My cheeks warmed. “My father.”
And just like that, his expression fell into a mask of indifference. “Right. Almost forgot there—Crescentgirl.”
He spun to leave, and I felt like I’d been slapped.
“Excuse me? How dareyou!”
I glared after him, lifted my book high in the air, and threw it. Hard.
The solid thump against his head wasn’t nearly as satisfying as watching him lurch forward, which made me grin. But the smile slid from my face as the book landed with a thud.
Oh, shifter babies. What had I done?
He was the first prince to the king, in line for the alpha throne.
He froze.
“I … uh … I’m sorry.” I rushed forward and grabbed the book off the ground, holding it in front of me like a chest plate of armor.
Spinning slowly, he stepped closer to me.
“I like it better when you’re nice,” I said by way of explanation. “Grouchy Rage is an asshat. Why can’t you just stay nice?”
He glared down at me with those big, beautiful, green eyes. “You don’t know, do you?”
Pain flickered in his gaze, and the bravado he wore like a mask slipped. For the first time since I’d met him, he looked vulnerable.
“What?” I relaxed my death grip on the book and brought it to my hip. “What don’t I know?”
“Your uncle killed my father, and I’llneverforgive your clan for that.”
His words cut into me like knives. My jaw hit the pavement. Before I managed to find my voice, he spun and stormed off again.
“That’s not true!” I shouted at his retreating back. “Your dad and my uncle were best friends at school!” I marched toward where Rage now stood but stopped several feet away. Even so, I dropped my voice and whisper-shouted the truth. “The alpha king killed your father, not anyone frommypack!”
I believed the story my father told of what happened to his only brother that fateful night. My father had no reason to lie, but the alpha king? All the reason in the realm, no matter what Rage said.
Rage spun and laughed in my face. “You naive little pup! A Midnight alpha and a Crescent alphabest friends? My uncle killing his own brother? Listen to yourself!You’vebeen lied to.”
Tears sprang to my eyes. Did all of the Midnight princes think that? That my uncle killed their dad? The horror of it shook me even if it wasn’t true. No wonder they hated me that first day. Could I blame them?
“Rage, listen…” I started to tell him the story I knew, but he cut me off.
“I can see you believe what you’re saying, but you’re wrong. Uncle Declan was commanded by the high mages to attack Crescent after my father’s murder. It was my uncle’s first assignment after he became alpha, to punish your pack because of a high crime. What about that? If your uncle didn’t kill my father, what was the high crime?” His chest heaved, and tension rolled off him in waves.
“Well… I don’t know,” I admitted with a shrug. Shame burned my cheeks as all of the fight left me. “My father doesn’t like to talk about it.” Was an alpha killing another alpha a high crime? Did the mages get involved with that? I didn’t know. I didn’t know anything apparently.
Rage shook his head. “Sounds like a guy who is all about the truth.”
When he turned to walk away this time, I let him go. I wondered then if everything my father told me had been a lie. Had my uncle killed Rage’s dad and that’s why we were cast out of Shifter Island? Was the alpha king only protecting his family when he’d taken over the throne and kicked Crescent out?
All the emotions I’d bottled up the last few days swelled beneath my chest until everything felt ready to explode. Turning on my heels, I raced into my dorm, slammed the door to my shitty room, and collapsed onto the bed just as the dam burst. Sobbing into my pillow, I cried for my father, my pack, and then finally for me. Had my father lied to me? Or possibly deceived me with a lie by omission? On the story of who killed who, I believed him. Even so, I wanted to know what high crime was committed that would have caused our entire clan to be cast out. Would I have to wait four years to find out?
Chapter 10
Master Jin taughtmy water elemental classes. Short and stocky with tattoos covering pretty much all of his visible skin, he looked like a Hell’s Angel biker dude. Unlike the fire mage, Master Jin had my books waiting for me the second afternoon.
“Any chance you did the summer reading?” he asked as soon as he dropped the books on my desk.
