“But it’s as you say,” she said, waving her hand in his face, the mating wound barely beginning to heal, “things are different now. I’m theLuna. I outrank you.”
“Isthata threat?” her brother echoed, suddenly towering above her.
She just scoffed. “Come on, Theo, you know as well as I do that my title is meaningless. I had no choice in this, and I doubt I’ll have any greater standing in the pack because of it.”
“Then why bring it up?”
“Because I’m sick and tired of you flaunting your position over me! Your so-called self-sacrifice!”
“I have sacrificed!” he bellowed, and she reared back, eyes widening. “You’ve got no fucking clue what I’ve done for you! If you want to stand there assuming I’m just some…some selfish bastard with no regard whatsoever for this family, then fine. But if you do that, I’m done protecting you!”
“You never protected me!” Layla yelled, stumbling back from his menacing form, tears welling in her eyes. “All those years, your friendstormentedme! You never said a word! Notone word, Theodore! And tonight, when Dominic said he was claiming me, when youcould seeI didn’t want it, what did you do?”
His jaw worked, hands flexing and unflexing.
“Well? What did you do, Theo?Nothing!You stood there, and you didnothing!”
“What was I supposed to do,” he said, voice like clashing steel.
She opened her mouth to shout another retort, but it died on her tongue. What was he supposed to do? Stand up to the Alpha? In front of the whole pack?
Furiously, she wiped at her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself. When she spoke, her voice was tiny. Pathetic. “I just…I just wanted you to be my brother.”
The words cracked something open inside her, and she found her grasp on her anger slipping.
Because it had never been about anger. Not really.
Her brother stood motionless. Or at least, she thought he did. All she could see of him was his perfectly shined leather boots, the edges blurry through her tears.
He turned away before she could see more. “Layla,” he said, his voice cold as ice, “I will not let you ruin everything I’ve worked towards. I don’t care if you believe me or not, but I have been doing what’s best. For both of us. If you get close to Dominic—”
“Theo—” she started, stepping towards him, but he held a hand up.
“Ifyou get close to Dominic, if you allow him to fall victim to your lies, your little fantasies, then so help me, I’ll tell him.”
Her throat closed, “You won’t.”
“Try me,” he hissed. “I’ve let you get away with your witchcraft for far too long. Magic is dangerous. It could destroy the whole pack. And Dominic is vulnerable. So here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to be obedient, you’re not going to get in the way of anything, and you’re going to remember that this mating is nothing more than a political move. Understood?”
“Theo—”
“Am I understood?” he said, his voice like thunder.
She nodded, curling away from his raging form, throat tightening.
She’d known he could be cruel. But not like this. Never like this.
He sighed, a ragged sound, turning away from her and raking his hand through his hair in an angry, jerky motion.
She stood, motionless, waiting for the storm to pass.
Before it could, bootsteps struck against stone, many, fast. The doors swung wide.
Dominic came through first, face twisted into a snarl. Mud streaked his coat, and his dark curls were damp against his forehead. Julian followed, composed as ever, and behind him Chase followed, broad-shouldered, eyes raw with lack of sleep. A half dozen more moved in their wake, voices low.
Layla hadn’t thought she would move. She did anyway, a small step forward before sense stopped her. Dominic’s eyes snapped to her. Whatever he’d been about to say to Julian died on his tongue. His attention narrowed with the same force she had seen at their ceremony, a look that made distance fade away. He crossed half the room in an instant and stopped a breath away, hands at his sides.
“What happened?” he asked, not looking at Theodore.
