Her father broke the deafening silence. “So good of you two to accept my invitation.”
Roth snapped, “Let Tienna go.”
“Tsk-tsk. What impudence. I shall have to see you taught a bit of manners before dispensing of you.”
Tienna quickly rose. Her mother tried to hold her back, but she was having none of it. She stood beside her father. “You should not have come.”
“Of course they did.” Her father was in a jovial mood, considering he had murder on his mind. “So what good news do you bring? Have you decided if in fact you are brothers after all? Have you settled on which possesses the bloodline of the esteemed Kendrick and which the common Demount?”
Tienna stiffened as he needled them. This was a sore enough point without him adding salt to their wounds. “Father, that is enough. I believe I am well capable of handling things.”
“Indeed?” He cocked his head toward her. “So which will it be?”
“I have already told you.” She winced as he suddenly grabbed her arm in a painful grip.
Both her mates growled. Her father seemed to relish the sound. Tienna felt the edgy stirring of the pack. She knew Roth and Aiden had not come alone. If she did not do something quickly there would be a bloodbath. Outside, the night would be colored in blood, and within, death would taint the air she breathed with the essence of one of her lovers. “I cannot simply choose one.” She stared imploringly at her mates, her gaze bouncing back and forth between them. “Why must you pressurize me into doing this? Can there be no camaraderie? Compromise?”
Roth bellowed in anger as her father’s grip tightened. “Why do you accept his dictates? He uses you like a trading tool, hoping to elevate his status.” His voice lowered. “Come to me, Tienna. You are worth no man’s auctioning as though you were a prized mare.”
Her father hissed in outrage. Tienna frowned in confusion. “I am not a bargaining chip.”
Roth shook his head sympathetically. “My whimsical, innocent Tienna, why do you think we are going through this farce? By his own mouth, your father admitted he wishes the wealthier, loftier of Aiden and me.”
Her father growled, and suddenly she found she was the one holding him back as ludicrous as it seemed. She was but a moth compared to his bear strength, but she dug her heels and restraining hand in firmly. Even her mother had stepped forward, her face marred in lines of outrage. “Desist, Roth. You know not what you speak of.”
His look turned to pity. “Tienna, do not blind yourself. He is your father, yes, but that does not mean he can sell you to the highest bidder. You have a right to make up your own mind.”
“Please stop.”
“No, Tienna, you need to hear this, as hurtful as it may seem. Was your father not the one who encouraged you to pit Aiden and me against each other? Like all lofty toffs, he wanted the richest in order to expand his own fortune. He wanted the strongest so his pack would always rule supreme.”
Anger rose within Tienna until she could barely breathe. She spared a sympathetic glance for both her mother and father. It was, after all, she who had brought these insults to their doorstep. “No, Roth. It was I who wished the best. Before I knew you both. My father would have accepted whichever I chose.”
Adamantly Roth shook his head. “Tienna…”
“Roth!” she eventually shouted, her rage escaping the fragile reins. “I have heard enough. Power, money, status, and prowess—none of those things played a part in my father’s decision that I have one mate. Protection did. He wished only to keep me safe.”
Tienna could see by the stubborn tilt of his chin Roth was still unconvinced. She patted her father’s hand before striding forward. Her finger stabbed into his chest. “I am fated to two mates, both beasts. You tell me what you feel when Aiden touches me. Do you wish to tear his body apart? Do you feel the fury grip you in its hold until you see only the red of murder?” She stood on tiptoes so she could speak right into his face. “Now tell me what you would have done to me. Can you honestly say you would not have directed that anger at me eventually?”
Roth blinked once, twice. He stared at her hard, unbelieving before finally blinking three quick times in succession. “I never…”
“You never thought. My father didn’t want to see me dead by the hand of an outraged lover. When we discovered I was mated to two wolves, he proposed I take measures to safeguard my life. Having a single mate eradicated that risk. The reasoning behind his obsession has always been me. And still I chose you over him. I became a traitor toward a man who acted solely on his love for me.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Can you say the same about yourself?”
Roth’s throat worked, but no sound escaped his mouth. Tienna simply stared at him, showing him her disappointment fully. He was a great man, a powerful beast, but that did not give him the right to insult her family. She had accepted his odd quirks and domineering manners. She had welcomed the news of their perfidy concerning their brotherhood and statuses without judgment. Never had she treated Roth beneath her status because of his lack in funds, nor Aiden because his blood was not blue. Never had she treated either of them without unreserved respect and unconditional loyalty.
Aiden cleared his throat beside her. “Your family is owed an apology.” He stared at Roth pointedly.
But Tienna had had enough. She had given them all her love and support, and the only thing she had gotten in return was selfishness and greed. And Roth had the damn audacity to imply her father was greedy. “Enough. I will choose neither of you.”
She turned her back on them fully even as she felt her heart shatter into a thousand scattered pieces. Distractedly, she wondered if she would ever find all the bits to mend it again. “You will offer yourselves to me together—or not at all.” It was time she was selfish. And if that ultimatum left her lonely and yearning for the rest of her life, then she would accept it. Because she was damn sick and tired of living life according to everyone else’s misguided, presumptuous decrees.
Chapter 9:
The Compromise
Roth stared into his glass of blood and wine as though he would find the answers to his dilemma floating on the ruby surface. But if it was indeed divulging divine knowledge, he heard and saw nothing. He stared anyway. Without warning, he felt a hot blast against the back of his head. Had Aiden just cuffed him? Damn impudent man. If he didn’t deserve it, he would have taught him a lesson for this offense.
“Are you going to sit there the whole day long and do nothing?” Aiden returned to his chair opposite the desk.
Roth didn’t need to look up to know what Aiden was doing. It would be the same thing he’d done the whole bloody night long, pick invisible lint off his immaculate coat. He was in no position to judge, though, when he had done nothing more constructive than stare into his glass.
Everything had rotted overnight. He had been presumptuous and overbearing. To think he had actually insulted Tienna and her bloodline to their faces. How was he supposed to know there were still men who possessed morals amongst the ton? God, he was truly the spawn of the devil like everyone believed.
“This all your fault, you know?”
Of course he knew that. “It’s not as though you did not think that same thing,” Roth defended himself even though he had no right.
“But I wisely saw no need to voice my unwelcome opinions. You, however…”
“Put my size-nine boot in my mouth, and just kept rambling on around it.”
“It simply is not the done thing, you know. Why I believe I saw the vein on the Duke’s forehead turn purple.”
He’d missed that. He’d been preoccupied with watching the shining halo on his mate’s head become devil’s horns. “This is not some faux pas, Aiden. I insulted the Duke’s family enough to draw blood.”
“That much was glaringly obvious to everyone in the room.”
“Remind me again of your purpose here.”
“Call it brotherly support.”
“Support my ass.”
<
br /> Aiden grinned, obviously deriving enjoyment from his torment. Bloody cur.
And the lackwit just plain refused to curb his derelict tongue. “What do you intend to do about this?”
With fingers tapping thoughtfully, Roth finally decided. “I’ll apologize.” Silence greeted his offer, and he eventually looked up to see if Aiden had finally left him in peace. But instead Aiden was staring at him with an aghast expression. “What?”
“God forbid you should open your mouth again.”
The tapping turned to drumming. God forbid I should strike my brother, but devil take it, it is so tempting. “What, pray tell, would you suggest?”
“Why ask me when you seemed to know just about everything last night?”
“Aiden!” Roth had finally had enough. “Leave my humble abode standing or lying on your back. Decide.”
Aiden’s face flushed. “Pardon. It is not every day I get to see the devil grovel like a swine in swill.”
Grovel. That had a nice enough ring to it. Perhaps if he groveled enough Tienna would forgive him. Just how many “pleases” did groveling entail? He was about to ask the master of ass kissing when he spoke up without prompting.
“What would you offer her?”
Bribery. That sounded worlds better. But what could he offer a lady who already possessed more wealth than he had handed over to Aiden? There was only one thing he could give her. “Sex?”
Aiden chortled. “And pray tell would you give her that before or after she slapped your face silly?”
Tienna could slap him all she wanted. He’d even hand her a whip if she needed one. He sure as hell deserved a lot worse.
“You really are dense. You are never going to come up with a solution yourself, are you?”
By his meticulous calculations, no. He stood up, finally feeling numbed to the bone. He could not accept losing Tienna for good. That was simply not possible. “I will declare my undying love, pledge my honor and faith, and throw myself at her mercy.”
At least Aiden did not laugh at him. Instead, he did something worse. He reminded him of something he did not wish to remember. “Will you mention me in this declaration of yours?”
Roth sank back into his seat with a growl. That was the foundation of his mansion of problems. Damn his father for fathering a bastard brat. And damn him for giving that brat power. “I could just kill you.”
“Ah, but that would simply make me more of a prodigal in Tienna’s eyes. Why, she would weep by my graveside until you are gray and old and still she will never forgive you.”
“I could tell her it was an accident or that you chose death over losing her love.”
“Except gentlemen are incapable of accidents, and I did not lose her. You did.”
“Deuce it.” He could not believe he was going to ask the prancing peacock for help. “Whatever shall I do?”
For a seeming innocent babe in the cradle, Aiden’s grin was more evil than he ever could have accomplished. “You will offer her what she wants most, of course.”
Against Roth’s better judgment and every God-given good sense he possessed, he asked, “Which is?”
“Marriage.”
Roth knew that the word came with strings as vicious as serpents attached to it. But he was helpless. He loved Tienna. God knew he could not survive without her. He was willing to do anything to have her back in his arms, even go along with whatever plan was behind Aiden’s goading smile. “There’s a ring among the Kendrick ancestral jewels.” He would have Tienna, or he would die trying.
* * * *
This night was going to be endless, Tienna mused as she stared across the sea of seemingly content faces. They conversed, danced, or flirted. Everyone in the hall seemed to have something to talk about, something to smile about. She felt like she had nothing worth living for. The break from Aiden and Roth had been like a physical tear in her heart. It just seemed like such a waste.
But there was no choice. She was not really angry, at least not raging furious with Roth about his pompous assumptions anymore. He had no right generalizing about her family in such a demeaning way, but considering his history with members of the ton, she reluctantly understood his prejudice. But that understanding by no means meant she had any intention of disregarding her decision. The ultimatum still stood, no matter her heartache. The men needed to know she could not survive with just one. She would rather live from the loss of both.
She snorted. That was a strange bit of sentiment for someone who was suffering dramatically for her choices. She was dying from their loss. Her father had been livid, first at Roth then at her. Just as he had been effusive in his denying of two mates, he was equally against no mates at all. Strangely, it was her mother who had diffused the situation. She had strategically kept Tienna tucked in bed, pleading some female ailment, and then she had scooted her off to this affair.
Only now did Tienna regret allowing her mother’s intervention. At home it had been welcoming enough, but here, under the watchful eyes of so many eager vultures, she felt vulnerable and naked. It did not help matters that her mother kept steering young, hopeful bucks in her direction. She could not even stand the touch of these trespassers. However would she endure the entire night? At some point some old biddy would comment on her lack of proper manners due to her constant refusal to dance offers. And then she’d have her reputation to worry about on top of everything else. Perhaps she could plead a headache and retire early.
“Tienna.”
The sound of her name was like an intimate whisper in this crowded room. She quickly scanned the perimeter but could not see Roth. Of course he wouldn’t be here she, chastised herself. Whatever would Roth be doing at a do like this? He abhorred such events. She sighed heavily. Perhaps she was finally losing her mind and imagining his voice.
“Tienna.”
This time the voice had a mesmerizing, singsong quality to it. Tienna shivered and rubbed her hands over her bare arms. That was definitely Roth. No one else had the power to heat her body at such an alarming rate. She stiffened her spine while sniffing disdainfully. “Go away.”
His deep, masculine laughter rumbled through her mind. “But I have just arrived. Now come to me.”
Tienna bit her lip. He sounded so very close and yet so far away. She longed to simply submit to his compelling voice. She wanted to throw herself at him, but that would hardly solve her problem. Tomorrow, after enjoying her body, the bloody stubborn brothers could be tearing at each other’s throats again.
“I grow impatient, Tienna.”
He did sound impatient. Tienna trembled as his growl touched her like a hot caress. She glanced around her with trepidation. Could these elegantly dressed people see her nipples swelling beneath her altogether too-thin gown? Could these dapper gentlemen smell the scent of the moisture dampening her thighs?
“Tienna.”
This time his growl was fierce. Tienna jerked from the flood of annoyance and anger that whipped against her. “Stop it.” She blinked suddenly, realizing she had spoken aloud. Those around her blinked as well, obviously quite taken aback by her rude outburst.
Tienna swallowed self-consciously. Her palms itched with equal part nervous sweat and the incessant urge to slap the unwelcome intruder in her head. “That is to say, I meant ‘step out.’ I believe a spot of fresh air is just the thing I need.”
She slipped away before anyone could enquire after her or, worse yet, some chivalrous swain offered her his elbow for company. The night air brought a welcome chill to her heated cheeks. She breathed in deeply and instantly regretted it. The scent of her mate filled her lungs until she felt she was practically breathing him in. Strong, powerful, male.
He was close. But where? She squinted as she searched the darkest corners. Was that not the safe haven of devils? “Show yourself.” She injected a haughty challenge to her tone even as she tossed her chin out defiantly. “Coward.”
Tienna winced. Was he laughing in the face of her fury? “Can you not f
eel my kiss against your skin?” Tienna wrapped her arms around herself protectively. “Can you not feel my touch against your puckered nipples beneath that virginal-white gown?”
Her eyes widened and she instinctively took a step back.
“Now who’s the coward?” His amusement faded fast enough. “Come.”
Tienna swallowed as she stared down the dark path that led deep into the shadows of the Leavenworth estate. She was acquainted with these gardens, but by the light of day.
“I am waiting, Tienna.”
Tienna jumped. Roth was losing his patience fast. She wondered if she would make it back indoors. The entrance and brightly lit room beyond looked so inviting.
“I’ll follow you right in.”
She turned back to the darkness. Deep within the looming, stygian blackness she could imagine glowing amber eyes. Eyes and teeth that would devour her. She took one step. Then another. With each large tree she passed she almost expected him to reach out and grab her. Eyeing them in anxiety, she kept a safe distance.
“You are taking too long.”
Actually, by her calculations, she was not taking nearly long enough. Deeper and deeper she walked into the surrounding darkness until she finally came to a fountain. Pausing uncertainly, she searched the area. Nothing stirred beyond the hypnotic bubbling of trickling water.
“Thank you for coming.”
And then, as though he had casually handed her a written invitation instead of scaring her into compliance, he stepped forward. Tienna choked back her alarm as she swung around. How did he do that? He has been following me the entire way. Dear God, truly he moves like the shadow of the devil himself. She responded stiffly, “I do not care to be whisked away from my entertainments.”
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