Everyone says that he’s very good at holding on to his territory and keeping the other creatures in that territory in line. I’m sure that’s true. I also can’t think of a single female who would willingly go to him.
The other fated one is a bit older and promised to Rafael, who is young for an alpha leader and, if I had to guess, strategic enough to know that the longer he waits to mate, the more his queen will be an asset.
I’ve always liked Rafael.
It’s the older kings who refuse to accept that queens can be more than baby factories.
Once Deirdre and I stop going for each other’s throats, the conversation flows the way it should. No politics, just a groupof women with a very specific role, talking about the things that only we know.
“It’s different for you,” says Rhiannon, a shy, soft little thing, as she comes and sits down beside me a while later. “You’re the one everyone talks about. Maddox went to college. Maddox does what she wants. Maddox tells her king what to do.”
I laugh at that. “I sound like an asshole. And I definitely do not tell Ty what to do.”
“I can’t imagine.” She shakes her head. “Gareth is a good king, and a loving man, but he’s very traditional. Still, college does sound like fun.”
It’s these little wins that matter, I tell myself. It’s the wolfling girls that Rhiannon will encourage to do the things she couldn’t. These things will add up.
The party is still going on when our group finally breaks up, mostly because many of them really do have babies who need them down below.
As I walk down into the den, I feel a kind of longing in both directions. Some part of me wishes that I could hold Ty’s babies in my arms tonight, nuzzle them and love on them and raise them to make him proud. The other part of me is fiercely glad that I’m the one who’s different from the others. That I’m the one who’s carved out my own space, however inadequate it feels to me sometimes.
I’m not in Ty’s bed for very long before he appears, and I can tell by the way his eyes gleam that it’s going to be a long night.
“What if I’m too tired?” I say, teasing him.
“Then I’d have to figure out how to wake you up,” he replies, coming over to me and pinning me to the bed. “I have a few ideas.”
There’s no chance of us sleeping on the first night of wolf week. Not for a very long time.
Gathering weeks always feel haphazard, but they’re not. I think about that over the next couple of days as the men congregate in theirimportant groups and the women remain in the grand cavern, preparing the night’s feasts and talking among ourselves.
Also doing the important work of exchanging information we treat like silly gossip but then repeat back to our men later.
I don’t even dislike these gathering days surrounded by women, but I know that some of the things Ty will be talking about in roomfuls of males are business related. I also know that nobody knows our business better than me.
Nobody. Not even Ty himself, because I know all the figures.
I don’t need anyone to tell me that marching into business meetings is not my place. I swallow my thoughts down and honor my mother by performing my duties flawlessly, because thatis.
On the third full day of the gathering, Liam comes and finds me while I’m sitting with the old men, listening to them tell tales of our people from long ago.
“You’re wanted,” he says, expressionless.
“Is it my execution already?” I ask, and laugh.
“Maddox.” He doesn’t sound angry. His eyes are grave, but not mad. Wary, maybe. “I beg of you. Go easy.”
I don’t know what that means, but I get it when he leads me back into what’s known as church. No gods are required here. It’s the place where Ty and his lieutenants gather when they wish to be separate from the rest of the pack. During the gathering, the place is packed full of every pack leader and his highest seconds. It’s standing room only—but as a woman, they wouldn’t give me a seat even if there was one.
This is the inner sanctum, and it’s usually strictly males-only.
I find myself wondering if the traitor is here, watching me. Waiting for his chance. Seething at the fact that I’m once again somewhere I shouldn’t be.
Since this place is basically holy ground, I hope he is.
“Unbelievable,” McCaffrey sneers, diverting my attention from my own dark thoughts. “Bitches in church? It’s blasphemy.”
“If you refer to my fated and future queen as a bitch again,” Ty says, conversationally, “I’ll take out your throat.”
