7. Seven

seven

D onnelle and Penn followed me back to my house. I went directly upstairs, in no mood for a lecture, and shifted once I reached my bedroom. My ribs throbbed, though my pride had taken the worst of the attack.

My rush of adrenaline faded without the imminent threat of danger, and I started to realize just how differently the standoff could’ve ended. If Penn hadn’t shown up… well, I didn’t want to think what might’ve happened.

Downstairs, Penn had shifted, and I heard him pressing Donnelle for details. He wanted a blow-by-blow account of everything that had transpired in his absence.

“How did she get out?” Penn demanded.

“I-I-I don’t know,” Donnelle stammered. “It all happened really fast.”

Penn’s anger filled the house, but his voice was shockingly controlled when he spoke. “Find the lapse in security and fix it. Have Elton and Tyler dispose of Grimes.”

“Yes, sir,” Donnelle replied.

“Make sure everyone understands he was lucky that his death was so quick. The next person, stray or pack, who breathes too closely to Drake won’t be so fortunate.”

“Yes, sir,” Donnelle repeated.

The front door opened and closed, and then I heard running water in the first-floor bathroom. I examined my reflection in the mirror, gingerly running my fingers along the bruise blossoming across my side. There was a cut above my eyebrow and dried blood smeared on my face. The skin had already started to knit back together, and my ribs were on the mend. I would heal completely in the next few hours, but I’d be sore until then.

I felt Penn’s presence outside my bedroom door an instant before he knocked.

“How bad is it?” he called from the hallway.

My skin turned a deeper shade of purple with each passing breath. Not that I was about to admit that to Penn.

“I’ve had worse,” I said.

He was quiet for several moments, though I could still see his shadow in the crack beneath the door. “I can smell your blood, Drake. Open the door.”

I shared an annoyed glance with my reflection.

“Five… Four…,” Penn began to count.

Incensed, I yanked my robe from its hook with enough force that one of the screws came loose. I wrapped the silk around my body as I stomped toward the door.

“Three… Tw—”

I yanked the handle, prepared to rail on him, but the sight of Penn shirtless and barefoot in the hallway caught me off guard. He’d washed the stray’s blood from his face and chest and smelled like the jasmine hand soap from my bathroom.

“I’m not a fucking child,” I snapped once I got over the shock of his sculpted muscles.

It had been a very long time since I’d seen Penn without a shirt, and he’d filled out over the years.

“You acted like one today,” he fired back. His golden gaze darkened as he focused on the cut near my eye.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. He wasn’t wrong, and that was the most humiliating part of all. Still, I wasn’t about to admit that.

“No, I acted like a caged prisoner,” I said instead. “And a shifter. Keeping me locked inside this house is torture.”

A jumble of emotions swirled in his irises. His tone had less of an irritated edge when he spoke again. “It’s only temporary, Drake.” His gaze went to the cut again, and he raised his hand as though to touch my face.

I backed out of his reach, wincing a little from the pain in my ribs. Penn’s expression turned murderous. Oddly, I didn’t think the anger was directed at me. His orders to Donnelle played in my head.

“Make sure everyone understands he was lucky that his death was so quick. The next person, stray or pack, who breathes too closely to Drake won’t be so fortunate.”

Killing a stray who defied his commands was one thing. Threatening to do even worse to a pack member felt extreme. Why did he care so much about my well-being? Unless, of course, Finneus was serious about claiming me as his mate.

The thought gave me chills, and I wondered whether my stunt today would change his mind.

“What are you going to tell your brother?” I asked.

Penn gritted his teeth. “Let me worry about Finn.”

I arched an eyebrow and immediately regretted it when a fresh trickle of blood dripped down my cheek. The tang in the air made Penn’s nostrils flare. When he reached for me again, I swatted his hand.

“It’s fine,” I insisted, though I didn’t back away from him again.

For just a second, it was nice to know someone cared about my injuries, even if it was Penn. Then, embarrassed by my own depths of desperation, I slammed the door in his face.

I spent the rest of the day locked in my bedroom while Penn stomped around downstairs in a clear sign his annoyance would not abate soon. Well, that made two of us.

His White Knight act had made me appear weak in front of the strays, which put him closer to Finneus on my shit-list. The new wolves already saw me as an easy target. They would come for me again.

The front door opened and closed several times throughout the day, but no one else stepped foot inside my house. Penn’s mood grew considerably darker as late afternoon bled into early evening. It surprised me how acutely I felt his emotions.

Penn guarded his feelings with more fervor than a dragon protecting its treasure. Even in wolf form, I’d never felt the same connection with him that I did most pack members. Either his mental fortress couldn’t withstand the siege of emotions, or his new position as beta had created a link.

Neither option was appealing.

It was dark outside by the time Penn stomped up the stairs and pounded on my door again. “Put on a dress and meet me downstairs in ten minutes.” He waited for a response I wasn’t going to give. “I’m not asking you, Drake. This is an order from above. You’ve caused enough trouble today, and it would be best if you didn’t push Finn any further.”

I stewed in my anger for another minute before opening the door and pushing past him to my closet. Penn remained in the hallway while I selected a black lace gown from a garment bag.

“You gonna watch me change?” I spat.

Without answering, he went downstairs. I sat at my vanity and combed my hair, taking my sweet time. I didn’t care about my appearance, but I savored the fact I was making Finneus wait on me.

Foundation and powder covered my blotchy skin along with the remaining evidence of my fight with the stray. Mascara brightened my eyes and made me look a little less tried and a lot less broken. Behind the mask, I could hide my pain and fury. Maybe it was silly, but I felt stronger once I didn’t look as heinous as I felt.

By the time I joined Penn in the living room, a vein throbbed in his neck, and he looked like he wanted to strangle me.

“That was more than ten minutes,” he snapped. His eyes searched my face for the hidden injury. “They’re waiting for us at the combat grounds.”

I leveled him with a cold glare. “Heaven forbid your precious alpha doesn’t get exactly what he wants the instant he demands it.”

Penn’s emotional temperature had plummeted even lower while I got ready. He was as edgy now as his brother had been the previous night.

A sour taste filled my mouth as Penn snatched the same velvet cape Finneus had offered me before the gala from the hook by the front door. I stopped several feet away.

“What does he want with me?” I asked.

Penn pursed his lips as his jaw pulsed with tension. “It’s not always about you.”

My mouth dropped open. “I never said it was.”

He shook the cape insistently. “I’m not in the mood for a fight, Drake.”

“Excuse me for being concerned about my safety.” A note of hysteria crept into my final word, and I had to remind myself to breathe. The ache in my ribs intensified.

Penn’s gray eyes softened. “You have nothing to worry about, okay?”

“I don’t fucking believe you.” I walked forward and let him drape the cape around my shoulders.

Ignoring the summons wasn’t an option. Penn would get me to Finneus one way or another, and I still had my dignity.

The night air had a bite and held the promise of more snow, like Gaia wanted to bury the mess Finneus had made. Two strays trailed us at a distance, while Donnelle and Elton flanked us on either side.

Apart from the soft thudding of paws and the click of my heels, the walk was silent. It felt a lot like a death march. I had broken Finneus’ rules earlier, and he couldn’t allow defiance. Despite Penn’s promise of safety, I couldn’t help but feel his brother intended to make an example of me in front of the entire population of the Snake Mountains.

When we arrived, I felt the pack’s collective energy, a hum that had once felt welcoming but now made me want to run. Shifters filled the arena stands to capacity. Hundreds of eyes watched as the snow crunched beneath my footsteps. The suede fabric of my shoes wilted, tightening around my toes like a vice.

Penn escorted me to the raised platform at the center of the arena, where Finneus and the council already sat, and gestured for me to take my seat. I marched straight past my chair and claimed the beta’s place at the righthand of the alpha’s throne.

Finneus scowled down at me, eyes narrowing, but I didn’t give him the chance to reprimand me.

“The place at an alpha’s left is reserved for family,” I reminded him in an overly sweet voice. “It’s only fitting for Penn to have the honor.”

The tension in the arena intensified. The pack watched us and seemed to hold their collective breath. I wondered how many just enjoyed the drama of it all, the real-life Greek tragedy playing out before their eyes.

“Thank you, Drake,” Penn said loudly enough for everyone to hear. He slid into the chair I’d occupied for years before Finneus could decide how he wanted the next act to go. “That is very considerate of you.”

Finneus continued to stare at me for several long, uncomfortable moments. My stomach sank further with every beat of my heart, and I steeled my nerves. He was going to dress me down for escaping my house. If that was the worst thing that happened tonight, I could manage. No one actually died from embarrassment, even if they wished they had.

Finally, Finneus reached for the gold goblet on the table in front of him and raised it in toast. The other council members followed his lead. The crowd in the stands bowed their heads. Penn shot me a look across his brother, pointedly gesturing to my cup with his eyes.

My fingers curled around the stem, knuckles turning white. The small act of compliance brought a smile to Finneus’ lips as he rose to address his subordinates.

“For generations, our pack has passed down the Ophiuchus Prophecy. From parent to child, we have recited the promise of a new era for wolves. We have all heard the words, but not the prophecy in its entirety.” His dark gold eyes scanned the crowd. “You see, my friends, while we have all been praying for the celestial twins to mark the dawn of the Age of Ophiuchus, Basil Aspen was not.”

I bit the inside of my cheek until I tasted blood. How dare he speak my father’s name. Then Finneus’ words sank in. Nothing should’ve surprised me anymore, but hearing him imply my father was disloyal to our pack sent shockwaves rippling through me.

Finneus cut his gaze to me. I managed to keep my expression blank, hiding my feelings behind a neutral facade. I couldn’t afford for even a hint of reaction to slip through. If I did, he would use it as confirmation of my father’s alleged misdeeds.

“The Aspens have kept the most important part of the prophecy hidden from us for centuries,” he continued, his voice growing louder. “They have lied to us. They didn’t want us to know the truth. The true king was never meant to rise from their bloodline. Gaia always intended for him to emerge from within our ranks. The first line of the prophecy reads ‘One warrior must fall, so the true warrior may rise.’”

The cup slipped from my fingers and hit the table with a clatter. Those were the words Finneus had said to my father right before he stabbed him. Dad had repeated them to me as he died. That couldn’t be a coincidence.

Finneus’ lip curled back as he stared down his nose at me. “Ah, I see you already knew. I’m surprised he would’ve told you, since the dirty truth is only passed from alpha to heir.”

My hands curled into fists.

“He didn’t,” I muttered before I could stop myself.

My response made his satisfied smile return briefly before he drew his features into a more commiserative expression. “He didn’t tell me either. I only heard the extra line from a seer.” Finneus turned his attention back to the pack. “She revealed the lost words to me, and only me. Because I am the true warrior—the true alpha meant to lead us.”

To my horror, the crowd started stomping their feet. Elder Marteen raised his goblet.

“To the one true Ophiuchus alpha,” he proclaimed.

The rest of the councilmembers joined him in a toast to Finneus. Could no one else hear his disingenuous tone? They didn’t find his claims hollow and extremely self-serving? Were they all going to sit there and let Finneus tarnish my father’s name and reputation?

Was I going to let that happen?

I searched for Evera in the stands, easily spotting her red hair in the second row. She sat between her mother and Ander. Our gazes met and she mouthed the words I needed to hear, “Be strong.”

My hands gripped the arms of my chair, the sharp edges biting into my palms. The pain centered me and slowed my spinning thoughts. I just needed to get through the rest of Finneus’ speech, then I could go home and rage all I wanted. Penn might’ve been an asshole, but he didn’t expect me to act like everything was sunshine and rainbows.

He knew better.

Finneus gazed out upon the pack and raised his hand to call for quiet. It was the same gesture I’d seen my father perform thousands of times. “From this moment forward, we will not mourn for the man who tried to deny us our rightful leader. Basil Aspen is no hero. We do not honor the traitor who refused us our destiny.”

Claws shot from my nailbeds and dug into the chair’s arms. Implying my father was a traitor was bad enough, but now Finneus had said it outright. He laced the lie with the weight of his will until it was impossible for the pack to challenge it.

Finneus stared down at me, daring me to refute his accusations. I swallowed my fury and thought of all the hauntingly poetic ways I would make him pay for his treason. One day.

His expression turned almost reverent when he spoke to the pack again.

“As your alpha, Gaia calls on me to accept a mate,” he said, his voice booming through the canyon.

Bile rose in my throat. I glared daggers at Penn, who faced forward and refused to look at me. He’d promised I had nothing to worry about tonight. His brother claiming me as his mate was definitely not nothing, though not entirely unexpected.

“My trueborn mate is a member of this pack, and I swear to you I will not rest until she sits beside me.”

Applause broke out in the stands. The council toasted Finneus again. I sat silently and braced myself for the inevitable. Every eye in the arena focused on me, as if this was the moment I should rise and offer myself to their alpha.

I would rather burn in hellfire, I thought.

Penn cut his eyes to me briefly, almost like I’d said the words aloud. For a second, I wondered if I had.

“This Sunday,” Finneus went on. “I will ask Gaia’s blessing on a match with the woman I believe to be my true mate. The bonding ceremony will consecrate the new age if Gaia confirms my choice.”

My stomach flipped and my head spun. So, this was Finneus’ grand plan. He intended to force me into the true mates ceremony. If Gaia didn’t confirm the match, he could exile me from Ophiuchus territory with the full support of the pack behind him.

If he thought I would play along with his charade, he had another thing coming.

Finneus slipped from behind the table and walked down to stand at the front of the platform. His cold dark eyes looked up at me.

“I would like to ask my future mate to join me, to dance with me beneath the light of a new moon.” Finneus extended his left hand, but not toward me.

“Belinda Ridgemore, come stand by your alpha’s side.