Aidan has been warned about the dangers of being with a human. His people live on the edges of society, in the shadows and alleys. And one day, if he's willing to submit to the birthright ceremony, he'll lead the next generation to continued wealth...
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Fucking chaos. That's what I arrive home to when I leave Emmerson flushed and satisfied at the side of the security hut. The howl in the woods wasn't familiar, and that alone was cause for concern.
There are no wolves around here that I don't know or that I'm not connected to through my blood. Doesn't happen. We stick with our own kind, and more than that, my kind sticks close to family—even when they're lying manipulators. Lone wolves are almost always harbingers of something bad.
With potential danger on our doorstep, I couldn't leave the estate and my people unprotected. Ultimately, any conflict we have bleeds over into civilians, like Emmerson. Can't have that. Not now when I actually give a shit about one of them. Never gave much thought to collateral damage before.
But I'm starting to wonder if my fucking around with Emmerson actually caused the chaos? I tried to reach out to Trident through the telephone he planted in my head, but I got nowhere. The guy answers if and when he feels like it. Apparently, I'm just leaving voicemails. Puts new meaning to screening your calls.
"It's the energy," my mother says, staring at me down the long table where we're all assembled—assembled far from me, that is. I'm at one end, and the rest of them are squeezed into the other end as though I'm the root of a plague. My parents, siblings, and my aunts and uncles on my father's side are also present. A right ol' family reunion.
I released some of the energy in question, but I can't quite go into how that was resolved without revealing how it happened. Considering the intensity between me and Emmerson might very well be the source of our problem, I'm keeping my lips sealed.
Emmerson already has a target on her back. If I admitted that visiting with her for weeks might have led a scout here, I'll be at war with my own pack. I won't allow them to hurt her, and yet that'll be exactly what they'll all want to do. The simplest and easiest solution on several fronts is to get rid of her, and I'll never allow it.
"The lone wolf was captured, but he was lured here by an imbalance of energy," my father says, and he's staring at me too. Honestly, they're all staring at me. I'm on trial here. Me and my refusal to complete the ceremony, join myself with Clara forever.
"We put him down," my father continues, "but if he was a spy for any other clan, we might have more packs on our tail than we know about. This has gone beyond a silly, immature rebellion and is bordering on leading us into an actual war."
"We may have to consider a surrender," my mother says, wringing her hands. "That's where we're headed, Aidan. Your parents will be murdered. Your family destitute, just because Clara has a taste for a wolf other than you. Juvenile. You should be happy. Maybe she won't mind that you're obsessed with a human. Once the ceremony is done, the two of you can come to whatever arrangement satisfies you both."
Finding out Clara was still fucking someone else was a shock, but it was more that she hadn't planned to tell me, flatly denied it when confronted, and then went right back to him the minute I broke off our union. It's the lies I can't stomach. Maybe I should have expected it.
When you're raised on manipulation, you either learn to live on that diet or long for a different meal. For me, the only requirement Clara needed to meet was trustworthiness. Everything else, we could have discussed or negotiated, but the base line was honesty. She couldn't even give me that, not when I asked, and not even when I demanded it.
Fuck that. Fuck her.
"You're not forcing or maneuvering me into this," I say. "If or when I give in, it'll be because it's what I've decided to do. One lone wolf is hardly something to get into a panic about."
"What he said when we tortured him, is," my uncle pipes up from the back. "He heard you had no plans to take over. Ripe for the picking."
"Set a date. Let us plan," my mother says. "At least make the outward show of doing something."
"The energy that led him here isn't a problem anymore. It won't be." Or it won't be as long as I never go anywhere near Emmerson Pollock again. Simple. My curiosity has been satisfied.
Sex with her would be fucking phenomenal, likely even better than what I had with Clara because I actually like Emmerson, but it can't happen. Won't happen. If for no other reason than I can't tell Emmerson I'd die for her and then put her in danger. If the actual physical act didn't hurt her, then the aftermath might. "I've got the situation under control now."
"Maybe you do," my father says. "Maybe you don't. Here's what I know for sure. A single indication that we no longer have a choice about whether our clan survives, two things will happen. We'll take care of your little human dalliance, and we'll bring Clara here. We'll get us back on track. So, enjoy your interlude with your human companion, but understand that you're not the one in charge."
"If you hurt her—" I growl.
"If I have her killed it'll be because I have much bigger concerns than one human girl. The greater good must always win out. It's a lesson you have yet to take to heart. Perhaps her death would finally drive it home."
I stand up with such force that my chair skids across the floor behind me before toppling over. My knuckles dig into the table, and my breathing is heavy and hard.
How have you not figured out how to play your parents by now? Trident asks.
How would you have me behave? I ask.
But he's gone again. Figures. Here one minute and gone the next. He only keeps tabs on the things that seem to interest him, but I haven't pinpointed exactly what those things are.
His comment is enough of a reminder, though. The more I care, the worse it is for Emmerson. Indifference is the only way to convince my parents that she's not the sole reason I won't hitch myself to Clara.
If I try to claw back my behavior now, it'll ring false, and I must have my change of heart appear trustworthy, so I allow myself to storm away from the table and out of the room. Since they can't get into my head to know for sure, appearances will be everything.
No more late night visits.
No more following her around the town.
No more outbursts at the mere mention of her name.
From now on, Emmerson Pollock is as good as dead to me, so she doesn't end up literally dead.
Now all I need is to find enough willpower to stay away.
