But they were here now. And Layla would not back down.
“I’m trying to keep you alive,” Theodore hissed. “You’ve been lying all your life to me about this. Why should I believe tonight is any different?”
“What do you want me to say? That I ran home from a forced mating ceremony, soaked through and ready to collapse with exhaustion, and decided it was the perfect time for a spot of divination?”
“So you admit,” Theo pressed, “it wasn’t a dream?”
“I don’t know what it was!” she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.
He growled softly, a rumbling in his chest, a warning.
She was, quite frankly, too tired to care about his bruised alpha ego. She sank down into one of the squishy armchairs near the fire, drawing her knees up to her chest, staring into the flames.
“I know you won’t believe me,” Theo said, “but everything I’ve ever done, I’ve done it to keep you safe. To keep us safe.”
She huffed, not looking at him. “Is that so.”
“It is,” he said, stalking towards her. “You have no idea how close our family was to being kicked out of the pack. Father was a useless drunk who couldn’t keep his mouth shut. Mother was no better. There’s a reason they never made it to the Volnoye Pack when they left the Volkhov. They weren’t strong enough.”
“But you were,” she said, unable to keep some of the bitterness out of her voice. “Popular, strong, charismatic. The perfect companion to the high-ranking boys. You were only too happy to leave us behind.”
“I didn’t leave you behind,” he bit out. “It may not look like it to you, Layla, but keeping you under the radar, at the edges of the pack, it was the safest place for you. You could claim protection under the Volkhov name, and keep the freedom you always so desperately wanted.”
“What the hell do you know about what I want?” she said, finally turning to look at him, unable to resist baring her teeth.
He laughed then, low and ugly, full of accusation. “I suppose you’re right. Maybe Idon’tknow.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“I can promise you, I don’t.”
“Dominic,” Theodore hissed, “the Alphayouslept with years ago and now have mated.”
She stared at him wide-eyed, too stunned to so much as laugh. “Isthatwhat this is really about?”
“Part of it,” he growled, “yes.”
“What, are you jealous, Theo? Now that you’re no longer the favorite Hawthorne pet?”
He snarled, fists clenching, warm eyes flashing angrily, “Watch yourself.”
“You don’t need to worry,” she said, chest tightening. “He didn’t mate me because he actually respects me. He doesn’t even like me. Your precious position is safe.”
“Is that so?”
“It is,” she said, glaring back into the fire. “God knows that’s all you’ve ever wanted.”
He was silent for a moment, his breaths rapid and sharp. His scent was spiking, a whirling red haze of anger. Something inside her warned her she was straying too close to danger, but she was too exhausted to heed the signs.
“How can my position besafe,” he ground out, each word nearly forced out, “when my sister is running around performingwitchcraft. If Dominic found out—”
“Is that a threat?” she asked, shooting to her feet, advancing on her brother. “Because I have to say, I’m getting pretty damn sick of the stupid double standard. You’re all far too happy to accept whatever crap supposedly comes from Lunarion, but if the wordwitchcraftis so much as whispered, you all suddenly act as if the world is ending! Andyouwith your constant ultimatums!” It must have been a ridiculous sight. Her, a five-foot-nothing shifter unable to actually shift, dressed in a muddy white gown and an oversized fraying sweater, facing down her six-foot-five alpha brother, still resplendent in his Volkhov uniform with all its metal fixtures and gleaming blades.
She didn’t give a shit.
“Witchcraft is different from divine gifts, and you know it.” Theodore said, lip curling, “And when have I ever threatened you? Don’t you think that if I were going to tell Dominic, I would have done it by now?”
