Chapter 52
fifty-two
Faye’s Place
*GWENDOLYN*
Vincent is right, something feels off. Why is everyone here looking so stressed? The first horrifying thought that comes to my mind is that they are being attacked, but then, wouldn’t they fight or defend their borders?
No, it has to be something else.
Vincent, Edward and Felix shield Faye and me, all of them looking deeply worried.
“Vince, Edward!” A man comes running towards us. “I apologize; I couldn’t greet you properly.”
“Garret!” Edward takes a step forward. “What’s going on?”
“Who is he?” I whisper towards Felix.
“That’s Garret, he is the gamma of the pack.”
Garret rubs his temples. “We have a bit of a situation at the moment.”
“What kind of situation?” Edward wants to know. To the outside, he looks completely calm, but I notice how his body tenses up slightly.
“There is a small pack closeby,” Garret explains, his voice annoyed. “Their alpha has been harassing Alpha Celine and Lune Marius about a deal for over a year now. You know, with her being a woman and all, he thinks he can just walk over her.”
“Unbelievable,” Vincent mutters.
“He is here now with his beta,” Garret continues. “At least the beta is pretty embarrassed, but he apparently can only do so much about the situation. It looks like it’s about to escalate.”
“How? Does he want to challenge her to a fight?” Vincent asks.
When Garret stays quiet, Edward and Vincent just exchange a look. “Do you need help?” Edward asks. “We can call in backup.”
“Yeah, maybe this is bad timing for a visit,” Vincent agrees. “One of us can stay behind while the others drive back. I will give Elden a call.”
“No, that’s not necessary.” Marius’ voice makes us all spin around. Faye, who has been spellbound up to now, obviously terrified, peeks through my legs. Her face lights up when she sees Marius, so he gets down to her eye level and picks her up.
“Are you sure?” Vincent asks. “Your father or brother would come in a heartbeat.”
“I know,” he says. “And I appreciate that. But it’s not necessary. Come.”
With Faye in his arms, he walks away from us. The expression of the others pretty much mirrors how I am feeling. Namely, completely dumbfounded, but something about the calm, confident way Marius acted puts my mind at ease.
Now curiosity wins over everything else, and I find myself following Marius and Faye, and very soon, the others join me.
He leads us straight to a training hall where a tall, strong-looking man with dark hair and bronze skin keeps the spectators at bay.
Garret immediately joins him to help. “Who is he?” I whisper.
“That’s Arman, he is a lycan and a distant relative to Elden and his family,” Vincent explains. “He is an advisor in this pack. His mate is the beta.”
He is mated to the beta of the pack? My curiosity just grows. When Marius leads us inside the training hall, I instantly spot Celine with a woman next to her.
“That’s Harmony,” Felix explains before I can even ask. “She is Celine’s beta and also Annie’s sister.”
“No way,” I exclaim. “Wait, this is Annie’s home pack? I didn’t make that connection!”
Felix points out several people to me, such as Annie’s parents and her brother, who is holding his mate’s hand. Next to them, there is Celine’s father and his chosen mate. Marius leads us to them, right at the moment when Celine’s voice echoes through the room.
“Alright,” she says. “Let’s battle it out.” The words are directed towards a bulky guy who has been arguing with Harmony since we entered.
“If I win, you will enter the deal,” he now says.
“And if I win, you will stop harassing me and never set foot onto our pack grounds.” Celine sounds calm and composed despite the tense situation. She says something to Harmony, who runs off with some warriors, to set up the fighting ring. Then she joins us.
“I don’t like this,” she says.
Celine’s father frowns. “Me neither. He is clearly plotting something.”
“I can’t link her,” Harmony says with a frown. “What’s wrong?”
“Probably wolfsbane,” Marius mutters. “Not sure how he did it, but he must have injected her with it.”
Indeed, Celine is rubbing her arm, a frown on her face. Meanwhile, Arman and Garret have joined us as well, looking equally worried.
“He is cheating,” Garret says. “I am going to intervene.”
“No,” Marius exclaims, grabbing his arm. “Don’t intervene.” He turns to look at Harmony and Arman. “None of you. That’s an order.”
“But,“ Arman says. “Of course, on a normal day, Alpha Celine would win in a heartbeat. The guy is weak, but he clearly tampered with her wolf while he still has his wolf senses! It’s an unfair battle.”
“Exactly,” Marius says.
Harmony looks at him, and slowly, there seems to be understanding in her eyes. “Alright,” she says. “I agree. But if things turn south, I am going to intervene.”
“If things turn south, I am going to intervene,” Marius corrects her.
“I still don’t get it,” I mutter.
“Me neither,” Felix says.
“She will win,” Marius says promptly. “It doesn’t matter that he cheats. She will still win. And she will kick his pathetic ass, exposing him as the pathetic loser he is, and as a pathetic alpha.”
“Are you sure?” Faye whispers with tears in her eyes.
Marius cradles her in his arms. “I promise,” he says. “Can you keep a secret, sweetie?”
She nods.
He leans forward, whispering something into her ear. I see her eyes widen. “Really?” she asks.
“Really.”
“Is it okay for her to be here?” I mutter to him.
“Yes,” Marius says with so much conviction that I can only look at him in surprise. Surely, seeing the woman she looks up to so much getting hurt in any way is going to be traumatizing. I don’t want to say it out loud, but Marius understands me nevertheless. “Gwen, she needs to see it.”
“Why?”
“Because she needs to see a woman close to her win against the bad guy,” he says simply before looking at me with insistence. “She needs to see that good can win.”
His words shut me up. There are what-ifs in my mind. What if Celine doesn’t win? What if Faye is traumatized even more? But Marius sounds so confident in Celine’s win, and he has a point with what he said about Faye. She needs to see a motherly figure in her life, win!
I don’t need to wait long to find out if Marius is right or not, as the preparations for the fight are wrapped up, and Celine and that stupid alpha circle each other in the ring.
I try to understand what is happening. Clearly, Celine’s wolf is suppressed.
She obviously feels it too, by the annoyed look in her eyes when that cheating asshole knocks her down.
But instead of staying down, something seems to shift.
The air around us gets thicker. It’s recognizable for us, but even more so for that douchebag alpha. Her eyes flash silver.
She is up on her feet, lunging at the guy. The moment she touches him, I swear he looks like he is in pain. His breathing speeds up, and with a controlled kick to his groin and then his chest second, he crumbles onto the floor.
I stare at my watch. Not even ten minutes!
“Told you,” Marius says lightly. The others don’t notice, but I can see how he relaxes his fingers. He must have been worried for her.
The pack members cheer for Celine, and Harmony rushes towards her and instructs the warriors to escort the alpha off the pack grounds.
Celine steps closer to the alpha. “You obviously tried to cheat,” she says.
“And you did it in front of so many witnesses. All of them witnessed your loss, too. The next time you come to my pack unannounced, we’ll see it as a declaration of war.
And just remember that my pack has powerful allies. ”
At that, the guy visibly pales.
Celine doesn’t pay him any more attention, she just hurries towards us.
She kisses Marius before turning her attention fully to Faye, not even noticing anyone else.
I was so wrapped up by what happened that I didn’t check on Faye at all, but one glance at her now shows me that her eyes are wide in admiration and she is smiling brightly.
“Sweetie,” Celine says, taking Faye into her arms and smiling at her.
“You won,” Faye exclaims.
“Of course I won,” Celine says. “Can’t have a stupid guy ruin our playdate, after all.”
While watching the three interact, it’s like the blinds are lifted in front of me. Suddenly, it makes sense as to why Flora wanted us to come today. I don’t know how her mind or her gift operates, but after what I experienced this morning, I am not surprised anymore.
Faye is smiling, almost like her old self. Not exactly, but close.
Realization dawns that I don’t need to worry about Faye anymore or about fulfilling my promise to Marina. She has found her place.