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Henry froze. He might have been an alpha, but he was a wolf, and like all beasts of that nature, he had submission built into the core of his being.
“Do you understand the concept of a king, Henry?” Maddox purred the question with dark threat.
“Of course.”
“There’s no ‘of course’ about it. Since your arrival you have spoken to me as if I am a common contemporary, you have argued with me, you have outright disobeyed me, and you have had the gall to become aggressive with me. Any one of those acts would be grounds for severe punishment. As it is, you are no longer my guest. Consider yourself a prisoner who might earn release by fulfilling the original conditions of your contract. You are here for William. Nobody else. Do you understand me?”
Henry made a small yelp that might have passed for agreement.
Will wasn’t waiting for Henry to emerge from Maddox’s rage office, but he was also not, not waiting for him. Henry had seemed to be above everything until the fracas in Candy’s backyard. Then he’d turned out to be just as vulnerable as everybody else when it came to Maddox.
Henry looked a little dazed by the whole thing. His usual hard exterior was still in place, but his stare was not as piercing as usual.
“It’s not fun, is it?”
“What?”
“Being in trouble with him,” Will gestured toward Maddox’s office with his head.
“I’m not in trouble. Children get in trouble. I’m…”
“You’re fucked,” Will said, succinctly. “Shall I tell you why?”
“Shut up.”
“It’s working,” Will said. “You work. For me. I mean, not in an employer sense. I mean you calm me down. You piss me off, but you make me feel, I don’t know. Safe, or whatever. When you’re not trying to kill my fucking dad.”
Henry let out a growl under his breath. “You’re a cute little asshole, you know that?”
“Yeah,” Will said. “Anyway, get comfy.”
“Nobody holds me prisoner,” Henry growled, making his way toward the fridge. At least this was a fully catered captivity.
“You’re staying!” Lorien entered the kitchen looking generally thrilled. “How wonderful.”
Henry looked at the pair of them and sighed. “It’s very hard to be angry at being held against my will when you two are so happy about it.”
“Don’t worry about Maddox. He’s just obsessed with being king. He can’t help it. He hates it, you know. He never wanted the responsibility. And ever since being crowned he’s been in the most foul mood,” Lorien said.
“To be fair, I did start trying to eat people at the same time, sort of,” Will added.
“Yes, that’s fair. You did do that,” Lorien nodded in agreement as if he’d forgotten about that part.
“I told Maddox you can have fallen food and lab-grown offerings,” Henry said. “There’s not really anything else to feed you, and the hunger rages would have settled on their own over time. It’s just a transition we all have to go through. You don't need me, Will. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re a perfectly normal whelp.”
Will looked taken aback. “That might be the nicest thing anybody has ever said to me.”
“I said it to Maddox too. He wanted me to come anyway. And he drove me to Ivan’s doorstep. It was Maddox who put Ivan in my path,” Henry was frowning. “Anyway.”
At that moment, Maddox’s office door opened. Everybody froze like a series of statues in a kitchen tableau. Nobody wanted to make eye contact. Everybody looked at a different part of the kitchen. Will went with the toaster pastry, that felt natural. Lorien shoved his head into the fridge, even though he didn’t actually eat, and Henry suddenly developed an interest in the way the cabinetry was hinged.
“Will. Come,” Maddox snapped.
Will stuffed the rest of his pastry into his mouth and cast a so long glance at Lorien and Henry.
“Better him than me,” Lorien commented.
“Hm,” Henry replied as they both emerged from their respective plausibly deniable hiding places, closing cupboards and fridge doors and standing about the red splashed concrete kitchen like a couple of awkward urchins. Lorien felt for Henry, who looked almost cowed.
