?”

I turn my head, snapping my attention back to my best friend who’s standing next to me. Carrie’s auburn hair dances in the wind and her freckles light up her face as she smiles, amused my focus wasn’t on her.

“Sorry, I was…”

“I get it,” she sighs. “Do you think they’re discussing finding you a mate?”

My teeth grind and I almost growl in irritation.

The topic of finding me a mate never goes away and I’m so tired of talking about it.

Admittedly, it’s important for the pack that the Alpha’s only child takes a mate who’s strong and capable of leading. The Elders and the pack expect me to choose a partner and settle down soon, and my refusal to even start searching is causing consternation.

It would have incited a riot already if we didn’t have other problems.

My father glances at me and his eyes flood with steeled determination. He’s inflexible at the best times, and that look means only one thing. Whatever he’s discussing, it involves me and there’s no way I'll be happy about the outcome of their conversation.

They’re deciding something I’ll have to accept, whether I like it or not. And the fire in my father’s eyes suggests I won’t like it at all.

“They are,” I say, whispering through gritted teeth.

“They could be talking about something else,” Carrie says softly. “Maybe it’s a decision about the pack that’ll affect you in some other way.”

I doubt it.

We’re at war with another pack and our future would be secured if I was married off to one of their wolves. Our chances of emerging unscathed would increase if we allied with another pack, and my marriage to another Alpha or their heir would do that nicely.

I’ve had this discussion several times with my father.

He’s tried different tactics.

Different ways to make me see what he calls reason.

I’ve refused to engage in any more discussions and I’ve sat through various dinners and parties looking utterly bored. My father was unimpressed, to say the least, but while my behavior was cold and aloof, it wasn’t rude. I smiled in the right places, but no more. Danced when required, but no more.

And I politely declined to entertain the few interested in seeing me again.

“It’s about a marriage.”

Carrie pulls my arm as she turns me away, leading me away from the lawn and back toward the mansion.

Its ornate stonework is imposing but the wisteria trailing up its walls.

The pink and purple flowers drape like curtains covering the harshness behind and my mother used to enjoy sitting underneath its bows on the terrace.

Its sweet and musky scent catches in my nostrils and reminds me of her. The tightness in my chest is the opposite of how I used to feel when she was still alive, and the pack hasn’t been the same since she died. My father hasn’t been the same. I’ve changed too.

Her death is what started this feud and I’m left bearing the consequences.

She never would have wanted this.

She never would have accepted this.

She never would have let my father get away with this.

The truth of the matter is that my father’s been hellbent on exacting revenge for her death.

He still runs the pack and most of his decisions are fair and reasonable, but every decision he makes is tainted by his agenda.

He’s heartbroken and my mother’s death has cast a long and dark shadow over the pack.

I’m still grieving too, even though it’s been a few years since she died.

I’m unable to move on. The constant reminders that I’m meant to help lead the pack and newfound responsibility don’t help.

Nor do the never-ending comparisons others make between her and me, which invariably result in me coming up short.

“It could be something else, Nia.”

My teeth grind again. “Unlikely. He needs a marriage.” I sit on the bench in the spot my mother used to love. “We need a marriage.”

Carrie sits next to me, carefully. She adjusts herself, fiddling with the layers of fabric that make her dress look like it floats. My best friend is prettier than I am and her figure is far more attractive, and on days like today, she takes care to hide it so she doesn’t upstage me.

“It isn’t so bad,” she says, her amber eyes flicking back to the children playing on the lawn. “Not if you find a husband who respects you.”

Will is kind to Carrie. He isn’t the mate she’s supposed to find but he’s the one she’s accepted. They’ll never have the same connection that mates fated to together will have, but they do work well.

At least, that’s what I thought until I heard the slight sadness in her tone.

“Is Will…” My voice trails off and I find myself unsure what to say next. “If he’s hurting you, then…”

Carrie shakes her head. Decisively. “He’s not, Nia. He’s kind. He’s just not the one, you know. It feels like I’ve settled for something that isn’t perfect and I wonder if there’s someone better waiting for me.” Her fingertips play with some lace on her dress. “He wonders the same too.”

This is the problem with marrying someone who isn’t your intended mate. It always ends in heartbreak. At least as far as I can tell.

Will wanted Carrie, like almost every other unattached male in our pack.

He spent a few years admiring her from afar and when she was old enough, he made his intentions clear.

He didn’t push, he didn’t force it. But the Beta’s son made his choice and Carrie accepted it, making him do a little bit of chasing but the outcome was inevitable.

She gained status and security.

He gained the partner he wanted.

The pack got a wedding and a partnership that should have guaranteed them at least one child likely to be strong enough to become a Beta. Will’s father might have wanted his son to take a stronger partner, but he acquiesced to what Will wanted, assured his lineage would continue.

It hasn’t.

A year isn’t a long time for humans to conceive, but it could be a long time for werewolves.

If they’re trying that is, and there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t be.

Eyebrows are starting to rise, and whispers are circulating.

Carrie’s coming under pressure and it’s deeply unpleasant.

Neither she nor Will is happy about it, and he’s become increasingly defensive of his wife.

“We’re fine, Nia.” Carrie tosses her hair and I wait, giving her whatever space it is she thinks she needs.

“Neither of us cares about the Elder’s obsession with continuing the pack and its traditions.

He’s a great husband, Nia. It’s just sometimes I feel like we’re missing that spark.

That thing that sets you on fire and steals your breath.

Will is dependable, constant, considerate.

The sex is good.” She flicks her head again.

“It’s just not great and I guess we both wonder if we should have tried looking for our mate. ”

Her eyes follow the clouds that float across the bright blue sky, and I have no idea what she’s thinking.

Carrie’s good at concealing her emotions and that’s why I haven’t realized she was experiencing pangs of regret about her decision.

I’ve never felt even a trace of it in the bonds that tie us to the pack, although I haven’t been paying too much attention to Will.

We’re not exactly good friends.

He’s a few years older than me and I’ve always known he considered me a bad influence on Carrie. She always excelled in school, at whatever class we were taking, and all the times we got into trouble were entirely of my making.

I’m wild and she’s calm. I like to run free and my head tosses at the slightest suggestion that I should be restrained. I wasn’t gifted with the temperament of either of my parents, and mine is not suited to being an Alpha’s daughter.

I’m not dutiful. I’m far from respectful.

I’m invariably causing problems, and my refusal to consider suitors seriously is the last in a long line of my infarctions on acceptable behavior.

“You could look for your mate?” Carrie says, as wistfully as the clouds that hurtle above us.

“What good would that do?”

She turns and her eyes catch mine, lighting with a spark that I know and love.

Carrie’s entertained by the mere thought of me looking for my intended mate and she’s delighted by the promise of all the drama it’ll bring.

For all her strengths, Carrie is a girl who likes to be a girl, and the thought of a man chasing after me has her excited in ways that couldn’t be achieved in any other way.

“He’d be perfect for you, Nia,” she giggles. “He’d be the perfect guy for you. Tall. Strong. Sexy as fuck.” She doesn’t blush. “I bet he’s blond. I bet his hair matches yours and he’ll have eyes that you’ll want to lose yourself in.”

I shake my head. “My hair’s the color of dirt and I don’t intend to let myself drown in anyone’s eyes. No matter how pretty they are.”

“His wolf will be strong.”

A child cries as she falls over and her mother rushes to her, picking her up and comforting her. The girl’s still sobbing as she’s carried away and the games continue, while the adults resume talking about whatever they were as if nothing happened.

My father steps away from the Elders and his eyes lock with mine.