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EMILY
“Koda was head over heels for Asana. I’d only met her once when he brought her to meet Silas and me. They’d just gotten married but had kept it private from the rest of the pack. They wanted as few people as possible to know. In the wolf community, we have a special ceremony that a couple goes through when they decide to marry. Usually, this is with their mate, as I’m sure Cassian and Griffin have told you.”
I nodded, and he continued.
“Well, because your mother wasn’t a wolf—meaning she wasn’t his mate—many members of the pack weren’t very accepting of their relationship, so you can imagine how they would react if they knew their alpha was married to a witch in a ceremony outside our own. The entire thing was considered taboo.”
Cassian leaned forward on his elbows, entirely engrossed in the story. “Why didn’t he just tell his pack it was his wife, whether they liked it or not? I mean, he’s the alpha. He has the final say, and they must respect his decision.”
Alpha Radolph shook his head as Cassian spoke. “No. Forcing them to accept it would be wrong. Sure, as the alpha, they would have to accept his decision, but they wouldn’t have to respect it. Had they been married in a ceremony by the wolves, Asena would’ve been expected to be luna, and how could she? Samara was hunting her, which would put the entire pack at risk. Not to mention, the stress piled on from the way the other wolves would treat her. It wouldn’t be friendly.”
Cassian was the one shaking his head next. “But he’s the alpha. They would respect their alpha enough to treat his mate with kindness.”
“But she wasn’t his mate. She was his love and his wife, but not his mate. Sure, they might treat her okay around him, but when he was gone, the tide would change—you can bet that!”
Alpha Radolph turned to me and said, “I’m sure Emily can relate, being the future luna of your pack.”
Cassian stuck his nose in the air, a haughty expression on his face. “On the contrary, my pack treats Emily respectfully while I’m gone. Right, Emily? Em?”
I sucked in a breath, knowing I’d have to reveal what happened with Sonya. What Alpha Radolph was saying resonated with me, and I understood my parents on a deeper level. Well, really, it was the only level of understanding I’d had so far, but it was something.
“There was an incident yesterday with the educator in training, Sonya.” Cassian’s eyes bore into me, teetering between anger and curiosity, with a little doubt. “She made a few comments, I put her in her place. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Well, what did she say?” he asked.
My eyes scanned the room and the wolves around us, but he was focused solely on me, unconcerned with anyone else. My cheeks heated from the attention, and I cleared my throat.
“Can’t we talk about this later?”
Cassian crossed his arms, his eyebrows raised as he waited expectantly for the answer. No. Of course, we couldn’t wait until later. Stubborn-ass Cassian wouldn’t let it go. Cheery as he was, when you pissed him off, he wouldn’t let it go until he was ready to, no matter what you said.
“Alright, fine. She told me I wasn’t one of you because I was a witch. I told her I’m half-wolf, and she wanted me to prove it by changing, which you know I can’t do.”
Everyone stared, their mouths gaped, eyes wide open. A few even gasped when I mentioned the change.
Cassian’s voice was cold and hard, and I could feel a shiver run through my body, numbing my limbs. “She did what?”
“Don’t worry about it. I put a real scare into her, and I don’t think she’ll be saying anything bad about anyone in the pack.”
Griffin muttered, “That’s my girl.” The corner of my lips curled into a proud smile because I put that girl in her place, and it felt fantastic.
Cassian was suddenly ready to drop it and changed the conversation quickly, much to everyone’s relief. No one had spoken while we had our moment, but I knew they were listening to every word, and it made me uncomfortable.
“So, what happened when you met Asana?” he asked, picking up where we left off and dissipating the tension that had suffocated the room.
“We got along well, and she was kind to us. She had a young blonde girl with her, and she was pregnant with you. During the visit, Koda asked me to take over as alpha until he could find a way to get rid of Samara. He said he’d come back for the position when things had settled down, but he never got the opportunity. Which is a shame, because he was one hell of an alpha.”
“Who was the blonde girl?” I asked, thrown for a loop. It wouldn’t hit me until later that night that the girl in my dream must’ve been the blonde girl Alpha Radolph was talking about.
“I’m not sure. She wouldn’t tell me her name. She was a shy little thing, awfully cute. When she did smile, it would light up the room, but she was afraid. Samara had tormented your family for so long, you could see the tremble in her.”
“That’s what shocks me about the High Council,” Cove said. “They claim that Samara is locked away, never to cause trouble again. Yet, people are still being tormented by her.”
“Which is why we’ll support you in your efforts to end that woman’s reign once and for all,” Alpha Radolph said with enthusiasm. “We’ll get rid of her and end this damned curse!”
He stood from his chair, pounding the table with his fists, chanting, “Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!”
The others joined in, pounding their fists and getting pumped up from his short but effective, speech. I giggled at how they behaved like wolves, and I could see the excitement building in my mates’ eyes at the commotion. If they had tails right then, they’d probably be wagging.
