Some members of the pack arranged a bonfire party in celebration of the commencement of the trials, but I don’t feel festive at all.
At least Santo seems to be enjoying himself, sipping casually on his drink and wearing a pompous grin.
“I didn’t realize how important the trials were,” he says, smirking and nodding at a passing group of she-wolves who giggle on their way past him. He seems chuffed at the attention we’ve been getting, while it’s been churning my insides.
I’m not oblivious to how the pack sees my partnership with Cecelia as a disadvantage, but I’ve long since relied on myself to achieve anything I set out for, and this is no different.
My only concern is that she’ll be a distraction I can’t afford, and that’s why I need to ensure that she knows this means nothing. That’s the air that has to be cleared, even if it’s just to convince myself that I feel nothing for her.
“You’re in deep thought, huh?” Santo quips with a curious chuckle, jolting me out of my head. “You worried about the trials?”
“Nah,” I dismiss as I shove my hands into the pockets of my sweatpants. “This might look like a disadvantage, but I’m notworried at all.” My words cut deep only because I’m reassuring myself that I can pull this off, despite who my partner is. As long as I don’t get my personal feelings involved, I’ll be fine. It’s why, with every breath I take now, I’m composing myself and working up the courage to be as detached as possible before the trials commence tomorrow morning.
Stones and loose leaves on the ground crunch under booted soles as if to deliberately announce an unwanted arrival in my vicinity. My nostrils flare with irritation as I exchange a heated glance with Santo, who seems equally bothered by Simon’s sudden appearance.
Maintaining my composure when he stops, I casually turn and grab the drink out of Santo’s hand. The punch laced with enough wolfsbane to take the edge off is exactly what I need to stay calm right now.
“You know, you should be worried, Dominic. We all know how useless the half-breed omega is,” Simon chuckles sardonically, lips peeling over his perfectly set teeth that I suddenly wish I could disarrange.
Hearing him mock Cecelia does something to rile me up, my blood boiling from the depths of my being as my inner wolf becomes furious.
I take a giant gulp of punch to quell my irritation, then tilt my chin in a silent show of defiance against the alpha’s son, who’s always been a hot-headed prick. The last thing he’d expect is for me to remain calm while he pokes at me.
“It doesn’t faze me,” I say calmly with a dismissive shrug. “It’s just arbitrary, that’s all. Doesn’t mean it affects the trials.”
Simon smirks maliciously. “Are you sure it’s just a coincidence that you were paired up with the worst possible she-wolf? She’s not just a stain on the Lunaris Pack name, but she’s gonna slow you down in the trials. She’s too f—”
Before Simon can breathe another word against Cecelia, I turn to face him, exercising every ounce of control I can muster so I don’t lunge at him, because I know exactly where his taunts were headed. The pack doesn’t just hate Cecelia because of her father’s treachery; they despise her for being a half-breed, standing out from other she-wolves her age.
She’s always been ridiculed for her size, but I’ve never been able to see things through the distorted lens of the pack’s standards. But knowing how much the Lunaris Pack upholds the laws against humans, I need to watch what I say.
Cecelia is an outcast, and nothing will ever change about her low standing in the pack with so much working against her. The pack might have opened up to allowing wolves to attend college in the city, but some strict rules and regulations forbid them from mingling with humans, let alone mating with them.
So, instead of defending Cecelia, because I can’t imagine how I’d look if I did, I stare at Simon calculatedly, and ask, “What did you say about it not being a coincidence?”
“Oh, nothing,” he shrugs nonchalantly, sipping on his drink. “But it would only make sense that the most promising candidate for alpha would be partnered with the worst she-wolf to exist in the pack, don’t ya think?”
Simon scoffs as he casually strolls away, glancing over his shoulder and throwing a wink at me before his partner, Amanda, skips toward him. Growling under my breath, this time it’s Santo’s cup that gets crushed in my fist. He steps in front of me with raised brows when he hears the crack of my fury.
“You think he—” his voice tapers off with suspicion, and I nod slowly.
“I think he had something to do with Cecelia being picked as my partner,” I mutter under my breath, keeping my eyes pinned on my friend to remain calm. Deep down, there’s something more, as if I’m relieved that the fixing of my partner prevented Cecelia from being picked as Simon’s. I don’t want to imagine how badly he would have treated her. “But it doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters, Dom. You heard what his father said. He won’t accept any foul play.”
I shake my head. “I can’t go to Alpha Sirius with suspicions when I have no proof, Santo. The elders will think I’m incompetent, and I can’t let it affect their judgment.”
“So what are you gonna do?” Santo asks with blatant concern. I know he’s worried that I won’t be able to succeed since I’ve been partnered up with the omega.
But I won’t let it deter me. I stand a very good chance of winning simply because I’ve been training my whole life for these trials. Now with Cecelia as my partner, I need to ensure that she’s on board with me, and we can put our history to rest for good.
Now more than ever, I need to be on her good side. I need to do that clearing of my conscience now, so she knows I don’t hold any grudge against her for what happened in the past. She can’t harbor any grudge against me, either. It’s the only way we’ll make it through these trials in one piece.
“Nothing,” I tell Santo calmly with a nonchalant shrug. “I’m not gonna do anything but go through with this. It takes a good leader to play the cards he’s been dealt and still make it out victorious, right?”
Santo chuckles as he shakes his head. “Ah, Dominic Rivera,” he chides playfully. “You really are something else, eh! Just like we promised?”
I smirk as I bump his fist with mine, invoking the promise we made when we were just young men on the brink of receiving our wolves.
