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I twist in his grasp, digging my elbow into a pressure point in his forearm as I wring my hand free of his iron grip. He grunts from the sudden pain of my jab, but as I take a step away from him, I'm reminded that we are not alone.
Before Mark can even think twice or try to come after me again, my father is standing in front of me.
One second, Marco was on his throne, and the next, he'd crossed the hall as fast as a flash of lightning. He was so quick I didn't even see him move, but now he looms in front of me, one arm protectively extended as Nico comes to stand by Mark's side in a defensive stance.
"Please, we don't want to fight," Nico says, his eyes darting between Mark, the Night King, and me. I can all but see the gears turning in his head as he tries to figure out how to talk his way out of this mess. "Flower, just come with us. Let Tristan see that you're safe and unharmed. If you want to leave and come back here, I'm sure he won't stop you. But talk to him. Please. Otherwise, he won't stop searching for you. He won't give up on you as easily as you gave up on him."
His words cut deep, but that's precisely what I cannot do.
Because the truth is nothing about this is not easy. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, and I'm afraid that if I go with them and see Tristan, I won't have the strength to do it.
"I can't," I whisper, choking on the word. I don't have it in me to say anything else. Any lies or excuses would feel like shards of glass in my throat. I hate hurting them like this, and I know they don't understand. But if they knew, would they still fight for me? If any of them discovered the truth about what I am, would they still be willing to risk anything for me? Would Tristan risk his own life to be with me?
There is no right answer, and there's no way we're all coming out of this without getting hurt. But at least if I push them away, they will be safe. At least if Tristan hates me, I can't curse him as well.
"You are a long way from home, pup," my father says suddenly to Nico, his cold and commanding voice cutting through the chaos of my thoughts. "Best be on your way."
"We're not going anywhere without her," Mark growls at him, and he steps forward to grab me again, but my father splays his hand across the other man's chest, pushing him back before the Beta can reach me.
Oh shit.
My father's gesture was meant to protect me, but he doesn't know Mark. One shove is all it takes to ignite the anger that's been brewing in him, and his own defenses take over. Mark's wolf form tears out of him, and he shifts in a matter of seconds.
Around us, the crowd shifts, and my blood runs cold as dozens of vampires turn their crimson gaze on the wolf in front of me with a feral hiss. The color drains from Nico's face at the sound, and I nearly stagger back at the sight of all those glistening, elongated fangs.
"Stand down," my father says slowly, and the nightwalkers obey, backing away and parting until a space has been cleared around Marco, the two Rovers, and me.
The clan will not interfere without the king's command. He is standing completely still, an unnatural calm washed over his features, and I suddenly understand why he calls me child. This man is ancient and deadly, more than I could even imagine. He could not save my mother, but he would slaughter kingdoms to keep his daughter.
Mark bares his teeth, hackles raised, and black fur standing on end. Terror holds me in a place like an icy grip, but I have to do something. I need to stop this before they tear each other apart.
'Father, please, don't hurt th—' I try to send a telepathic plea to the Night King, but before I can finish forming the thought, Mark pounces at him.
Everything happens so quickly.
My father moves so fast I can barely see what he's doing until Mark is thrown across the air. He lands on the ground with a yelp, sliding across the marble floor. Nico springs into action, shifting into his own wolf form and lunging in between the Night King and his injured packmate.
But he's so small.
Lucy once joked that Nico looks more like a scrawny fox than a proper wolf. I know he's quick and agile, but it won't be enough. Mark is already struggling to his feet, ears slicked back against his head. But in that moment, in a hall full of old and deadly creatures that would pounce on them in a heartbeat, the two wolves seem so... fragile.
Something buried deep within me snaps.
Marco is my father, but these two stubborn idiots are my family too.
In a single second, a thousand thoughts flash through my mind. The little apologetic smile that Mark reserved only for Amara when she scolded him for his temper. The unyielding loyalty the Beta had towards his Alpha and what that must mean to Tristan. The way Nico's cheeks turned red when Lucy caught him staring at her, or the friendly smile on his face when he called me flower girl for the first time.
I think of the Albion pack and how Ector loved Elaine even after she betrayed him and the fact that she had to stand by and watch while her lover killed her mate. I think of Vanessa Massen dying alone and afraid after giving birth to me, away from the man she loved and abandoned by her own family. Did she see the Goddess's mark over my heart and know that I was damned? Did she fear what kind of monster her hybrid child would become? Or did she love me in that short time we had together?
Feelings and memories flood me faster than I can process them, and they all consolidate into a single thought that consumes me.
There has been enough killing. No one dies today, not because of me.
My father raises his hand to strike Nico, and there is no time for words. A forgotten instinct stirs within me and snaps me into action. I don't even know what I'm doing, but everything sharpens into focus around me.
I see Nico's eyes widen in fear. I see Mark struggle to get back on his feet to come to his rescue. I see my father move without hatred or anger, only cold and unyielding determination to defend at any cost.
But as he pulls his arm back for the blow that would snap Nico like a twig, I find myself standing beside the Night King, yanking back his arm and sinking my teeth into his wrist.
