I wake up to whispers by my door that chased me from my bed. I'm angry, but the feeling isn't mine. It's a murderous thing that has my insides twisting, raging, demanding I draw blood from something. Someone. Anyone.
I empty out the pitcher of water by my bed stand, gulping down in large amounts in hopes to cool the heat rising from my stomach. But nothing works. The pitcher falls from my grasp, crashing to the ground as I double over, gasping for air.
The rage intensifies, and I shut my eyes forcing deep breaths into my lungs. I need…I don’t know what I need, and before I can think, I’m lurching for the door, grabbing an oversized robe and wrapping myself in it.
It's late at night. Very late, yet, I can hear hurried footsteps outside my door. Twisting the doorknob, I pull the door open, half-walking, half-running towards the source of the tug in my chest.
"What's happening?" I ask the maid on my right, and when she turns, I see it is Amelia. She sneers and walks ahead, ignoring me as she joins the rest who after a few seconds turn back to glare at me.
“Brawl,” someone says behind me, and I stiffen at the sound of Lovette’s voice. I’d stop to look at her, but my feet won’t stop forcing me forward. “They say Alpha Kier and Gamma Lloyd have been at it for hours. He’s going to kill him.”
My head whips left and I see my fears mirrored in her eyes. “Why?”
She shrugs, but I catch her peeling off her nails like she used to when she was nervous. Or worried. “You tell me. You’re the one who has been stringing both of them along like puppets. There’s a speculation going around that indicates they may be fighting…over you. You did this.”
And this is why I have unfriended Lovette and decided that I’d rather do it all alone than be subjected to the judgement of people who do not understand me or my goals. The rage I feel coming from Kier—why do I even feel his rage?—has nothing to do with me. Sure, we had an argument and I tore up the dress he gifted me, but that’s not enough reason to have this murderous anger I feel.
Chills caressed my spine, an urgency tugging me forward. I break into a sprint, weaving through the crowd the fastest I can. I reach the entrance of the training hall in little to no time, walking past the emissary from Dawn—what was his name? Derek? Daryl? Delightly-confused?—who seems utterly amused by whatever he’s watching in the ring.
“Violet,” he cooes as I march past, and I give him the evil eye. Yesterday, the man followed me around as I prepared for the trip to Aldenwood, collecting daggers and dousing them in poison—anything that might aid me in the Howling, seeing as Kier is too much of a prick to defend me. The emissary had told me stories about Dawn, all beautiful things, and he’d said I would be a woman of great station if I followed him back and mated with him.
I told him he was a mad man. Ah, the irony of it.
There’s already a crowd around the ring before I get there and it’s a little difficult cutting through it. “Sorry,” I say when someone’s elbow jabs into my side. “Excuse me,” I add when I bump into someone. The closer I draw to the front, the more familiar the faces are.
Moira and Helen glance my way, and underneath all of that hatred is fear. The silence is almost as loud as the wet sound of fist ramming into skin, and when I break through the crowd, my fingers fly to my mouth as I stifle a horrified gasp.
On the fighting ring, Alpha Kier leans over Lloyd and smashes his fist into his bloodied face. Lloyd’s eyes are already swollen shut and there’s blood everywhere. Lloyd’s arms and legs are bent the wrong way, though with every twitch of his muscles, I see them try to heal and realign. But Alpha Kier doesn’t let his broken bones heal. The moment Lloyd’s hands straighten, he grabs them and twists. Lloyd roars, collapsing into a heap of broken bones that try yet again to heal.
Only to be thwarted by Alpha Kier’s hands. Repeatedly.
My dinner rises up to my chest and I swallow, refusing to puke in here. What crime could Lloyd have committed to earn a punishment like this?
When Alpha Kier’s hand wraps around Lloyd’s throat, raising him off the floor, my stupid, stupid legs and big mouth start working ahead of my brain, and I’m running before I realizing it. Fear pushes strength into my sprint and I cross the distance in no time, sliding along the ring. My fingers close around Kier’s. “Please, stop. You’ll kill him,” I whisper, tears welling in my eyes. “This is not you.”
Kier’s red hair is a curtain around his face, and I ignore the itch to brush them back from his face. His head tilts as he stares at my hand atop his with a preternatural stillness that shoots a warning through me. A warning to run like hell.
I ignore it, tightening my fingers around his. His hand loosens and Lloyd drops to the ground with a thud.
A long, sharp claw trails down my cheek and I freeze. He’s suddenly so close, and I hadn’t seen him move. Undiluted dread fills me, and I fight the urge to jump away from the ring and hold his gaze instead.
A storm rages within those eyes that do not seem to even recognize me. Fear licks down my spine as orbs of rare gold regard me with an expression that reminds me of the dust underneath my slippers. In this moment, that is how insignificant I am to him. His nostrils flare and pain swallows me whole when claws suddenly rip into my shoulder and I find myself suspended in the air.
I crash on the ground, the stones scraping my skin. He threw me out of the ring!
Scrambling to my feet, ignoring the ache in my shoulder as well as the stinging sensation all over, I start forward again, only to be stopped by a hand around my wrist. “You can’t reach him,” Beta Randale tells me, resignation tightening his features. “Not right now, anyway. Get in that ring again and you’ll be receiving the blows instead. Lloyd will heal.” Blue eyes flick over my form. “You will not.”
“He’ll kill him!” I yell, wincing as the sickening sound of bone breaking fills the air, mingling with Lloyd’s groans. “Why isn’t he fighting back?”
Beta Randale scoffs, his fingers slipping from my wrist. “When you meet Zephyr, you’ll come to understand. Fighting back gets him very excited. Lloyd would be dead within seconds if he fought back.”
I have no idea who Zephyr is, and while it’s already shocking enough that Beta Randale is talking to me like I’m an actual person, my worry is near the roof. “What did he do?”
“He fucked up,” is all Beta Randale says, but I catch his gaze darting to where Luna Renae stands by the weapon rack, clutching her robe around her tightly. My gaze is drawn first to her disheveled hair, and the purple bruise on her neck. Her eyes jerk in my direction, catching me looking, and she slaps a hand over the bruise, shooting me a chilling glare.
I look away first, momentarily distracted by the movement by the corner of my eye. My heart skips a beat when I see Alpha Kier walking off the ring, wiping the blood off his knuckles and face with what I presume to be Lloyd’s shirt and he tosses it back, hitting Lloyd in the face with it.
He strides past, the crowd parting for him, and he doesn’t spare a glance in my direction. Once certain he's out of sight, I hurry toward Lloyd, dropping to my knees beside him. "Hey," I murmur, hesitant to touch his battered skin. Lloyd twitches, his arm straightening with a sharp snap.
He pants, turning his head in my direction with a groan, and I swear the slight tilt to his lips is a smile. “Ah, she’s worried for me.”
I roll my eyes and reach for his arm, only to recoil when he cusses in pain.
“Sorry,” I whisper. “Can you walk? No, don’t answer that. You can’t.”
"Fucking kill me, Jess," he groans, the sound turning agonizing as his left leg snaps back into place. "Moon-fucking-Goddess," he swears.
“What did you do?” I ask, taking his shirt to wipe the blood off his face. “Why would he hurt you like this? You’re his best friend.”
One swollen eye opens, green eyes peeking up at me. “I…” He suddenly laughs. “Come closer, Jess. We can’t risk others hearing this.”
I stare at him for a moment before bending over, placing my ear close to his lips. He whispers the words into my ear and I draw back, watching him with my jaw almost hitting the ground. He watches me for a moment as I process what he told me and fear flickers in his eyes when I don’t say anything.
Lloyd and Kier’s mother?! Goddess, ewww. My fingers tighten around his shirt and I whack him in the head with it. “You’re disgusting, Lloyd! He should have broken all your bones! And there I was fighting for you! You’re a pig—” I stop hitting him when I notice he suddenly groans, concern flooding me. “Did I hurt you? I’m sorry.”
He coughs, clutching his middle. “You’re not repulsed by me?”
“I am, but you’re my friend, even if you do have questionable tastes,” I murmur, eyeing both of his legs that seem to be in better condition. He heaves a sigh of relief, managing to smile through the pain. Wedging my shoulder under his arm, I help him stand and walk over to his room, rather than the physician.
Apparently, Kier gave an order against doing that. I leave him by his `door, finding my way to Kier’s study. He must be devastated about the entire thing, finding his best friend in bed with his mother. I just had to interfere and try to dictate how he should feel about it. No wonder he threw me out of the ring.
As I reach for the door knob, the muffled sounds of arguing and shattering glass emanate from inside. I flinch at Kier’s resounding voice, penetrating through his study walls. “It could have been anyone else! If you had informed me that you were lonely and seeking a fresh start, we could have arranged a different marriage!”
“I DO NOT want a mating ceremony! I’m still grieving your father—”
“By fucking Lloyd? You could birth him twice!”
“You do not get to judge me for my choices when you’re canoodling with the daughter of a whore!”
I stagger back from the door, stunned. She knows? How? I've never shared this with anyone, and my mother was more discreet than anyone I know. Has the Luna been to Dawn? Or was it the emissary? Does he know too?
Kier's words cut through the air like a sharp blade, his voice biting with disdain after a prolonged silence. "A whore? Madeline Everhart was... a whore?"
It's not the question that shatters my heart; it's the palpable disgust oozing from each word he utters. Swiftly, I turn away from the study, escaping down the hallway. Luna Renae's response, however, echoes in my ears.
"Not only was she their queen, but she was also a murderer.”