Chapter 7 #2
I hold Dominik’s unrelenting stare as he climbs another step closer, putting us at the same height. While most lycans have their hair grown out, this one sports a faded crop. Under my gaze, his right arm twitches.
He feigns a cough. “That’s some powerful perfume you’ve got there. Not sure it complements that lovely scent beneath, though.”
My brows shoot up. This is the first I’m hearing that my oily cloak isn’t so much effective as it is repelling.
Jabir sighs, ushering me forward with a soft nudge on the arm. “The only thing he enjoys more than flirting is the sound of his own voice.”
My guides take me to the dining lodge first. On the side exterior, a massive sun mural is displayed, encompassing hundreds of handprints in shades of red, yellow, and orange.
Large barn-like doors reveal a rustic ballroom with over a dozen round cedar tables.
Most of the room is open, large skylights filling the space with filtered daylight—a fine place for Axe’s family to gather for special occasions.
Next, we see the exterior of the training facility, a sauna attached to an outdoor hot tub the size of most residential swimming pools, and a string of pavilions which host the outdoor target range and benches to observe sparring matches.
Directly facing the lodge is another building erected of logs. A trading store, Jabir explains, for exchanging clothes and other used goods. Despite the icy breeze rolling through, its windows are open, blaring an electric rock record. Dominik fiddles with the top button of his coat.
Does he always have this much difficulty keeping still?
I nod to the circle of cabins looming in the distance. “Does everyone have a place of their own here?”
“No,” he answers cooly. “I live in Hichano, the next town over. I’ve got a loft two blocks away from my nightclub.”
“I see. I take it that’s not part of the tour.”
Jabir cuts in. “No. Axe will likely insist on escorting you to our neighboring human cities and the other territories himself.”
“W-what do you mean ‘other territories?’” I stutter.
“For someone he plans to make Luna, he really hasn’t told you much.”
Jabir winces. As he opens his mouth, he is cut off by the ring of his phone. Seeing who the caller is, he takes a step aside. “Just finish the loop and take her back.”
Dominik nods and waves him off. We pass another trio of buildings, closest to the private residences of the pack families. A schoolhouse, a training facility, and lastly, a pentangular structure: a greenhouse and studio for pack members to flex their creative muscles.
“The greenhouse was my sister’s idea,” Axe’s brother says. “Demi is a life-long botanist, so naturally she spent most of her time there when she wasn’t training. She lives in Bissex now with her mate and two daughters.”
I smile, hopeful to meet her one day soon. I have no doubt that she’s as beautiful as her siblings.
Though snow blankets the berms and retaining walls, it is possible to make out the skeletons of lovely flowers and grasses that grow in warmer months. I can picture a row of delicate poppies and lupines swaying in the wind. Fuller trees, bearing every shade of green.
Back at our starting point, Dominik props the back door open and allows me to enter.
As I pass, I note the distinct smell of him: cardamon.
Spicy and mysterious. “So, Hichano . . . what’s it like?
It’s been a while since I’ve been anywhere crowded with humans.
I can’t imagine you enjoy it for that reason. ”
Smirking, he smooths over his coat. "I do, actually. Your species is easier to read. Plus, when humans lose their temper, it's far less off-putting."
I recall the bone-snapping sounds from the woods, the ferocious snarl that tore through Axe’s throat. The savagery in his voice as he reminisced about it.
I would happily do it again.
Am I certain this is someone I’m ready to willingly offer my neck to? My stomach bubbles with dread. I suppose it’s either his teeth or the Blood Master’s.
Dominik’s arm flies out in front of me as we walk into the living room. A pair of elderly women dart straight past us. Above the railing, a snarl ripples through the house, followed by the crash of glass breaking.
"Shit," he curses.
He loops his arm through mine and leads me quietly down an unfamiliar hallway, stopping at a vaulted door which must lead to the lower level of the estate. Looking over my shoulder, I notice several others scurrying out the back exit.
Axe's voice echoes from the top floor. "Everyone out."
A female snaps back. "No, no. They should hear what you've done. How you have humiliated me.”
I pull back, wanting to understand what she means. Dominik grips my shoulder. "You're going to want to stay out of that.”
"I'll take my chances," I insist, stepping out of his grasp. He follows close behind as I move quickly down the hallway.
“Vessa, wait!”
I turn the corner, halting at the foot of the grand staircase.
Along the railing on the third floor, two wolves are at each other's throats—Axe and a woman who wears the rage of what can only be a scorned lover. I gulp, feeling her razor-sharp attention fixed on me. Nostrils flaring. "There's the source of that rotting smell," she sneers.
Dominik snakes his hand around my elbow, lowering his voice. "C’mon. If Shay’s ship is going down, she’ll try to take everyone with her.”
Axe’s eyes dart downwards, which costs him. Shay’s fist connects with his jaw. The jab gives her the time to fling herself over the balcony, gracefully landing with her feet on the floor. Not three paces away from us.
On instinct, Dominik shields me with his body, but not before I can get a good look at her.
Shay’s beauty has no comparison: long legs built for a runway, bronze skin, turquoise eyes, and luscious golden-brown hair. She's the perfect specimen, armed with sharp canines, which are ready to rip my throat out.
"Dominik." She grins. "You reek more like human trash every time you come around."
"Always a pleasure, Shay," he purrs. He then turns to face his brother, who has just swiftly leaped over the stairs in a similar maneuver. Axe’s jawline is cherry red. "I take it your girlfriend didn't take the news very well."
Girlfriend?
Axe glides past Shay, who promptly drops her smile. "I see your affinity for tangling with trouble hasn't changed."
Dominik doesn’t miss a beat. “Did I say girlfriend? My mistake. I meant two-faced skank.”
My stomach roils with confusion as I step out from behind the Alpha's brother. "Would anyone care to explain what the hell is going on here?"
The female cocks her head and rakes her gaze over me, likely pondering how glorious it would be to do so with her claws. "Ah, she speaks."
Axe attempts to reach for me, but I draw back. His face twists in frustration. “I know how this looks, but we are no longer involved. Haven’t been for a while.”
Roaring, Shay interjects. "Are you shitting me? Last fall, Axe told me he had ‘more pressing priorities’ than our relationship. I figured he was traveling more to deal with the tensions brewing in the east, but no, he’s been looking for his mate. For you."
“Relationship?” Dominik chuckles. “That’s cute.”
“Walk away, Dom,” Axe warns under his breath.
Shay hisses, the sound more viper than wolf. “She will never be one of us.”
Splitting pain rages inside my skull, shame flushing my cheeks. How many times did I hear the same hateful words hurled at me back at Glacier Meadow?
“Stand down,” Axe orders, squaring his shoulders. He then pans his eyes in my direction. "Let me explain.”
Despite being towered over by all that rigid muscle, Shay refuses. “All this time, I was proving myself to you. You didn't care that I loved you. It was never going to be me."
“Love? You wouldn’t know love if it kicked your bleached teeth in,” Dominik sneers brazenly.
Something inside of me senses that perhaps the history between these two is far more complicated than what lies between Shay and the Alpha. But now is not the time to raise the question.
Axe’s voice drops an octave, its tone demanding submission. "Enough, both of you.” He pivots, fully shielding me from Shay. "If you want to do this here, then so be it. But you will calm down and show your future Luna some fucking respect."
Frozen, my breath catches.
"Let it be clear for everyone in this room that you hold no status with me other than serving as my emissary. I never lied to you, Shay. While we shared a bed for a time, I never gave you any expectations as to how our nights together might progress. You, on the other hand, misconstrued that as some kind of sway over me, believing that you could bargain for the power that only a true mate has. I caught onto your antics. That is why I dismissed you.”
Jealousy slugs me in the abdomen. What the hell? I don’t even know this man . . .
Sharply pivoting towards me, a malicious expression crosses her face. “Look at you, flimsy little bird. I doubt that weak spine of yours would hold up, should Axe decide to stoop so low as to fuck—”
The Alpha interjects with a snarl so thunderous her mouth snaps shut.
Brushing past him, she doesn’t look at me. Though she pauses her stride to whisper, “Do yourself a favor and leave. These wolves are going to eat you alive.”
Dominik offers his hand to me. “Still want to watch this soap opera?”