by Brea Viragh
An hour later, I stood on the stairway again, only this time everything had changed. Now it felt like I stood in front of the executioner. Rich auburn hair curled around my face and trailed down the middle of my back. I’d accentuated the odd tilt of my green eyes with black liner, cheeks tinged a light peach, and lips left bare for emphasis.
Our guests were already here. Voices sounded from the dining room and although my steps were heavy, although every inch I closed between me and them felt like I lost a bit of my soul, I pushed open the door. And three sets of eyes turned in my direction. They were predators in every sense of the word, ready to pounce on me. I was all too aware of the attention as I stepped into the room.
The men were lounging around the table with empty plates in front of them, sipping from our best stemware edged with real gold—staggering wealth both sets of alphas were accustomed to. There were several prepared dishes scattered around the table and a plethora of scents and spices lingering in the air.
If this were a different day, a different dinner, then I would be starving and ready to dive into the array of platters Cook had prepared. As it was, my head was unnervingly light.
Uncle Will’s seat was at the head of the table and he stood when I approached. He was the picture of propriety. And although he was my alpha, he was not the most powerful man here tonight. Clearly.
“Ah, there she is. My niece Tavi, gentlemen. Please take a seat, my dear. Say hello to our guests.” He pointed toward the empty chair next to a dark-haired boy…no, man.
Kendrick Grimaldi was much older than I and had the air of privilege and superiority that spoke to his status of alpha. But the deep lines around his sunken eyes hinted at a wolf who’d seen too much. Bloodshed must weigh hard on him. Bad for the body.
Was his soul any different?
The world halted around me and I fought against the stillness, oddly off balance. My throat ached and I heard my pulse echoing in my ears.
Uncle Will stared at me eagerly, his arm still held out toward the empty chair. I tried to force a smile and found myself unwilling. My face simply refused to cooperate.
I’m expected to speak, I thought hastily, the slow walk toward the table pure torture. Sitting down, I could feel Kendrick’s attention focused on me like the pricking of a dozen cold needles against my skin. I couldn’t look at him. Couldn’t face him. I wanted to flee.
“Well, Tavi? Say something,” Uncle Will urged with a slight chuckle. Only I recognized the annoyance behind his words.
My gaze flicked to Kendrick again. As though this were a normal dinner party. As though the man next to me were any other guest, on any other day of the week, and not the linchpin ready to catapult me into a new reality of nightmares.
I forced myself to say the words to him. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Mr. Grimaldi.”
“Kendrick, please,” he responded.
I barely heard him. And barely registered the introduction of Kendrick’s advisor, seated across from me. It was considered bad manners to forgo introductions even though they were being made between rivals who already knew each other well.
Kendrick Grimaldi didn’t appear to need an advisor, or a guard to watch his back. His arms and shoulders, larger than normal, were grossly muscled and I noticed the scars on his hands. He had a strong, square jaw, his nose slightly misshapen and narrow as though it had been broken in multiple places and never quite healed correctly. His lower lip held more fullness than the top as though it had been made for nibbles. The lines around his mouth and eyes did nothing to detract from his good looks.
A glint caught my eye and I noted the earring in his right lobe, dark hair waving around it and nearly obscuring the shine. I could see where other wolves would find him attractive. He was a bad boy wet dream.
Or he might have been, if it weren’t for the fated mate crap. He did nothing for me.
I felt nothing for him beyond the cold clamp of fear. There was no draw to him, no magnetic pull making me want to scoot my chair closer. If anything, I wanted to go in the opposite direction.
Cook pushed through the door from the kitchen, arms laden with more trays and followed by two helpers equally laden. Uncle Will had really gone all out for this. I wondered how I might have missed the prep, the hustle and bustle inherent with a dinner of this magnitude. Had I been so blind?
“You’re more beautiful than I remember.”
The sound of Kendrick’s voice jerked me out of my head. I kept my face blank and willed my heart to steady as I asked, “Excuse me?”
“Your dress looks amazing. The cut flatters your body. You are truly beautiful. Young and in your prime, filled with life.” His gaze dropped to my neckline and the bit of cleavage showing.
I resisted the urge to place my napkin over the area, clenching my hands into fists. “Thank you.”
“I’m excited to get to know you and see how things proceed,” Kendrick stated, flashing a smile to my uncle, who had more than likely been keeping an ear in our direction. To make sure I didn’t stick my foot in my mouth. He and Kendrick’s advisor, whose name I’d heard and immediately forgotten, watched me too closely to be casual.
“Things proceed with what?” I asked, sincerely trying, and mainly failing, to keep the nastiness out of my tone. Although I knew what he meant.
“Between us. I never expected to be graced with a fated mate. It seems as though the universe is blessing me. Blessing us. Fated mates are rare. I’m grateful.” He moved closer, the movement smooth. This was a lethal predator. A man blooded with power.
I wanted to believe what he said, truly I did. It would have gone easier for me, I was sure. But there was something insincere about his tone. And his emotions never reached his eyes.
I also could not return the statement. “It was a shock to me,” I said honestly as I settled my napkin on my lap. “I didn’t expect the news. Not at my birthday party. Eighteen is so young to consider marriage.” I mentioned it hoping my young age might be a deterrent. No such luck.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time.” Kendrick placed his hand over my own and squeezed. The heat from his palm was noticeable.
I tried hard not to flinch at his touch. “Why?”
“Let’s just say everything is coming together, babe,” he said with practiced smoothness.
Babe, already. Talking to me and touching me like he owned me within minutes of meeting.
Cook placed slices of rare filet mignon on my plate along with a serving of haricots vert, piling both high. I sent her a pleading look. Get me out of here. She ignored me.
I began to push the food around on my plate, an excuse for breaking the physical contact. Actually, I wanted nothing more than to bury my steak knife in Kendrick’s thigh. Or his hand, to keep him from touching me again.
“Wow, you really are spectacular, Tavi,” he was saying. Shaking his head like he couldn’t believe his luck.
“How did you know?” I burst out, dropping my cutlery with a clang. Unwilling to touch my food as my stomach was giving queasy heaves of protest.
“How did I know what? That you are spectacular?” he clarified with a wink.
“That we are fated mates. The news had to come from somewhere, or someone.” I was grasping at straws and did not care. Uncle Will and Kendrick’s advisor were engaged in their own small talk. They would provide no answer. “My uncle told me it was the pack elders who decided the match. Did you speak with them?”
Kendrick grabbed hold of my hand and raised it to his chest, pressing it against the fabric of his shirt so I felt the steady beat of his heart. “I knew the first time I saw you. I felt it in my heart, like a thread drawing us together. The pack elders confirmed the match with their scryers. It’s meant to be.”
I didn’t believe a word of it. The insincerity in his impassioned statement sent shivers down my spine.
Everyone turned to stare at me as I broke contact with Kendrick, pushing away from the table. “I’m sorry, I need a minute.�
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“Tavi, is everything all right?” Uncle William asked.
“Of course. Just give me a moment,” I stated and rushed for the nearest powder room.
It wasn’t until I was closing the door behind me that I could draw a breath, in and out. Every part of me ached and I realized then I’d been holding tension in my body where it didn’t belong.
A few deep inhalations helped to slow my heart. I stared at myself in the mirror. Auburn curls framed my face; delicate emerald-green eyes looked shadowed like I’d taken a couple of punches to the face. Stress, if I had to guess, though it wasn’t a shock. Instead of looking confident and in control, I looked hunted. Ready to bolt.
It wasn’t the image I wanted to project, the image of quiet confidence and assurance. I threw a pointed look at my reflection and accompanied it with a wagging finger.
Get a grip on yourself, I told my reflection sternly. You can get through this. It’s one dinner. Make it through dinner and we can figure the rest out later.
I didn’t believe myself, though. I didn’t expect to.
The few moments of peace awarded to me disintegrated the moment I opened the door to see Kendrick leaning against the opposite wall, waiting for me.
“What are you doing out here?” The question was out before I thought better of it.
His smile turned into a leer. “You ran off.”
Close, he was too close.
“I hardly call going to the bathroom running off,” I said with sweet venom. Then tugged at the hemline of my dress to cover more skin. “You didn’t need to follow me. I have been doing this alone for a long time.”
When I moved to get past him, he shifted, blocking the way. I finally realized the full breadth of his shoulders. The imposing set of his body and the way his muscles were for more than just show. This was the wolf who had won the alpha status of his pack by sheer and brutal force.
“Excuse me, I need to pass,” I said softly. Hating how my voice trembled.
“I wanted a moment alone with you without your uncle and my advisor breathing down my neck.” The way he said the word made me think the title was nothing more than honorary. Kept around due to tradition and nothing more.
“I’m sure there will be plenty of time for us to be alone in the future, if this match goes through.” There was enough dismissal in the tone I took a small bit of satisfaction in saying it to him. But the thought of being alone with Kendrick had my head spinning and my mouth going dry in the worst way.
He stepped closer. My breath caught and, nostrils wide, I sensed his musk. Instead of the scent turning me on, I wanted to run far and fast. “What if I don’t want to wait?” he asked.
A laugh bordering on hysteria burst out of me. “Then I’d say you’re out of luck.” A show of false bravado, and one he saw straight through if the heat in his gaze was any indication. “You have no choice.”
I tried to step under his arm and lost my footing when he shifted again, sweeping me back against the wall and caging me with his body. Heat prickled on my skin, and my chest ached.
“Tavi…” he breathed. “You really are spectacular. I wasn’t lying. Beautiful in a way few can match. Your skin…” He dropped his face lower.
“Let me go.” It came out as a whisper, damn it. Not as the demand I’d intended. I hoped he didn’t think I was playing coy with him.
“Don’t you feel it?” Kendrick leaned forward, drawing the scent of me into his lungs. He trailed his finger down the side of my face and neck. Further south until it rested on my collar bone. “This connection between us? Fated mates.”
No.
Every part of me rose in protest to his nearness. This wasn’t how I should feel. Was it? His fingertips skimmed up my arm and goose bumps rose in their wake.
“Let me go, Kendrick.” I didn’t care about being reduced to begging. “Please.”
A growl rumbled deep in his throat. “I can’t wait until you’re mine to do what I want with.” Apparently, all attempts to sweetly woo me were gone.
I wasn’t fast enough to move, wasn’t fast enough to duck away before his mouth was on my neck, the sharp sting of his canines scraping along my skin. And the hand on my arm shifted to grab my breast and squeezed painfully.
No, no!
“Get off of me!” I tried to push him away and failed.
“Don’t you feel it?” he repeated.
I lifted a knee to nail him in the groin. He realized the movement and jerked his hips to the side to avoid it. Fast, he was too fast for me. The cage of his arms shrank around me.
“You’ll go when I say you can go.”
My wolf recognized the demand in his voice, the power commanding the rest of his pack to do his bidding. Cold fear drenched my spine and his grip tightened on my breast. I had no words, no strength to escape.
A throat cleared and when I looked up, Cook stood in the hallway, her salt-and-pepper brows drawn down in a deep V. “Is there anything I can get for you, Master Grimaldi?” she asked in her old Irish croak.
He took a step back, and though it was little in terms of distance it meant everything to me, his hold broken enough I could breathe again.
“If I need anything, I’ll call for you,” he snapped at Cook.
But it was an out. It was enough of a distraction. I swept his arm aside and step away.
I made my apologies to my uncle, claiming a stomachache, and before Kendrick had a chance to refute the claim—he was a few steps behind me—I escaped upstairs to the relative safety and comfort of my room. Then locked the door behind me.
But the lock on my door felt like a joke after experiencing Kendrick firsthand.
It wasn’t a lie. My stomach did hurt, with piercing pains, and I swore I still felt the searing imprint from Kendrick groping me, his teeth and fingers on my skin like a brand. My breast still ached where he’d grabbed me, treated me like I was insignificant beyond what physical pleasure I could bring to him. Like the lowly female I was.
I shouldn’t feel this way with my fated mate. I knew in my bones there was something wrong. With him, with me, it didn’t matter. Everything about our connection felt out of place, like I’d been forced to squeeze into a shirt two sizes too small for me and made of briars. Tonight’s encounter had been an abomination.
I leaned forward on a sob, eyes stinging but no tears coming out. In my bathroom, I scrubbed off the makeup and chucked the dress in the corner. Making sure the door remained locked, I curled up on my bed. I could hear the echoes of barking laughter followed by a sharp growl or two. Whatever the men were discussing, I didn’t want to know.
My phone provided a good distraction from my thoughts. Dawn had sent me a funny note, and sometime during dinner Jason had texted. Nothing more than a few confusing emojis but enough to let me know he’d been thinking about me. Perhaps wishing for sweet kisses before my engagement was made official.
Somehow, the idea no longer held appeal.
Then I checked my email. And saw I had a new message.
The Fae Academy for Halflings had invited me to orientation next Tuesday.
5
I’d been accepted. I’d been accepted! The academy hadn’t forgotten about me, and my answers on the enrollment questionnaire had apparently been enough to secure me a place at orientation.
I slept fitfully, kept awake by dreams of being chased. Chased by someone…to somewhere…I didn’t know. None of it made sense and seemed more like nightmares.
Wide awake before dawn, I stared at the ceiling for the longest time, trying to compose myself and failing. I buried my face in my pillow and pulled the blankets higher. I’d need to enjoy every moment I had with my bed. Because soon enough I’d be out of here for good.
My body vibrated. Excitement filled me at the change in the game I had only hoped would come.
After last night, I knew there would be no persuading my uncle to find some loophole in the whole fated mate agreement, to dissolve whatever magical bond people thought had formed
between me and Kendrick. To spare me. I didn’t even bother telling him about my reservations, or any misgivings I had based on Kendrick’s behavior. Uncle Will would think me a liar. He’d think it just another trick to get out of the engagement.
It left the Fae Academy as my only choice. Tuesday couldn’t get here soon enough.
Later, after spending my day interning at the law firm, I dashed through the park, heart racing, with the moon high overhead. With no one around to question me, I let my wolf shine through. Let her sniff the air and inhale the night. My eyes glowed a deep amber and I ran. I ran through the underbrush and the shadows and became part of them without changing entirely.
It might be my last time showing this part of myself so freely.
I’d gotten my invitation. I’d been accepted into the academy, or at least far enough I’d be attending orientation. It was better than nothing, and more than I could have hoped for.
Yet still so far from the finish line.
“Elfwaite?” I called out, slowing as I approached the area she claimed as her own. “Are you there?”
Glancing around, I saw I was alone. My senses remained on high alert, where they’d stayed since the encounter with Kendrick. I refused to be taken by surprise again.
The pixie popped her head out from a whorl no larger than an acorn in the trunk of a nearby tree. “Tavi! You finally came to see me. It took you long enough.”
I held out my hand to her and Elfwaite darted forward, resting on my open palm. We smiled at each other. “I know it’s been a while. I haven’t had the opportunity to get away,” I said.
Since the disaster at last night’s dinner, Uncle Will had decided he wanted to keep a close eye on me today. He’d tried to make it seem as though the extra attention was nothing. We both knew better.
Elfwaite’s eyes went wide. “Something happened to you.” I watched her eyes darken, black taking over the white as she saw me without seeing. “It’s fresh. An emotional wound you would rather hide. Talk to me.”
I told her about last night. I told her about Kendrick cornering me outside of the powder room and how I’d tried to fight him off and could not. There were no scratches on my neck to show her. I healed quickly on the outside.