“He’s not a man, Ziara. He’s a dragon.”
I blinked, resisting the urge to knuckle my ears again. “Come again?”
Dad’s eyes were still fixed on me. “You stole the bloodstone from a dragon.”
“A… dragon?” The word squeaked out of my throat, which was suddenly bone dry. “You sent me to face a dragon?”
I knew better than to question him, but the accusation was out before I could stop it. Snapping my jaw shut, I managed to swallow my next question.
Without telling me?
Even unvoiced, the accusation hung between us for a beat that felt just shy of an eternity, as waves of displeasure rolled off the alpha. He lowered the bloodstone to his desk, scooped up his whiskey flask, and calmly took a sip.
The tic in his jaw encouraged me to adjust my tone. I bared my throat again in apology, trying to ignore the betrayal squeezing my insides. The alpha protected the pack, and whatever he’d done had been out of necessity.
“I shouldn’t have to explain myself to you, but I will, this one time, because you’re my blood.” He bit off each word, snarling at the taste they left on his tongue. “It was predicted that you would survive the fight as long as you didn’t lose your nerve, and discovering you were up against a dragon would have rattled anyone.”
He had a point, so I nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Rust trained you for this,” he continued. “I would never throw you into a fight you couldn’t win. Case in point, you could have killed him.” His eyes narrowed. “You should have.”
I hung my head in shame. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Whatever consequences come from leaving him alive… they’re onyourhead now.”
And there would be consequences.
I will be a curse upon your head, the noose around your neck, a sword driven deep intoyour side.
A freaking dragon.
I didn’t recount his warning to my father because I didn’t need to. Everyone knew what happened to those crazy enough tosteal from a hoard. I was screwed. Not only that, missing his heart had likely put the entire pack at risk.
I tried to apologize, but my throat had been coated in sandpaper, and the words wouldn’t form.
Dad looked at his beta and nodded toward the door. “Hitch, make sure the pack keeps their drinking to a minimum. Increase patrols, too. I doubt the dragon will attack immediately, but we need to be ready regardless.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Hitch turned and made for the door, but not before his gaze slid over me, contempt dripping from his eyes.
That was nothing new. Neither was the way he wrinkled his nose in disgust as he marched past me. Yeah, I got it. I smelled funny. It didn’t matter that I worked my ass off with Rust every morning and helped train the pups after school every afternoon, because I was different. A half-breed with a dark witch for a mom. Wolves like him would never fully accept me, no matter what I did.
I’d just stolen a magical rock from a dragon, for fuck’s sake.
Then again, I had left the bastard alive.
The door closed behind Hitch like an exclamation mark on my mistake.
Rust stepped forward. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s had the balls to trespass on pack land, Alpha. Ziara has never been given an opportunity to kill. That oversight’s on me.”
Dad looked from me to Rust and nodded. “Were the two of you followed?”
Rust shook his head and answered. “No.”
“Good.” To me, he added, “And you were careful to cover your scent?”
“Yessir.”
“That should buy us some time.”
