I shake my head and stretch again. Aurelia cringes when my bones audibly crack and I smirk. “Wolves are not like lions. A roaming male, or in this casemales, won’t typically kill pups to force the female into estrus.”
“Then why?”
I think about it for a minute. “Could be that she moved into their territory and they were simply running her off or she failed to integrate. The problem is that depending on the pack size and scarcity of prey, the natural radius of what the wolves consider theirs could be larger than all of the Cold Peaks put together. To put it plainly, there’s an overabundance of predators in the area, so these rivalries happen a lot more often than you’d think. If it’s the same wolves we encountered near Meera’s den, I’d wager either their resources are low—which is likely considering they tried their luck with us—or…” The horrified look in Aurelia’s eyes make me stop and swear.
“Or?” she presses after schooling her expression. “Go on.”
“Or Meera isn’t submitting, and the alpha is trying to enforce his dominance,” I say, returning to my original theory of integration.
“By killing her babies,” Aurelia surmises aloud. I nod, and a distressed sound escapes her as she presses a hand to her stomach and turns away. Khalil is the one to react first, standing to go over and pull her into his arms. Aurelia takes a few deep,calming breaths and then lifts her head. “How do I do it? How do I turn my back on them? How do I be more like you?”
“You think about what’s most important,” Khalil tells her. If going even an inch out of our way puts Aurelia at risk, we’d never do it. “Us or them?”
“You,” she answers without hesitation. “Always you. I really am sorry. I don’t know why Meera feels so important to me, but she’s not more important than all of you. I won’t put you in danger again.”
I catch Khalil’s hand skating down her back in a soothing motion. “We know that, Goldilocks.”
“So what do we do now? I can’t just leave them here.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Zeke challenges.
Aurelia’s gaze snaps to him and hardens a moment later when she realizes Zeke isn’t sipping from the fountain of Aurelia. “What’s your problem, Cura?”
“My problem is that you’re good. A little too good.” Zeke gives a lazy stretch like they’re discussing the weather and he doesn’t have a care in the world, but his muscles are still coiled tight when he goes still once more. “You’re very careful with your words, aren’t you? Who taught you how to lie so prettily? Your uncle? You promise not to let your obsession with Meera put us in any more danger, but you said nothing of yourself. What were you planning to do? Sneak behind our backs while you turn her into a pet? Continue to put yourself at risk while we’re tucked away safely in our home?”
My gaze narrows when Aurelia moves away from Khalil just as his hand stills.
Holy shit.Zeke’s right. She was planning to do exactly that, and I was too busy trusting her to notice. Aurelia’s remorse is real but so is her kinship with Meera, and she’s nothing if not stubborn to the bone.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
Zeke shoots to his feet and is across the room before Aurelia can turn her back and dismiss him like she planned. “Say that again. I dare you.”
“Why? You heard me the first time,” she returns coldly.
“You want to bet,princess?” He backs her down, and Aurelia retreats a couple of steps until her back hits the window. Her eyes are wide with more shock than terror since it’s Zeke cornering her, but Zeke doesn’t seem to care as he invades her space. He’s so close that for a moment I could swear he’s going to kiss her. I can tell Aurelia is thinking the same because her breathing quickens. “What’s the matter? Where’s all the fire from a second ago?”
“Fuck you,” she whispers without any real venom.
“You’re such a fucking brat,” he returns lowly.
Khalil’s brows raise at the heated exchange that makes me feel like a voyeur, and then he turns his head to look at me, making it clear he’s not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
I roll my eyes skyward. Zeke and Aurelia’s hot-and-cold bullshit is beginning to wear on my fucking patience. “Enough, children.”
It’s as if they’re the only two people in the room. Both ignore me and refuse to back down.
“I’m going to help Meera with or without your help,” Aurelia makes the mistake of saying.
“And how are you going to do that chained and gagged to a bed, hmm?” Before anyone can react, Zeke snatches her up and throws her over his shoulder. He ignores her fists pounding on his back as he starts for the door. “We’re leaving,” he barks without looking my or Khalil’s way.
Shrugging, I stand and Khalil moves to follow.
The door to the observation room swings open before Zeke reaches it, and the head keeper steps in with a grin that dropswhen he notices the look on our faces and Aurelia’s wriggling body.
Zeke slaps her on the ass hard enough that she goes still immediately.
“Uh…hello. Ahh…sorry for the wait. We’re a little understaffed today. I just came to tell you the good news and thank you.”
