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What kind of marriage were they supposed to have, when she had no idea who he was, or what type of man he had become? Was nobody concerned with these questions? Or did they just not care enough to ask?
A soft knock sounded on her door, breaking her out of her thoughts. She stopped in her tracks, and turned to the door, angry. The knock came again, just as soft, piercing through her veil of anger.
Only one person would knock so hesitantly. She rushed to the door and opened it, stepping to the side to let Xander in. He stepped in quietly and she shut the door behind him.
“It’s madness, Xander. Madness.” He’d barely sat down before Eleanor tore into him. “They told you? I’m sure they told you. You look like they told you.”
“They did,” he replied quietly, refusing to meet her eyes. “They also mentioned that you didn’t handle the news too well.”
Eleanor laughed a bitter, sarcastic laugh. “Oh, they did, didn’t they? And how should I have handled it, huh? Tell me, Xander. What should I have done? I should have danced jubilantly in circles? Excited about the opportunity to marry a man I barely even know?”
Xander winced visibly but remained silent. She knew he hated confrontations, especially with her, but she was too incensed to care. He was not going to get off so easily by avoiding her.
“Look, I need you to talk some sense into them, Xander,” she continued. “I need you to tell them it’s not possible. You can do that for me, right?Right?”
He turned to look at her for the first time, his eyes heavy with sadness. “I don’t think I can, Eleanor. I’m sorry.”
Eleanor felt red-hot lava surge through her insides and up her throat. She threw her hands in the air. “This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous! You know that, right?”
“I do.” Xander rubbed his temple slowly. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he just shook his head instead.
“Then do something about it!” Eleanor shouted. “This oath was made, what, three hundred years ago? Xander, why are we honoring a three-hundred-year oath? Why me?”
“Can you settle down for a bit? Please?” Xander asked quietly.
She hated how calm he was. She hated how in control he seemed right now. But what did she expect from him? It wasn’t his life that was about to be ruined on the whims of a few old men.
“Eleanor, sit down and listen to me,” Xander repeated when she continued pacing.
She stopped and glared at him, but did as he said. She could feel her heart pounding angrily against her ribcage, threatening to rip out of her chest. She sat down on the bed beside him and tried hard to calm down.
“I don’t think there’s anything we can do about this right now,” he said, holding out a hand to quiet Eleanor, who had started to speak again. “Just listen for one minute, will you? Now, as I said, I don’t think there’s anything we can dofor now, but there may be a way out of this in the long run.”
Eleanor raised a brow suspiciously. “Really? Interesting. And does this plan of yours involve me going ahead to marry your best friend?”
He sighed. “It does, but listen…”
“I’m not interested,” she said, getting up and walking to the window. “Don’t you get it? Don’t you understand? I have no intention of getting married to a man I don’t know! Why is this so difficult for you to understand?”
“Would you just listen to me?” Xander asked. He looked fatigued. She knew he abhorred arguments, especially with her, and she took slim comfort in his discomfort. “I’m on my way to Blake’s to break the news to him in person. I think you should come with me.”
Eleanor looked at him as if he had said the most ridiculous thing in the world. “Are you listening to me at all? You want me to visit a man I’m being forced to marry? Why would I want to do that?”
“Because Blake and I are on the same page about this. We agree with you that this is a ridiculous tradition to uphold. And we have a plan to prevent something like this from happening again. But we need you. I think it would be best if you discussed it with him. I need you to trust me.”
Eleanor bit her lip, thinking of a retort, but finding none. She knew her brother had her best interests in mind. She also knew that she didn’t have a lot of options. She certainly didn’t have any better ideas.
“Sure, what the hell,” she said, walking toward the door. She stopped and turned to look at Xander, who was still sitting on the bed, with a visible expression of relief. “Well, are you coming or not?”
***
Eleanor hadn’t been to Rhinestone in years. She rarely visited the other wolf towns. She could barely stay in hers, the last thing she wanted to do was leave hers and go to another town just like it.
When she was younger, Xander would occasionally take her with him when he went visiting. She hadn’t done that since she was a teenager, and for good reason.
The first thing she noticed was how different Rhinestone was from Deepwood. The buildings were more colorful, and there was something about the atmosphere of the town that she liked. She shuddered, though, when she imagined a life here, married to an alpha.
Xander drove in silence the whole time, keeping his eyes firmly on the road. Eleanor knew he liked this as little as she did, and she felt bad for being so difficult earlier. She made a conscious decision to be a bit more gentle with him. It wasn’t his fault, after all.
