by Arizona Tape
“My Lord, I was just... I... Ummm...” he stuttered, bowing down till his nose almost touched the ground.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I waved away the incident and patted him on the back. “I’ll rejoin my party.”
“Certainly, Lord Regan,” he bowed again, shuffling backwards to make room.
“Oh, I forgot to mention...” Mother suddenly called after me, stopping me right in my tracks. Of course, there was something. I knew it.
“Yes, Mother?” I sighed, turning around to find her with a big grin on her face. That was never a good sign.
“Your father and I,” —meaning, just her — “Have decided to throw you and your servants a welcome home party. Just a small ball, two hundred guests, formal attire, nothing too fancy.”
I clenched my jaw. She knew how much I hated her balls. “They’re my friends, Mother.”
“Ah yes, your... Friends. Wear something nice, dear. And ask Camilla to fix something decent for them,” she said, pulling up her nose, like the mention of my friends was already distasteful enough on its own.
“I shall,” I grumbled through gritted teeth, not particularly liking how she kept referring to my party. Even though I hadn’t shown any special affection to Danny, Mother had a sixth sense for these kinds of things. I was almost sure she knew I was involved with her. What I wasn’t sure of was if she recognised Danny or not. She hadn’t seen her in years. But still... The D’Ors beauty was hard to mistake for anything else.
“Especially that redhead you brought. I know you always had a thing for redheads.”
I slowly turned back around, shoving my hands deep in my pockets so they couldn’t see how affected I was. “What about her?” I hissed through gritted teeth, trying to remain calm and neutral.
“She’s pretty, that’s all. Now off you go,” she waved, dismissing me like I was a naughty child. Fumingly, I dug my nails harder into my palms, surely leaving crescent moons. Why was she so infuriating? After all this time, how did she get under my skin so easily? I thought I’d gotten over these feelings, but she made me boil.
“Alvar!” I barked, snapping impatiently at him. I felt slightly bad for treating him this badly, but I just wanted to get the hell out of here. I wanted to get the hell out of this freaking castle and away from my parents. But I couldn’t. We had business here. Unresolved business that needed resolving immediately.
Chapter Two - Heirloom
“How did it go?” Danny asked, climbing up on the bed and wrapping her arms around me. My muscles automatically relaxed as the scent of autumn enwrapped me. She pressed herself warmly against my back, kissing me on my shoulder. “You seem tense, love.”
I closed my eyes, basking in the softness of my woman. Danny really was perfect. “As expected. Mother played her games, Father threw a fit.”
“A-Are you okay?” JP asked worriedly, getting up to close the doors to my chambers. “How s-soundproof are t-these walls?”
I snorted humourlessly. “Not very.”
Aspen jumped up and knocked on the walls. “Hello, hello? If anyone’s listening, Lord Regan and his comrades would like some proper beef stew,” he joked, his ear pressed against the stones. “Wait, how is the beef stew here?” he asked, looking expectantly at me.
“Not bad,” I answered, smiling lightly. Aspen always knew how to diffuse the tension in our group. He was invaluable and I couldn’t ask for a better friend. I glanced at Darren who was skipping across the room, closing all the curtains and checking the closets. Of course, only he’d think someone was hiding and eavesdropping. Ashleigh was inspecting the rather questionable insides of the mattress and JP seemed to be counting something in his backpack, but I wasn’t too sure what. Could’ve been anything really. He just liked to count. My friends were... Strange. But I loved them. They always had my back and trusted my leadership, even though I wasn’t sure why. Danny was definitely the sun we all turned around. Aspen was the one with the Alpha, the ultimate commander. Ashleigh was the carer, the one that kept everyone grounded. JP had the brains and as goofy as Darren was, he was one of the best strategists I had come across in a long time. Yet, they turned to me for guidance. And now they were here. Facing the ultimate demons with me. My parents.
“Why are we here again?” Aspen muttered, fluffing up a pillow as he inspected it for... I wasn’t sure. Weapons? Money? Assassins?
I sighed, resting my head on Danny’s shoulder.
“To claim my birthright.”
“Don’t you already have your amulet that lets you shift?” Darren inquired, his head tilted to the side. He certainly had a boyish charm over him and I could tell why Danny was so drawn to him. But then again, I was pretty sure Darren was her second mate. Not that I had any ways to prove my theory, but I just had an inkling.
“I...” Damn, how could I explain this. Maybe just by being honest. “...Stole it.”
“You stole it?” Danny gasped, looking at me with big eyes. She thought for a moment and then just shrugged. “Ehh, what do I care. Not like I’ve never stolen anything.”
“So if you already got it, what are we doing in this depressing castle?” Ashleigh added, swiping her finger over the dresser and lightly gagging. “Hmmm... Dusty.”
“If you stole it without the official ceremony and before you came of age, it’s technically a crime. Right?” Darren pondered out loud, his royal tutelage showing. Of course, he was probably well versed in all the customs.
I scratched the back of my head. “Technically, yes.”
“W-What does that m-mean?”
“He has to stand trial or he has to become the rightful Lord.”
JP dropped a handful of coins on the bed and started sorting them by size. “H-How would he g-go about that?”
“Fight the Alpha,” I answered sourly, the thought not particularly pleasant in my mind.
“Wait. There’s an Alpha here? Who?” Aspen asked, his head tilted to the side.
“Mother.”
“Ooooh.”
“I didn’t sense a thing,” Danny added thoughtfully. “Is it cause we’re influenced by Aspen?”
I shook my head. “No amulet, no Alpha.”
“Oooh, right! If she can’t shift, her Alpha can’t properly come out, right?”
“Yes.”
“But wait, I thought you gave up your birthright when you left?”
Uncomfortably, I shifted my weight on the bed. He was right. I gave up my natural claim when I renounced my position.
“So you can only defend yourself against the crime, but you can’t challenge them for the title?”
“I-I’m sorry, it m-makes n-no sense t-to me,” JP muttered, admiring the neatly line of coins he made.
I turned to Darren, hoping he would explain.
“Basically, as the only son of the house of Sy, Regan could’ve made a claim on the amulet and the title when he became of age. But since he ran away before that and renounced his position, he no longer can.”
JP ran his hand through his hair. “S-So we’re in d-deep shit?”
A warmth spread through my chest from JP’s words and him automatically taking on my problems as his own. Sharing Danny with him had been hard, especially in the beginning. And a part of me, a possessive part of me, had wanted him gone. But he proved, time and time again, that he made Danny happy. Very happy. And somewhere along the way, we started to tolerate each other. And then he became a friend. And now, I considered him family. Real family, not the rotten mess I came from.
“Pretty much,” Darren grimaced, slamming the cupboard shut to prevent the books from dropping again. “Although, he could still make an outsider’s claim. But...”
“B-But?”
“You can only make a claim if you’re married right?” Ashleigh added, nudging her best friend who flamed red.
“Ash!”
“What? It’s true! If Regan was married, he’d qualify again.”
“Yes, but fighting an Alpha is not an easy thing,�
� Darren admitted hesitantly. “I wouldn’t be able to win from Aspen.”
“But she can’t shift, right? Cause Regan has the amulet?” Aspen asked, sniffing a candle.
“So fighting her should be easy, no?” Ashleigh reasoned, probably wondering what the big problem was.
“Actually... Regan won’t be allowed to use the amulet. He’ll have to return it so his mother will probably be the one using it, no?”
I pulled a face. The thought of not being able to shift was unsettling. The thought of Mother being able to shift even more so. Her wolf was terrifying and frankly, having hers locked up was a favour to the world.
“So you’ll have to fight her without being able to use your wolf?”
“Yes.”
“Not if you use mine,” Danny cut in, pulling her own necklace from underneath her shirt.
“Not sure if I can.”
“We could try?”
“Shit!” Darren cursed, desperately trying to catch the stack of books falling out of the cupboard. “I’m sorry, they just fell!” he defended himself, a guilty smile stretched across his face.
“It’s fine.” I waved away his apology. I didn’t care about the old books.
“But also, getting used to Danny’s amulet would take time and adjustment. No way you can master it in a couple of days.”
“That’s rotten,” Ashleigh muttered, kicking the end of the bed.
“So you’ll have to fight your mum’s wolf while unable to shift?” Aspen summed up, looking rather hesitant. “That doesn’t sound like a fight you could win.”
Danny curled herself around me, drawing circles on my chest. “Can’t one of us fight for you?”
I shook my head again. “No.”
“What if I shift and pretend to be you?” she grinned, batting her eyelashes at me.
“Don’t think so...”
“Oh come on, I’ll wipe the floor with her,” she boasted, winking playfully at me. I admired my mate and held back a chuckle. She was trouble, such trouble. But I loved her so much. She was just the perfect little devil, always scheming and teasing, turning every situation to her hand. But this was different. This was my mother. She was the most manipulative woman I’d ever met and nobody would ever believe me. She was that good.
“But for real, if you want to make a legit claim, if you and Regan were married, you could,” Ashleigh added thoughtfully, scratching her chin in thought.
“True. Custom dictates it.”
“We’re not married though,” I muttered, glancing at my love. I’d planned on making her my wife, but life had got in the way. Outrunning a crazy Chesca with empty stomachs and sleeping in abandoned buildings wasn’t exactly the most romantic of settings. When I proposed, I wanted to promise her the life she always deserved. A life worth living.
Maybe I just needed to work a little harder on making that happen.
I glared at the walls of the castle. As much as I hated being here, it had nothing to do with the building. It was about my parents. But with them out of the way, I could turn this into a home. A proper home for me and Danny. And of course, JP and Darren. They were a part of the package and I was surprisingly okay with that.
Danny looped her arm around mine. “We could be though,” she flirted, flecks of joy dancing in her eyes.
“We could be,” I murmured back.
“Maybe we—“
A loud knock made us all jump out of our skin. With a panicked look and wide eyes, Darren shuffled to the door. With a shriek, he pulled it open to a crack.
“Yes?”
“Beef stew for the Lord and his companions?”
Aspen’s mouth fell to the ground and loud snort escaped from Ashleigh’s mouth. With a muffled chuckle herself, Danny threw a pillow at her best friend as JP frowned and stared at a helpless Darren mouthing “What do I do?”
I glanced at my friends, a warm feeling bubbling up in my stomach. They really weren’t just friends. They were family. And with that thought, the first real smile broke through on my face.
Chapter Three - Ball
“I hate it. Hate, hate, hate it,” Danny muttered, plucking at the dress Camilla prepared for her. It was nauseatingly orange with so much lace, you’d think a pumpkin threw up on it.
“I think it’s... Beautiful on you,” Darren mumbled, hiding his face behind a pillow hoping it would muffle his snort. It didn’t.
“It’s not that bad, Dans,” Ash tried, her face turning red from keeping in her laughter. Danny turned to me and spread her arms.
“What do you think?”
“Ummm... It’s....” Why was I so bad with words? I needed to phrase this delicately. “Colourful?”
Danny’s face fell as she hatefully stared at her own reflection again. So not a delicate description after all. “You’re beautiful,” I tried again, hoping to turn her frown upside down.
“You think?” she hopefully asked, her wolf nudging mine for reassurance. I smiled, thinking how she could be wearing an empty sack of potatoes and still look absolutely gorgeous. “I do.”
A faint smile tugged up the corner of her mouth as the door was swung open with a loud bang. Confidently, Aspen strolled back into my chambers, his arms filled with rolls as he was gnawing on a long piece of jerky. “Yo, what are we doing?” he grinned, loudly chewing on his meat. “Woah, who turned Danny into a pumpkin?”
Danny’s faint smile got ripped from her face and with a scowl, she kicked the mirror away. I cringed. Damn Aspen. I was so close to making her forget how ugly that orange dress was.
A soft knock turned all our heads. I quickly counted the people in the room. One, two, three, four, five. Six with me included. Who was knocking?
“Yes?” Darren asked, cracking the doors open and peeping through. A frail voice sounded from the other side.
“Just here to check if everything is okay, dears.”
“Camilla.” I nodded at Darren, signalling that it was okay to let her in. I trusted her. Before Danny could protest, Darren swung the door open. With a shriek, she hid behind the big mirror, but her poofy orange dress was just too big to hide.
“Oh, dear. That’s not a good look on you,” Camilla cooed, shaking her head at Danny. Surprisingly swift for her age, Camilla darted towards my mate and pulled her from behind the mirror. “Let’s take a good look at you, shall we?”
She spun Danny around, inspecting the poofy hideousness. I was certain Mother picked out the ugliest thing we had, just to spite her. She was good at that.
“Oh my, this orange really doesn’t suit you very well, does it? Let’s sort you out, dear,” Camilla hummed, shaking her head at the monstrosity that was clinging to Danny like it was trying to steal her soul.
“You sure?” I asked Camilla, not wanting to cause her trouble. Defying my parents never went unpunished.
“Of course, dear. We can’t let your lady attend the ball wearing... That.” She winked, pulling up her nose as she held up a piece of Danny’s gown. “Come with me, hon, we’ll sort you out.”
The nauseating music of an orchestra of strings made my head hurt. Violins combined with red wine was a terrible combination. Sadly, my parents liked both.
“Master Regan. I’m so pleased you’ve returned,” one of higher ladies of the court flirted, sipping coquettishly from her glass. I did my best to keep the disgust inside and curtly nodded an acknowledgement. This world never changed, did it? Fake and drama were the only two things they knew.
“Son, there you are!”
I gritted my teeth and prepared for more fakeness. “Mother. Father.”
From the slur Mother spoke with, I knew she was already playing her usual games. Pretending she was far tipsier than she was to throw people off guard. Surprisingly, people fell for it every time.
Father bowed slightly, coughing awkwardly as the handle of a small dagger slipped from his inside pocket. He quickly shoved the knife out of sight and excused himself, coughing more as he grabbed another goblet of wine. Contrary to my
mother, he wasn’t pretending to be inebriated. He was actually drunk. And the ball had only just started. That didn’t bode well.
I glanced through the crowd, hoping to spot my redhead and our friends. They must’ve been hanging around somewhere. Danny’s bubbly personality and Aspen’s loud voice were always easy to spot. Ah, there was Aspen’s head sticking out from the crowd. I grabbed a small pancake thingy from a tray passing by and hastily joined my group.
“You clean up nice,” Aspen grinned, slapping me on the back. I nodded gratefully, inspecting my companions. Ever since I had joined their party months and months ago, we had been running from one abandoned building to the next. From dump to dumpster, from poor to poorer. Clothed in old rags and living with a permanent layer of dirt on our skin, I hardly recognised my friends in their costumes. I hardly recognised myself.
The suit Camilla picked for me bulked out around my shoulders, making me look even more intimidating than I usually did. Not that I minded. I knew how much Danny loved my broad chest. This suit would certainly have her fawning all over me. Speaking of Danny... Why wasn’t she with the rest of the gang? Had I been wrong to leave her with Camilla?
A sense of dread settled in as I realised that trusting in old connections might have been the worst mistake I could’ve made. In fact, my blind trust might’ve just cost me the most priceless thing in the world.
I hid my clenched fists deep in my pocket as I scanned the hall for that familiar glint of red. I nudged my wolf, ordering him to go find our mate. He lazily yawned, stretched his long legs, and rested his head back down. So not in a hurry. If Danny was in any sort of danger, she’d alert me immediately. At least that was a good sign.
The sharp sound of cutlery hitting glass drew all our attentions to the front.
“Everyone, welcome! It is my greatest pleasure to announce that my lost son has finally returned! Regan, my darling. How I’ve missed you,” Mother blabbered, dramatically swooning and gesturing as she told the tale of how much pain my disappearance had cost her. As if.