16. Phaedra

PHAEDRA

T he banquet, informally called the Ladies Luncheon by the male members of high-wolf society, usually occurred around the third Monday of the month. The women always dressed in their best to look formal but effortlessly so, each subtly attempting to out-do the other.

I hadn't attended many of these before my banishment, but from what I remembered, dressing up was the most exciting part of it. The things the ladies discussed never really appealed to me. The women were usually very judgmental of those who weren't able to attend the meeting or how much other women were eating. Penny and I technically weren't supposed to be in attendance because we were young and unmated, but because I was Connor's chosen mate, and she his sister, we were granted special privileges.

The day before the banquet, I stopped by Jean and Beatrice's workshop to pick up the dress I'd requested they make. Theodora usually picked them up for me, but she was busy doing other things, and I didn't want to bug her for a simple trip to the workshop, nor did I feel like having someone else do it for me.

I walked in… and almost turned around to walk back out. Connor was trying on a suit in a deep shade of mauve. Jean and Beatrice moved around him, pinning and tucking wherever necessary.

The boredom on his sharply handsome face morphed to surprise as his eyebrows rose. "Phaedra," he said.

Asshole , I wanted to say. Instead, because there were witnesses, I bowed slightly. "Alpha Salcedo."

"Hello, Phaedra," Beatrice said. Jean grunted the same thing around the pins she held in her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Connor asked.

"Picking up my outfit," I replied.

"An outfit for what?"

My wolf's hackles rose. It wasn't any of his business, and I didn't want to tell him anything. But if I didn't tell him, he might forbid me from the leaving the manor as punishment. Besides, there wasn't any harm in him knowing.

"I'm going to the luncheon," I said. "With Penny."

"Oh." His eyebrows shot up. "I didn't realize it was time for that to happen again already. Well, it's good to hear you and my sister are going to be participating in society instead of just holing up in her study. I had half a mind to go in there and drag you out myself. I thought you'd started to shirk your responsibilities as the alpha's future mate."

He smirked like he was joking, but I knew he wasn't above doing and saying exactly that. Goddess, his audacity to try and make light of the work Penny and I were doing—work he should have been doing—had me wishing nothing but suffering on his head.

But again, not knowing how he would retaliate, I gave a show of taking it in stride.

"I would never dream of shirking my duties, Connor," I said.

"Maybe I ought to have your things moved from your room and into mine," he said. "Then I'd get to see you more."

My blood went cold. Was he being serious or was he just joking? It was impossible to tell. A beat passed, then another. I scrambled to come up with something to say in return. I couldn't leave the Wilcox pack alpha without a response of some kind.

"Oh, that's so tempting," I said, forcing a chuckle. "But I couldn't forgive you for trying to move me into your rooms before we're officially mated. I don't think I could live down the scandal."

"We'll just need to set a date," he said. "Maybe early next month. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great," I said quickly. "But we have so much time to talk about that." Before he could say anything else, I addressed Jean and Beatrice. "Is my outfit for the banquet on the rail?"

There was a rack of clothes they'd made for me and the Salcedo family.

"It should be right there," Jean said, her mouth now free of pins. "Let Bee or me know if you're having trouble finding it, and we'll help you once we're finished with the alpha."

"Will do," I said, though I had no intention of waiting for them to finish. I went to the rack and found my outfit right away. The clothes were all brand new, unnecessarily so. Even other members of high-wolf society didn't have a constant supply of new things to wear. There were more extravagant outfits on the rack than any of us could wear in one month unless there was a party every day of the week.

This was just another way the manor specifically wasted material that would have been better served if everyone had access to it. There were dozens of bolts of fabric of varying textures that Den City, or for that matter, the Coldcrow and Dagger packs, could get more use out of than just one-time wearing.

For me, there were five outfits hanging, and one of them was meant for the banquet: a pair of black shorts inlaid with rhinestones, and a white, flowing blouse. I intended to wear black heels. I grabbed everything labeled with my name, so I wouldn't have to come back here soon again.

As I draped them over my arm, Beatrice asked, "Don't you want to know what your chosen mate is getting fitted for?"

I hesitated. No, I didn't, but how did I get out of this without sounding suspiciously rude? For a couple of seconds, all I felt was panic and a tightening knot in my gut, but then an answer came to me. "I like surprises," I said, with an air of nonchalance that impressed even me. "It's more exciting that way, don't you think, Beatrice?"

She giggled. "That's a good point."

"Oh, Phaedra," Connor said as I was on my way out. "While at the luncheon, make sure you bring honor to the Salcedo house. You know what's at stake here."

I grimaced so hard I wouldn't have been able to look at him without making it very clear exactly what I thought of him and his not-so-subtle threat to the Dagger pack.

"Of course, Connor," I said. "I wouldn't dare do anything else."

And with that I went out the door before he could keep me there any longer.

The next day, I met with Penny at the entrance to the manor so we could ride in the carriage together. She was dressed in a mermaid dress made of flowing satin. It was a light, seafoam green, and her hair was down and curled in a similar fashion to mine.

"You look great," she said as she reached me.

"Speak for yourself," I replied with a grin. A beat passed, and I leaned closer to her. "You ready?"

"Oh, yes. I haven't been to one of these in a long time. I fully intend to cause a stir while I'm there. What about you?"

"More or less," I said. I might have added more, but our carriage arrived, and I didn't want to say anything incriminating around the driver.

We rode in silence to the banquet hall. There was a bubbling in my stomach that was somewhere between excitement and nerves. It was the first time since rejoining high-wolf society that I would be operating on my own. Even if we did and said nothing while we were there, Connor's once-chosen and once-banished mate showing up unannounced would, as Penny had said, cause a stir.

Seeing us together as a united front in such an elite space together might put the women on the defensive. The last few times I had attended, I was reserved, quiet, and disinterested. This time, I'd be the opposite. The women wouldn't be able to talk over me if they wanted to stay in Connor's good graces, and with my wolf within me, I had real power. I had nothing to worry about.

The carriage dropped us off at the entrance to the banquet hall. Penny and I took a second to steel ourselves, then walked through the tall double doors. There were around a hundred women already inside. Their chatter died down as the doors closed behind us.

We'd agreed we wanted to come off as confident, expensive, and alluring, so I flicked my hair over my shoulder as we walked inside.

The banquet hall was white with groin-vaulted ceilings and glass chandeliers that glittered in the light from the ceiling windows. The hardwood floors were waxed and polished to a shine. The arrangement of the tables varied—sometimes there were circular tables, sometimes square—but today, there were two long rectangular tables arranged in a zigzag. No doubt the design was meant to make guests feel they had access to talk to more people than just those immediately to their left, right, or across the table. Good. The more people around to hear Penny and me, the better.

Floral arrangements of varying colors made up of a combination of both indigenous wildflowers and flowers imported from the mainland sat on the pearl white linen tablecloths.

No one was seated yet, as that didn't happen until the meal was served. Penny and I ignored that rule. We chose seats at the opposite end of the hall, with Penny sitting at the head of the table, and me at her right.

Almost immediately, the mood of the room shifted, and the women cautiously approached us. My mother never attended these, so I didn't need to worry about seeing her here. She had a long-running book club that conflicted with these meetings, and she didn't care much for gossip.

"What a surprise to see you two," Shelia said haltingly. She wore a simple snow-white dress with a soft, textured skirt. "I wouldn't have expected to see you here."

"No?" I asked.

The woman standing next to her was Tana. She wore a black pantsuit and a pearl necklace. "Penny, you haven't been here in… huh, it must have been a year, isn't that right? And you were with your mother, weren't you?"

"That's right." Penny nodded, not even flinching about the fact her mother had been brought up. Miranda still hadn't found the strength to leave her rooms for more than a walk through the gardens.

"And, Phaedra… we haven't seen you at one of these luncheons since, well…"

Her inability to finish the sentence told me that, just as I suspected, not everyone could swallow the story that Connor had been keeping me in a safe place under his watch.

"Since Connor put me in hiding," I finished. "This is the first time I've been able to attend in five years. Of course, Penny and I had to make an appearance."

The servants signaled that the meal would be served soon, so the women began taking their seats. There were ten seats at the table, including Penny's and mine. Those seated closest to us were mates to advisors or to high-ranking members of Connor's army. Sheila and Tana were two of them.

"It's an honor to meet you two," said a bubbly woman in a fittingly bubblegum pink gown. "I'm Rose. My mate is Henrick—sorry, General Henrick."

"It's good to meet you, Rose," Penny said.

I smiled at Rose. "Yes, it is."

"How is our military these days?"

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but Tana interrupted her. "Oh, I'm sure you're just making conversation," she said. "The alpha keeps careful tabs on the military, and he likely confides his observations back to you."

She was trying to call me out for being an inattentive mate. The five years I had been gone would understandably make people cautious around me, which I'd expected, but Tana was being blatant in her curiosity.

"Connor has nothing but pride in our military," I said. "Though he never tells me about their operations or their goals. I think he worries I wouldn't be able to handle military affairs because I'm only his mate." It was a bit of a mistruth because I hadn't heard Connor say that, but I was sure it was true enough. He'd worked with them all the time when the Dagger pack snuck into the forest to hunt.

Rose gasped. "Penny, what about you?"

Penny feigned a disappointed sigh. "I'm just his sister. I'm sure he thinks Phaedra and I are too soft to be updated on how things are going."

"That's so silly," Rose said, pouting. "Forgive me for saying so, you two, but in my opinion, you should be just as informed of the goings-on of our military as anyone else."

I smiled. It was good the general had a mate with such an open heart. It would be easy to sway her to our side.

"No, no, I'm on your side about that, Rose," I said. "That's why I must ask. I want to be informed, even if I have to go around my chosen to do it."

"Then, let me fill you in."

She told us that recruitment hadn't gone well, but that Henrick didn't have a lot of confidence in the next generation of recruits and that he thought they were too soft to serve the pack.

"The youngsters of Den City just don't have any discipline," she finished.

The other women nodded in agreement with Rose. Our military was largely made up of men from Den City. The men in high-wolf society rarely joined. They were all of the attitude that they didn't need to serve the pack because they got everything they wanted simply because they came from a higher class.

"What a shame," Penny said. "If that's true, I wouldn't be surprised if we had to dip into our own youth to make up for their shortfalls."

"What do you mean?" Liza, the wife of another advisor asked. She, like many of the ladies in attendance, had at least one son of age to be recruited into the military.

"Well, if things are as dire as you say, who better to show the Den City recruits how it's done than our own men? They're disciplined." Penny folded her hands on the table in front of her.

There was an anxious lull in the conversation. I glanced at Penny, sending her a silent "well done" for bringing up such a touchy subject. There was nothing a high-wolf society mother feared more than the thought of their children doing real work.

The silence stretched longer as servers wheeled out the appetizers: a fresh garden salad and warm seaweed soup. The scent of the food awakened my hunger. I reached for the flatbread placed near the center of the table and dipped it into the clear broth.

"Surely, our alpha could just send more recruiting forces to Den City," Liza said suddenly. "I'm sure the boys just need to be rallied. The presence of our alpha ought to be enough for that."

Penny and I glanced at each other with feigned concern. "I'm not sure," Penny said.

I cleared my throat. "With the sudden death of Edgar, gods rest him, Connor has had his attention on other things."

"What oth—" Liza stopped talking, reflexively dabbing at her mouth with her napkin as if she could erase the question. Asking outright what other things Connor was focused on was a step too far. Too familiar and selfish a question. To her, what else could be more important than protecting the elite youth of the Wilcox pack?

I pretended not to hear it and enjoyed the appetizer. Penny and I had already planted some seeds of doubt in the minds of these women. The best part was that it wasn't a lie. Penny had access to recruitment paperwork, so she would know the rates at which people were enlisting.

No doubt these women would go home to their mates with fears that their sons might be called to serve. It didn't matter that the biggest threat the military faced was the enslaved Dagger pack, and that their only real duties were to guard the manor, keep an eye on Den City, and make sure the gate separating high-wolf society from Den City was always staffed. It was the mere prospect of violence that frightened these women.

For now, Penny and I could enjoy the meal and wait for another opportunity to come up.

As everyone finished the appetizers, the doors opened again. It wasn't common for someone to join after the banquet had already started, but the newcomer wouldn't have known that.

Selene wore her long, dark hair in curls carefully collected over the front of her shoulder. Her spaghetti-strap dress was dyed a gradient from a bright scarlet at the bodice down to a dark merlot red at the hem. At her side was her right-hand Layla. Her hair, every bit as dark as Selene's, was gathered in a thick braid that fell down her back and swished like a pendulum as she entered the hall. The ride side of her head was shaved down to her scalp. She wore a similar dress that went from cornflower blue to navy.

Like Penny and I had, they walked with their heads held high. As Selene moved, her thigh showed through the scandalously high-cut slit. The skirt of Layla's dress was more like a pencil skirt that stopped at her ankles, but she had no trouble keeping up with her alpha.

I frowned. Where did they get those dresses? They didn't look at all homemade. In fact, their quality was right on par with that of Penny's or mine…

It hit me like a slap to the face. They'd gotten them from Jean and Beatrice. Another perk of Selene's alliance with Connor?

As women around us murmured in surprise, I looked at Penny, but I might as well not have been sitting next to her at all. Her eyes were glued to Selene.

Not for the first time, I started to wonder if Penny's opinions about Selene weren't rooted in something deeper than just distaste for a traitor. I made a mental note to broach that subject when with her when we had the chance.

Selene and Layla stopped at the head of the table where we were sitting. Each of them stood behind one of the women at the table without saying a word. They crossed their arms, displaying the corded muscles there. After a few seconds of menacing silence, the women got the hint and vacated their seats. Unlike the banter Penny and I had been engaging in, there was nothing subtle or polite about what Selene and Layla had just done. It was communication between wolves, and a reminder of what lurked beneath the surface.

We were wolves in human skin, not the other way around. It was something high-wolf society liked to pretend wasn't a fact of our nature, as evidenced by their insistence on all this decadence, pretending to be lords living in castles, instead of what they really were: part of a pack of wolves.

It seemed their presence had cowed the women at our table into silence, and Penny was still blinking the stars out of her eyes for Selene, so I spoke first.

"I wouldn't have expected to the Coldcrow alpha to be here," I said as they got comfortable in their new spots.

"No?" Selene asked.

If she wanted to play like she didn't know what I was getting at, I could be more direct.

"I didn't think something like this would interest anyone as busy as the two of you must be," I replied.

"Ah," she said. "Well, you're right. Layla and I are up to our ears bettering our pack, thanks to your chosen mate."

I marveled at the fact I didn't recoil, even inwardly, at the reminder that Connor and I were again chosen mates. Being around these other women and adopting the air of an unbothered future mate to the alpha must have made it easier for me to pretend I wasn't as cold toward him as I felt.

"So, what led you here?" In other words, I tried to communicate with the slight narrowing of my eyes, what are you doing here?

"Connor asked me to keep an eye on you," she said simply. "And his sister," she added with a glance at the still-immobile Penny.

"He must have wanted to make sure you two had friends here," Layla added.

Wordlessly, a server brought each woman a napkin, glass of water, and flute of champagne. I took advantage of that break to mull over what they'd just said. Connor sent them? That only raised more questions. And why were they being so blunt about it? Selene didn't seem like the kind of woman who would struggle in the kind of situation that would call for discretion as a banquet might. Was it a warning? Was it a threat?

"What a considerate alpha you have," Rose said with a bright smile. "He's so worried about his chosen and his sister."

"Oh, yes," Penny said, finally recovered from Selene's presence. "My brother is very considerate. If only he had thought to warn us about Kestrel before she arrived."

Rose and another woman gasped. "Henrick told me it was a shock to the advisors, but I'm surprised he wouldn't confide his plans in his family."

"Yes, we were shocked ourselves." Penny nodded. " If there's one thing I will say my brother needs to work on, it's clueing his family in on important decisions like these. But I'm sure you ladies can understand how secretive males can be."

We were presenting ourselves less as threats and more on their level. Just a couple of women in the Salcedo manor who were kept in the dark about the important goings-on of the pack. That was a position many of them could relate to.

"I for one was surprised to see someone so familiar with old magic on the advisory board," Selene said. "It's a bold choice. You never know what someone like that is planning. I've been alpha of my pack for a couple of years, but I could never imagine trying to keep someone like her under my control."

"Of course," Layla added, "it must be a testament to your alpha's power that he was able to put someone like her to heel. I'm sure she's not allowed to go where she wants or assert her dominance over the other advisors."

Selene nodded in agreement.

"Oh, yes," I said. "I can't imagine Connor would let her do just anything."

"If anything," Penny said, "he would probably need to be careful his other advisors didn't talk over her."

"Oh, Pen, that's so true."

There was another tense silence, but this one was briefer as Sheila commented on how delicious the food was. They didn't know that their reactions had just revealed that Connor was very much letting Kestrel have free rein in advisory meetings. Though likely secretive about the specifics discussed at the meetings, their mates must have complained to them about this.

It was another win, another opportunity to destabilize things, but I didn't understand why Selene and Layla had participated in the conversation. It was almost like they were helping us. But to what end? Were they doing this as some sort of exchange? Maybe for information or resources that Connor wasn't giving them?

I needed to speak directly to Selene to know for sure, but there was no way that could happen here. So, for now, I'd be quietly grateful for their unexpected help.

It had been a good, productive day, but I felt spent the moment I saw the carriage coming around to pick us up. Adrenaline must have kept me going during the conversations with the ladies, but now it was over, I felt like I'd been running on reserves of strength that were beyond depleted.

I tabled the things I wanted to talk to Penny about for another day. I was so exhausted I was stumbling out of the carriage when we returned to the Salcedo manor. I doubted I would be able to summon the energy I needed for that conversation.

The minute I got into my room, I collapsed onto the bed. Sleep claimed me immediately.

I was in that dark, dark place all over again. That same horrible fear gripped me as the darkness wrapped around me. I hugged myself tightly and squeezed my eyes shut, eager for any sort of comfort in the void.

" This is your future. "

That feminine voice came again, and I clung to it, reaching for it. "Please," I tried to say, though again, my words vanished into the void.

"At this rate," she said, "this will be your reality before long. Do not let this happen. No one, not even I, will be able to reach you once you're in this place, and everyone you love will suffer."

Her words brought choking tears out of me. Suddenly, I remembered the book I'd gotten from Randall. "Are you Mara?" I asked into the void.

"Indeed," she replied. "This presage pertains to you. You would do well to heed it."