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He blows out a breath, shaking his head at me again. “Seriously, watch your back. Court isn’t like you’ve seen in the picture books. Not really. Not if you look hard enough.”
Before I can answer him, he’s gone, and I’m left with a hollow pit in my stomach that tells me he’s right. And very perceptive to have already deduced as much on his own in barely a few days.
I’ve gotten to know the predators at my school, but I’m not in Cambridge anymore. I’m starting to understand why Kaz was willing to give me everything I asked for in exchange for this information. As it turns out, this seems to be a bit of a feeding frenzy, and Kaz and his pack are the chum. I’m only just starting to realize what they’ve gotten themselves into, but he’s known all along.
At least he has me now, though. As long as I’m earning my family’s keep, I won’t allow myself to feel guilty about it. If the tables were turned, I’d have given a lot more than that to avoid having to spend my life bound to someone like Rachel.
ELEVEN
—
K A Z
When I walk backinto our quarters after yet another horribly exhausting afternoon, Tai and Wolf are waiting for me at the bar in our rec room. As soon as I enter, I know they’re up to something.
“What is it?” I ask curiously, shrugging out of my jacket and hanging it on the coat rack near the door before locking the damn thing behind me.Screw anyone who wants into these quarters tonight. It’s just not happening.
My packmates exchange a look, and I feel conflicting emotions coming through the bond. There’s excitement, nerves, anticipation, and an incredibly healthy dose of lust mixed with a whole bunch of other stuff I’m too tired to unpack.
“You’ve spoken about the Omegas without me, haven’t you?”
They exchange another look, then Wolf smirks at me. “It kind of happened by accident after I spent time with Maddie yesterday. Tai had her the day before, and you had her today, right? I checked your appointment schedule.”
At the mention of her name, I know what they’ve been up to and exactly what all those emotions they’re feeling are about. My head is shaking before any of us have said another word.
“Absolutely not. She can’t be chosen. You both know her history. Her lack of pedigree. The queen would never allow it. I have no appetite for the chaos that would come of evenmentioningher as a potential candidate.”
“How about tomorrow?” Wolf asks. “Will you have an appetite for it then?”
“No,” I say firmly, striding behind the bar and fixing myself a stiff drink. Two cubes of ice rattle in the crystal tumbler as I drop them in, but they’re soon drowned in the best brandy France has on offer. “When I say chaos, I meanchaos. The kind that could see me disowned.”
“Maybe the monarchy needs a little chaos to come out better in the end,” Tai suggests hopefully. “A little chaos to usher out the old and bring in the new.”
“No, Tai,” I snap. “Think about your parents and how they ended up. Is that what you want for us as well? A life of exile and offspring who feel like they don’t belong? Ican affect real change here.Wecan affect change, but only if we’rehere.If we’re in Her good graces.”
Even as the words come flying out of my mouth, I regret them. I sound…political. Cold.
My words hit a mark they weren’t intended for, though, and Taiyo flushes with anger, his eyes narrowing as he rises off the stool he was sitting on. “Oh, I get it. She’s a commoner, right? That means she’ll never be good enough for you even if we all know you’re as taken by her as we are.”
“Taken?” I scoff. “You fucking scented her once and then had one date with her. Barely an hour spent in her presence and you’re ready to propose?”
“I felt what you felt earlier, man. How do you think we knew you saw her?”
“Wolf checked my schedule,” I say coolly, really trying to remember who I’m talking to here. “He just said it.”
“Fuck off, Kaz,” he snaps. “Wolf checked your schedule, but onlyafterwe both felt it. To make sure our suspicion of who you were with at the time we felt it was right.”
“So, this was a fucking ambush?” I bring the glass to my lips and take a long swallow as my gaze clashes with his. “You were waiting for me so you could, what? Try to convince me to choose someone that you both fuckingknowwe can’t?”
Heat rises up the back of my neck to my cheeks. I exhale sharply, shaking my head again as he keeps glaring at me. “Have you forgotten all the plans we have? The good we want to do for our people?”
“We can do all that without the fucking monarchy,” he hisses. “Ordinary Betas, Omegas, and Alphas who aren’t royal do good every single day. Don’t hang that on me, Kaz. You know how I feel about helping people, but we don’t need the Crown at our backs to do it.”
“Why are we having this argument again?” I set my glass down with a heavy thud on the counter as I glare right back at him. “It’s been a long fucking day and we’ve already talked this topic to death. Ordinary people do a lot of good, but we can do more with the monarchy behind us than any of them ever could.”
“Well, all we need to do is wait for your dear mother to drop dead then, don’t we? As long as she’s alive, the monarchy willneverbe behind us, Kaspian. Meanwhile, we could be letting go of someone who could be perfect for us, who shouldn’t even have been selected, by the way, just because you’re crawled too far up your mother’s royal ass to see Maddie for what she is. Don’t you realize it’s a miracle she made it in? That has to mean something.”
“My mother’s ass may be royal, but it’s also what’s keeping the goddamn roof over our heads. You can’t tell me you want back into exile. Wewillchange the system, Taiyo. This just isn’t the way to do it. How do you not understand that? After everything you’ve been through.”
