“Yes,” I said in an equally quiet tone. “I won’t mess this up.”
Rationally, I knew things had been deteriorating between the three Velesian Orders for a decade, if not longer. It wasn’t my fault, but that did nothing to silence the voice in my head that pointed out my role in all this. Not only had I been a political bargaining chip in securing an alliance between the Narchis Order and the Alpha pack—and the Order of Avala that always followed the Alphas’ lead—but my connection to Samara was well known.
Those two facts had made relations between the Fervis Order and the Alpha pack even more tense. We couldn’t afford for war to break out in our realm. Which meant this meeting had to go well.
I could feel Bastian staring a hole into the side of my face, but I kept my eyes forward, focusing on Cade’s broad back.
“Is there something we need to know about you and the Dragomir pack?” Bastian prodded. “You seem unsettled despite knowing this meeting was going to happen.”
“Just would have liked to be more prepared is all,” I hedged. “We were supposed to have another two weeks.”
Bastian hummed but left me alone, speeding up to walk beside Cade again as the three of us reached the end of the hallway, where the only option was to go right or left.
We went left, and the large double doors of the castle entry came into view. Just before them on the right was a wide archway that led to the room where the Alpha’s hosted visitors.
Where we host visitors, I corrected myself, because I was a member of the Alpha pack too.
Drawing in a deep breath, I did my best to channel my inner Samara and put my polite, no-nonsense face on.
If Cali were here, she’d probably say I looked constipated. I missed my blunt and fiery-spirited friend.
Cade slowed before reaching the room, allowing Bastian to enter first.
“Gavril,” I heard him greet the leader of the Fervis pack. “The Alpha pack welcomes you and yours into our home . . .”
I tuned him out as my breath started to quicken. Dealing with delicate pack politics was so not my thing. At least not in person; I was much better behind the scenes. Plus, Alexis was in there. I could smell him, which meant he could do the same. He might even be able to hear my rapidly beating heart and no doubt was pleased that he could still draw such a reaction from me. A phantom pain raised up my side: the memory of six broken ribs and multiple punctured organs.
I wished I were more confident like Samara, or that I had Cali’s don’t-give-a-fuck attitude.
But I wasn’t like my friends. I couldn’t do this.
Cade looked at me with concern, a frown tugging at his mouth. Fuck. After promising I wouldn’t mess up, I was doing exactly that, but I’d make it worse if I went in there.
This had been a mistake.
I took a small step back. If Bastian hadn’t already gone into the room, he would have politely stopped me from leaving, but Cade never touched me if he could help it.
Bastian was clever. He would come up with some type of explanation for why I had to leave. I took another step back. This was for the best.
Then I spun away and made it a few steps before strong fingers closed around my wrist and jerked me back.
A growl slipped from my throat as I spun towards the asshole who would absolutely dare to grab me like this. Light blue eyes that always seemed a little wild glared at me.
“Ryker,” Cade warned from behind the lycanthrope.
The wolf wrapped in human ignored him and pulled me forward. If the situation were different, I would have tackled him and beat the ever-loving shit out of him, but despite my panic over the impending conversation, I wouldn’t fuck up that badly. So I let myself be dragged into the room.
He would pay for this later.
Four pairs of eyes latched on to me before dropping to where Ryker’s fingers still had a death grip on my wrist as we stopped only a few feet into the room.
“I see the Narchis tribute is fitting in well enough,” Gavril commented mildly with a smirking Remy next to him.
I’d met the leader of the Dragomir pack and Fervis Order Alpha several times in my life. His dark hair and green eyes made him striking and memorable. Like Bastian, he was an ailuranthrope and absolutely ruthless in a fight. Remy was almost a mirror image of his uncle, but where Gavril was cold and calculating, Remy was all playful grins and jokes . . . until he sank his claws into your back and ripped out your spine.
I’d seen him do it, so I wasn’t fooled by his charmful exterior.
“Rynn has been a lovely addition to our pack,” Bastian said smoothly as he held out a hand, inviting me to join him, though something flashed in his eyes. A warning maybe? It would be just like Bastian to blame me for Ryker’s inability to keep his hands to himself.
