Jabir has his arm draped over Nell’s. His face remains unreadable, though I can smell trepidation oozing from his clammy palms.
If there is anything I’ve learned during my time as the shadow of Bleeding Sun’s leader, it is that pack units are stronger when fewer secrets lay between families. Even so, Axe is about to take an extraordinary risk revealing his mate’s.
When the news of the Sponsa Noctis breaks, the tide shifts, becoming a whirlwind of shock and fuming anger. Across the room, forks and knives clatter against plates. Dozens of women clamp their hands over their mouths. A few of the elder men stand up to excuse themselves. I’m close to completing my lap around the ballroom when voices begin shouting over each other. Echoes of fury lashing out from every which way, demanding answers. So many, my ears are ringing.
Axe’s face reddens as he takes the brunt of the chaos, vowing to protect Bleeding Sun from any vampire assaults at all costs. That Vessa is here to stay and that she will train to fight alongside us. Looking to my sister, he swears on his life that history shall not repeat itself.
Someone cries out for a public interrogation of the oracle, and Vessa’s heart flutters with anxiety. It’s so loud that it drowns out the sound of my wolf’s inner tantrum. The frequency of my augment latches onto her entirely. Something’s off.
Axe roars, attempting to settle the bickering amongst the crowded tables. He’s losing control of the room, and he knows it.
Demi rises from her seat to join Axe at the podium. Instinctively, my hand wraps around Vessa’s arm. Her pulse leaps beneath my fingers. I give her a gentle tug. “Come with me.”
Vessa looks over her shoulder, seeking approval from Axe. But his attention is fixed on coaxing the angry crowd.
“C’mon. We don’t have much time.”
Her eyes flick back to me, and she nods.
The two of us round the corner, making for the back entrance of the Great Lodge. I stop her, pulling her towards me just as she presses against the door. Sweet Goddess above, her skin is softer than I imagined.
It takes me a second to register that we are alone. That this the perfect chance to say what I’ve been meaning to for days now. Weeks. The wolf inside of me groans, urging me to close the distance between us. To nuzzle against her neck, taste her skin. To lose myself completely in her scent. I’ve never been this close before.
Concern crosses her face. “What is it?”
Shaking my head, I grumble. “You don’t smell the fear rolling off all those people out there, Vessa. The anger. If you’re sworn in, there will be retaliation. Let me help you out of this. I’ll find you somewhere to stay in a bigger city, somewhere where you can blend in?—"
Vessa puts her hands up. “I’m tired of blending in, alright? I can handle this.”
My wolf snarls. She isn’t listening to me. He’s a killer. Shit, they all are.
“Don’t go through with this. Please. You don’t owe them anything. You don’t owe my brother anything. You’re just the pin in a grenade he’s been waiting to pull for a long, long time. With you, he’ll finally get the war he’s always wanted.”
Her eyes harden. “I’m not afraid. But if you don’t want me here, then just come out and say it."
I grip her shoulders then. “I don’t want you to waste your precious freedom onhim.”
“If you actually knew me, if you knew anything about the blood on my hands, then you would stop looking at me like I’m some useless damsel that needs to be saved.”
Agitation stirs inside the wolf again. I grit my teeth as he thrashes, threatening to overtake me.
Vessa continues. “For the record, I’ve never cared about finding a mate. I didn’t think it was even possible for me to have one. Yet, when I look at him, it feels as if we’re part of something greater than ourselves. Every painful lash this life has dealt me was worth it because all along, they were strengthening me, guiding me to this pack. To Axe. I don’t want to go back to a life of shadows, nor do I wish to imagine a future where I’m not by his side.”
She’s breathless as she comes to the realization. She’s as good as gone.
The air between us takes on a bitter potency.
“Do you love him?”
Vessa’s mouth parts. “Let go of me, Dom.”
Dread thrums in my heart, my temperature rising. “Don’t think for a second that everyone in that room isn’t considering the easiest solution: killing you. Let me help you, Vessa.”
“No.”
Someone steps into the hallway, whipping her head in our direction. Gemma Belgrave. Shay’s brat sister. A peculiar sense of excitement piques the air.
As quick as my wolf sensed the shift in her demeanor, our eavesdropper darts away.
