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This was what his choices did. This was what he caused by removing me as heir. Suddenly, I wasn’t as desirable as he believed me to be. I was another bitch who would eventually go into heat. And since I couldn’t train, I wouldn’t even be able to contribute to my pack should the need arise for me to defend it.
“I…see,” my father said. “Well, my daughter is nineteen and –”
“Stripped of her pack,” Marcus said, setting down his goblet. Another servant came by and began to set food down on the surface of the dining table. The roasted brussel sprouts sprinkled with bits of bacon caused my mouth to salivate, but I resisted pouring them onto my plate. “I only took this meeting as a favor to you, sir, because the Fire Pack is still one of the Four. However, you should know that no one is going to want to marry your daughter withoutsomething. She isn’t in line to inherit anything, and she certainly can’t fight, judging by the softness of her hands, her unblemished face. What good is she as a Consort besides birthing babes?” Marcus leaned forward. “Why sell her to an Alpha instead of searching for a Consort as was originally planned?”
“Even if I told you,” my father said slowly, a warning in his tone, “and, quite frankly, it’s none of your business, but if she were to inherit, you wouldn’t be able to mate with her ans retain your Alpha duties of your own pack. This way, you get my daughter and her Fire blood as well as your position among your pack.”
“My position isn’t going to help my pack the way you believe it will,” Marcus said. “I have three younger brothers, all of whom could have inherited the title without question should I have been her Consort. That would be much more beneficial to my pack than what’s being offered now. I can find a Consort anywhere, one that can contribute to my pack more than bearing my babes. Perhaps that’s important for your pack, but considering how small mine is, we can’t think that way. We need expansion, not more mouths to feed, and the only way to do that is to make an advantageous match. And, unfortunately sir, your daughter isn’t advantageous any longer.”
“How dare you –”
“It is the truth,” Marcus said. “Unfortunately.” He glanced over at me. “You are quite beautiful, even more than the songs say you are. But what good is beauty when the Vrykolakas threaten the villages and force the humans and the wolves to come up with this atrocious Marriage Law at all? I will not marry her, Alpha. I can’t.” He looked at me again. “I hope you understand.”
“I do,” I said.
Because I did.
Marcus looked back at my father. “If there’s anyone who would marry her as she is, I would allow it,” he said. “Because rumors are already spreading. No one understands why you would strip her of her legacy without –”
“Because I am to be married,” my father said, interrupting him. “And I plan to produce an heir – a male heir. You speak of benefitting my pack, and this is my way to do it. You cast your judgment on my daughter when the only thing she has done wrong was being born the wrong sex. Will you truly cast her out if I have a son?”
Marcus’s eyes went wide. “Of course not,” he said. “No one realized you would be marrying again –”
“As you said,” my father said, his voice quieting the second he realized Marcus wasn’t going to continue to reject him, “the Marriage Law affects us all.”
Marcus looked back at me. “If that’s the case, then your daughter as my Consort –”
“Will never happen, you fucking Obsidian cunt.”
My eyes widened at Matthyw’s familiar drawl. And there he was, at the doorway. Taskier muttered something under his breath and poured himself another glass of wine. Matthyw’s eyes were narrowed on Marcus, lips contorted into a scowl.
“You’re sitting in my seat,” he said. “Fuck off before I kill you.”
Marcus swiveled to my father. “Is this some sort of a joke?”
“Absolutely not,” my father said, standing. “Matthyw, what are you –”
“Adrya.” Matthyw’s voice was the only one who had yet to yell. His eyes were on me and me alone. “I need to speak with you. Immediately.”
Kazu
Kazu wasn’t the type to eat in the dining room if he could help it. He grabbed his food and went to the training grounds so he could eat in silence. He didn’t want to deal with the students staring at him or asking him questions about his missions and his legendary status. Some would sit and stare at him while others would spew rumors about his own pack, his family, his lack of a mate, his lack of continuing his own legacy. Part of him wished he could just leave the pack, could go out on his own as some kind of mercenary lone wolf so he wouldn’t have to deal with it, but he was still here. Still loyal. Still tied to these packs, to this academy.
But today, something inspired him to eat in the dining room, despite all the reasons not to — and there were plenty of those.
He glanced exactly at the source of that inspiration — a pink-haired Elite wolf sitting across a table from his colleague.
What the fuck was going on here?
Kazu narrowed his eyes, bringing an apple to his mouth and taking a bite out of it. He dropped his tray nearby, not even noticing two young girls already occupied this table. The second he sat down, they looked at each other and scooted closer together, their faces pink.
Kazu ignored them. He took another bite of his apple, cocking his head to the side, hoping his ears might pick up their conversation.
“…what is he doing here?”
“Why is he eating at our table?”
“Mina, you’re drooling.”
