“Me neither,” Felix says.
“She will win,” Marius says promptly. “It doesn’t matter that he cheats. She will still win. And she will kick his pathetic ass, exposing him as the pathetic loser he is, and as a pathetic alpha.”
“Are you sure?” Faye whispers with tears in her eyes.
Marius cradles her in his arms. “I promise,” he says. “Can you keep a secret, sweetie?”
She nods.
He leans forward, whispering something into her ear. I see her eyes widen. “Really?” she asks.
“Really.”
“Is it okay for her to be here?” I mutter to him.
“Yes,” Marius says with so much conviction that I can only look at him in surprise. Surely, seeing the woman she looks up to so much getting hurt in any way is going to be traumatizing. I don’t want to say it out loud, but Marius understands me nevertheless. “Gwen, she needs to see it.”
“Why?”
“Because she needs to see a woman close to her win against the bad guy,” he says simply before looking at me with insistence. “She needs to see that goodcanwin.”
His words shut me up. There are what-ifs in my mind. What if Celine doesn’t win? What if Faye is traumatized even more? But Marius sounds so confident in Celine’s win, and he has a point with what he said about Faye. She needs to see a motherly figure in her life, win!
I don’t need to wait long to find out if Marius is right or not, as the preparations for the fight are wrapped up, and Celine and that stupid alpha circle each other in the ring. I try to understand what is happening. Clearly, Celine’s wolf is suppressed. She obviously feels it too, by the annoyed look in her eyes when that cheating asshole knocks her down. But instead of staying down, something seems to shift. The air around us gets thicker. It’s recognizable for us, but even more so for that douchebag alpha. Her eyes flash silver.
She is up on her feet, lunging at the guy. The moment she touches him, I swear he looks like he is in pain. His breathing speeds up, and with a controlled kick to his groin and then his chest second, he crumbles onto the floor.
I stare at my watch. Not even ten minutes!
“Told you,” Marius says lightly. The others don’t notice, but I can see how he relaxes his fingers. He must have been worried for her.
The pack members cheer for Celine, and Harmony rushes towards her and instructs the warriors toescortthe alpha off the pack grounds. Celine steps closer to the alpha. “You obviously tried to cheat,” she says. “And you did it in front of so many witnesses. All of them witnessed your loss, too. The next time you come to my pack unannounced, we’ll see it as a declaration of war. And just remember that my pack has powerful allies.”
At that, the guy visibly pales.
Celine doesn’t pay him any more attention, she just hurries towards us. She kisses Marius before turning her attention fully to Faye, not even noticing anyone else. I was so wrapped up by what happened that I didn’t check on Faye at all, but one glance at her now shows me that her eyes are wide in admiration and she is smiling brightly.
“Sweetie,” Celine says, taking Faye into her arms and smiling at her.
“You won,” Faye exclaims.
“Of course I won,” Celine says. “Can’t have a stupid guy ruin our playdate, after all.”
While watching the three interact, it’s like the blinds are lifted in front of me. Suddenly, it makes sense as to why Flora wanted us to come today. I don’t know how her mind or her gift operates, but after what I experienced this morning, I am not surprised anymore.
Faye is smiling, almost like her old self. Not exactly, but close.
Realization dawns that I don’t need to worry about Faye anymore or about fulfilling my promise to Marina. She has found her place.
fifty-three
Followed
*FELIX*
Ever since I met Gwen, I’ve learned and experienced something new every day. Today is no different, though I am still struggling a little with entirely grasping what happened. But all’s good that ends well. Celine is unharmed, and she and Marius spend almost the whole day with Faye.
They show her around, take her to the playground, and Marius shows her a small treehouse he has started to build. When Faye, in her overexcitement, asks if he would give it to her, he simply answers with yes. Celine even shifts to her beautiful, white wolf so that Faye can play around with a shifter counterpart. It’s something I know she hasn’t experienced a lot.
