Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
Voices woke me up the next morning.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the bellows of the torch-wielding mob I’d been expecting, though. Or the threat that if I didn’t come out and face their wrath, then “they’d huff and they’d puff and they’d blow the house in.”
Instead, it was just the low hum of conversation.
Even so, I stayed in bed, still and silent, not wanting to get up. Not yet.
It was going to be difficult enough having to lie to Tauren’s face all week. I didn’t have the strength to keep that level of deception up around a crowd. It was impossible.
So instead, I stretched out under the covers, feigning sleep and listening as the familiar voices of friends drifted in—Calindra and AklAkelaea, Hektor and Kyre. It even sounded like Cenric had come.
It didn’t matter that half their voices were hushed and muddled or that I could only make out every other word. I knew what they were talking about.
Me…and their plans going forward.
It sounded like they’d been going back and forth about it for a while now.
“But if she…Drogan will just…and then we’ll really have a problem.”
“That’s why…so important.”
“…said they’d join….”
“But can we trust…”
“If not…all be dead.”
“…know soon enough…”
My stomach churned at the sound of worry in their voices. If only I could just go out there and tell them that they didn’t have to twist themselves into knots trying to figure out a solution. I already had a plan.
I’d leave, and all their problems with Drogan, all the threats of punishment and death, would leave with me.
But I couldn’t tell them any of that.
These ferus were Tauren’s friends first. Sure, they seemed to like me well enough, but their loyalty was to him. They wouldn’t be able to see that what I was planning was best for everyone, and the only way any of them would live to fight another day.
And after last night’s nightmare, I was more certain of that than ever.
Even though I’d gone to sleep equipped with the advice on how to defeat an alpha from my friends, I didn’t use any of it. Not one punch. Not one kick.
Hell, for the first time ever, I didn’t even run.
After all, if Tauren was already dead, what was the point? Trying to escape would only prolong the pain.
If he was gone, maybe the best thing was just to lie down and die.
So that’s exactly what I did.
I didn’t wait for the beast behind me to tackle me from behind. Instead, I stopped cold, leaned against a tree for support, and waited. Just like always, it didn’t take long for the alpha to catch up with me. And when he saw I’d stopped, he slowed to a crawl.
My surrender must have surprised him. He was used to his prey bolting for cover, and here I was standing still, right out in the open. No doubt, he was expecting a trap.
He started to stalk, moving in a tight circle around me. Sticking to the shadows, and as always, keeping his face just out of sight. His growl echoed around me, punctuated by taunting snaps and snarls that practically begged me to run.
“Promise you’ll leave my friends alone, and I won’t fight,” I said. “I’ll give up right now. I swear.”
Another growl, its meaning clear. He didn’t believe me.
“No tricks,” I even held up my hands so he could see for himself just how defenseless I was. “I swear. Just promise me you won’t let anyone hurt my friends.”
His laugh, cold and cruel, wrapped around me as he pushed in closer.
“Deal,” he snarled.
One single word—animal and raw. The voice underneath was vaguely familiar but too throaty for me to place.
Unsurprisingly, the end of the dream was the same.
I still died, choking on blood and crying out Tauren’s name, but at least this time, I felt like it wasn’t in vain. One dead so that many others could live. It was a good trade.
“We need…go. They…waiting for us.”
“Can’t…still asleep…leave…behind.”
“Go. Hannah…fine…stay…look after.”
The only thing worse than overhearing a conversation about yourself was being able to only catch half of it.
Still, I got the general idea.
Tauren needed to talk to someone about the bonfire. Everyone wanted to go too, but someone needed to stay behind to guard me.
The voices became fainter and more garbled as footsteps moved away from the door. Apparently, a decision had been made. The group was leaving, and I was finally alone.
Well…as close to alone as I was ever going to get.
Throwing the covers back, I slipped down off the side of the bed and went to grab one of my borrowed dresses off the shelf. But they weren’t there. In their place was a stack of new garments, handmade and neatly folded.
Four new dresses, all in different colors—red, rust, blue, and lilac. I pulled the top one off the pile and snapped it open.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I took in the sight.
These weren’t sewn for a ferus woman. They’d clearly been tailor-made for me.
The hem was just the right length to fall at my ankles. The bust was roomy and the waist cinched. The skirt was flowy enough to drape over the curve of my hips without hugging too tight.
I looked over all of them, noting the subtle differences in style and stitching in between. If I had to guess, each one of my new girlfriends had made one for me.
And they were perfect. The most thoughtful gift I’d ever received.
I swiped away my tears of gratitude before slipping the blue dress over my head and stepping out into the day.
“I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to come out here and show your face.”
“Cenric.”
So he was the one who’d drawn the short straw and had to spend the day playing babysitter.
At least, he didn’t look upset by it. Sitting by the dying embers of Tauren’s morning fire, he was leaning back in a thick wooden chair. His shoulders were relaxed, and there was a grin on his face as he sipped the last drops of tea from his mug.
I made a show of looking around the front of the cabin. “Where is everyone?”
“Gone to the edge of the village to talk with a faction of alphas,” he answered, stretching his arms out on the rests and relaxing even deeper into the back of Tauren’s chair. “But you already knew that.”
“Excuse me?” I blinked.
Cenric gently shook his open palm as if to wave off my concern.
“It’s fine,” he assured me. “I get it. After everything that happened yesterday, I don’t blame you for wanting to hide under the covers until the coast was clear. If I’d gone through all that, I wouldn’t want company either.”
At least he didn’t sound judgmental.
“How did you know I was awake?” I’d been careful this time. I’d stayed still, didn’t make a sound, kept my breathing slow and even—fixed all the things that had given me away last time.
“I put it together when you couldn’t wait more than two seconds after they’d left to get out of bed.”
Impatience. Yeah, that was usually my mistake.
“You won’t tell anyone I was avoiding them, will you? I don’t want to hurt their feelings.”
Cenric shook his head, his eyes on the dying fire now, not me. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Thank you.”
“In fact,” he said, picking up a thin, spindly stick at his side and using it to stir the coals. Red and yellow sparks flew into the air, twirling and rising before suddenly blinking out. “All your secrets are safe with me, Hannah.”
My shoulders stiffened. “I don’t understand.”
“I know.” He nodded before using the burnt end of the stick to gesture to the chair across from him. “Have a seat, and we’ll talk.”
Yeah…I didn’t know about that. I shuffled back a step. “Or you could just say what’s on your mind right now.”
Cenric looked up, laughing—the smile on his face disarming enough. “It’s all right, Hannah. I won’t bite.”
Of course, he wouldn’t. After all, he was Tauren’s cousin. Someone everyone trusted enough to watch over me.
Cenric’s eyes stayed on me as I stepped down off the patio and over to the chair. He waited until my weight hit the backrest before letting his gaze slide back to the glowing fire pit.
“I need to admit something,” he started. “Yesterday, while Drogan was busy punching trees for attention and everyone else’s eyes were on Tauren and Lash...I was watching you.”
I felt my throat start to tighten.
“Me?”
“You.” He nodded.
“Why?”
“I’m afraid that is a question with a complicated answer,” he said, back to poking at the embers and ashes. “But the short version is because I’m not like my alpha brothers. I never have been. Ironically, I get the feeling I have far more in common with you.”
I didn’t get why that was ironic, but okay.
“That doesn’t explain why you were looking at me, though.”
“Not looking.” Cenric shook his head. “Watching. Taking in your reaction to everything. Lash’s ruthlessness. Tauren’s inner beast. Drogan’s threats.”
“And what did you learn from that?”
“A few things. Some more important than others,” he said, lifting his eyes to mine again. “The first being that even though you don’t believe in fate, you really do love my cousin.”
I couldn’t help it—I sucked in a breath.
I hadn’t allowed myself to think that word. The farthest I’d been willing to go was to say that I cared for him. It was a softer term. Less powerful. Less visceral.
“What made you think that?”
“You saw his fangs and claws,” he explained. “You saw his nature change right in front of your eyes. No kirre could witness something so terrifying without giving into their survival instinct and running for their lives. Not unless their love for that alpha was stronger than their fear.”
As much as I hated to admit it, the man had a point.
“Go on,” I said, noncommittally. “You said that was the first thing you noticed. What was the next?”
“That you were scared.”
Some of my tension melted away. “I’d hardly call that a revelation,” I chuckled. “Like you just said, any kirre would be terrified.”
“Sure,” Cenric admitted. “But you were scared for Tauren, not yourself. You were worried that my uncle would make good on his threat to execute Tauren. And you still are.”
Well, shit.