How to Survive a Werewolf Romance

Chapter 38: Message for the Current Hour

There were almost no guests left in the ballroom, but the stragglers started at the abrupt slam of the doors and everyone's eyes, even the three alphas in the standoff in the centre of the ballroom next to the ice fountain, flew to the latest arrival.

"Beware!" said a familiar high-pitched reedy voice before the person came into view. I had only ever heard her on television, but I knew who it was the moment she stepped into the ballroom, garish robes and scarves floating around her almost ethereally.

Madame Rivera walked into the palace ballroom like she owned the place. Her steps were unhurried and determined as she walked straight towards Alpha Liam, whose face slightly scrunched with confusion for just a moment before it returned to his furious stare.

The king stepped out of the way solicitously so that she could pass more easily, and Arthur followed his father.

"Beware, Alpha Liam," she said, pointing a melodramatic finger in his direction. "The goddess has bestowed upon me a message for the current hour."

He scoffed. "The goddess abandoned me long ago, witch. I couldn't give less of a shit about your nonsense if I tried."

It was a testament to the incredible level of farce the evening had devolved into that the crazy alpha was actually making some sense."

"Silence, fool! The goddess does not abandon the children of her pack. She gathers them into her cave and bestows upon them the blessing of her mercy or justice of her wrath as they so deserve. And you, foolish alpha, have been piling upon yourself misdeeds of the lowest calibre, and she has turned her eye upon you in wrath."

He scoffed, and I hated myself for kind of agreeing with him again. "Look to your king if you want to see misdeeds."

"You can not distract me from my mission. You are not the first alpha I have seen rise, and you will not be the last that I will see fall. The chaos and shadows that you are unleashing upon the innocent of this world is being counted, and the phoenix shall rise from the ashes and bring you to your knees before your tally."

He rolled his eyes. Reynold would be horrified to see such behaviour in the presence of the king. Clearly Liam had not had my tutor as a teacher of etiquette when the king was raising him, or he was hardcore rebelling.

Madame Rivera's reedy voice rose higher, although it was hardly necessary since the ballroom was completely silent except for breathing, and every breather had werewolf hearing. "The chaos and shadows that you are unleashing upon the innocent of this world is being counted, and the phoenix shall rise from the ashes and bring you to your knees before your tally."

She continued to repeat her little verse several more times before she finally laid off. If she was trying to make everyone remember it, it worked, because her nonsense was ringing in my ears.

Liam scowled at her, and for a moment I thought he would try to kill her, but then he turned his attention back to the king. "Stay out of my pack's affairs, Your Majesty." He spun around and marched out of the ballroom, his warriors following in formation, and the royal guards hemming them in on all sides.

I released the breath I hadn't realized that I had been holding during the strange confrontation. It hadn't come to bloodshed, which was a temporary relief.

The silence of the room was quickly flooded by noise. The crowd of guests had diminished by at least half, but people spilled out of the corners they had pressed into and doors they had hid behind. Clearly, even the threat of the beginning of war wasn't enough to truly send all the gawkers away. No wonder the National Scentsation still sold so many copies.

While the people were still talking, a sizable number of people converged upon Madam Rivera, babbling with all the excitement of idol worshippers. She smiled and simpered under the attention, and to my pure disgust, I saw her signing a few pieces of paper and one young woman's arm.