Page 13 of Fated to be Enemies

Mathis’s eyes narrowed on me. He balled his hands into fists, and he shook with barely contained rage. It took everything I had to not smile. “They are within my House. I make the rules?—”

“Your authority does not supersede the treaty of all Houses, Mathis. Unless you think yourself above all other Houses?” Muffled dissent drifted through the throng. Whispers of bedlam and grumbles of disapproval. His eyes shifted back and forth, searching the faces as his guests whispered into each other’s ears. Heat crept up his neck. He was backed into a corner, and he was being judged. Mathis’s gaze made it back to me, and I winked, mouthing, “So sad” before I imitated his earlier frown.

“Get out,” he said softly, though his voice warbled with anger.

“Alpha?” a soldier asked, clearly unsure of what to do.

He spun on his heel, whirling toward Markus and Dannika. “Get. Out,” he repeated, louder than before. “You are banished from this House. You have no pack. No protection.”

Markus stepped forward; hands outstretched in a calm gesture of surrender. “Father?—”

“No. You had your chance, and you disappointed me. You’re just like your mother,” he spat. “Weak. Emotional.” He shook his head in disgust, backing away. He looked at the crowd, raising his voice. “Dannika Kresley and Markus Del Reyes are no longer part of the House of Fire and Fluorite, which means they have no place here. Take their fluorite rings and see them out. Now.”

Facing his son, he managed final words through clenched teeth. “You fuck her or kill her. I don’t care which. Then, and only then, will you be allowed back here.” He turned and stormed into the crowd, pushing several people aside as his soldiers followed him.

Leave it up to Mathis to overreact. Disowning his son and removing both him and Dannika from their pack and their House was a dick move in any playbook. The punishment didn’t fit the crime in the slightest. Supes without a House didn’t survive. They had a week, maybe two, before they’d be killed. Houses were your safeguard. Without them, the world was lawless.

I preferred to sit back and watch the reactions of the various House members. Listen to the hisses of outrage. Staying quiet allowed me to learn. Knowledge was power, and power was what was needed to stay on top of the food chain.

But I couldn’t take my eyes off Dannika as she remained in her spot, dumbfounded by the events of the night. Her sister ran to her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her body. Nova jumped between her and Markus, giving him the stink eye and a low growl, but he didn’t move, equally as stunned.

Shade, Mathis’s second, appeared from the sidelines. “You have an hour to collect your things and leave pack lands.” He shoved Markus on the shoulder, urging him forward.

Adora whispered something to Danni, then she nodded her head, moving along solemnly. As she passed me, her expression changed. It went hard. For a brief moment, she stopped. Pinning me with a glare, she huffed loudly through her nose, then headed toward the exit, with Shade following them.

I found it somewhat amusing. In all of this, she found my interference to be worthy of her ire.

Ysa elbowed me. “You said you wanted to leave early. Now would be a good time for that,” she said quietly, surveying the wandering eyes that kept landing on me.

I hummed in response, and she groaned, dropping her chin to her chest. “What was that for?” I asked.

“I know what that hum means. ‘Mm-hmm.’”

“What do you mean, ‘you know what it means’? All I did was hum.”

She frowned, twisting her lips. “We’re not going home, are we?”

A small smile curled up the side of my lips. “This is why you’re my second, Ysabeau.”

“Yay for me,” she mumbled, then sighed. “I’d ask if we were going to follow the banished shifters, but I already know the answer.”

“Only one. Her. I couldn’t care less about the boy.”

Off in the distance, Mathis was surrounded by House leaders and arguing with members of his own House. Scanning the north wall, I located a door that led to the staircase. Glancing at Ysa, I tilted my head toward the exit. “After you.”

CHAPTER 5

Dannika

Exiled.

Houseless.

Banished.

Packless.

Homeless.

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