Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning in Dastien’s arms. His cabin was just one big room. The blackout curtains had parted a little bit, letting a sliver of light in. I tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip, and nuzzled his nose against the back of my neck.

“More sleep.” His voice rumbled.

I sighed and closed my eyes. After the run, we’d come back here to eat. That’d always been our plan, except that we hadn’t gone through with the ceremony. It was supposed to be romantic. We were supposed to take the next step, but Dastien didn’t want to do that until after the ceremony. I’d been scared about it, but excited too. Now that was all shot to shit.

As I lay there, my nervous anticipation kicked into overdrive. Tomorrow was the Tribunal. I knew Dastien was worried about it, but I didn’t think the worry I was feeling was his. A lot of it was mine. There was so much more on the line now that we hadn’t cemented our bond.

“How much do you think we should worry about Luciana?”

Dastien growled. “Merde. She’s a pain in the ass.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I saw that.”

“That’s literally impossible. Your eyes are closed and you’re spooning me. You can’t see my face.”

“Fine. I felt you do it.”

“That’s creepy.”

“I’m not creepy. I’m your mate. Remember?”

I rolled my eyes again, and he squeezed me tighter.

“The thing is, Luciana isn’t stupid. She’s conniving. I felt like postponing the ceremony was my only choice, and it wasn’t that big of a deal to—”

Dastien flipped me onto my back. He hovered over me, balanced on his forearms. His eyes were bright yellow. “Not that big of a deal?”

I reached up, cupping his face with my hand. “What are a few more weeks when we have a lifetime ahead of us?”

He sagged down beside me. “I didn’t want to wait. And now we have to fight to be together during the Tribunal. If we’d gone through with it, we’d be together. End of story.” His words were gravelly, thick with the wolf.

I winced. Okay. So it was a big deal. “I know. But she came to fight, and I didn’t want to go there when waiting a few weeks will protect the pack. What could change?”

We were quiet for a second.

“That’s the thing, though. What could change? What is she going to try to do?” I asked.

“She’s going to the Tribunal to make a case stating that I took you from them.”

“Which is kind of true.”

Dastien huffed. “I know. Which is why I wanted to do the ceremony yesterday. You’re pack now, so it’s a bit of a moot point, but she wouldn’t have wanted you to wait if she didn’t have something up her sleeve. I wanted that extra protection.”

I chewed my lip as I thought. “I want to know why she’s doing this.”

“We’ve been over that. She wants you back with the coven.”

“I know. But why?” There had to be a bigger picture, but I wasn’t seeing it. “So she gets me back over there. Then what? Is she really that delusional that she thinks she can convince me to take over? And if she hates wolves so much, why would she even want me? Hello. I go furry and I’d never let her curse me like she did Meredith.”

“She wouldn’t exactly need your permission to curse you.” Dastien cut me off before I could protest. “Okay. If she doesn’t want you to run the coven, then why’s she doing this?”

I backhanded his stomach. “That’s what I’ve been asking.” Damn it. That hurt my hand more than it hurt him. Dastien rubbed his thumb along my skin, soothing the sting. “There’s one more thing I don’t like.”

“Just one more?” He asked.

“When I begged her to save Meredith, she said she’d only help if I stayed at the compound. I didn’t go for it. Even with Meredith’s life on the line. So, what’s she got that’s worse than killing someone I love?”

“Killing lots of someones.”

“War?”

“Yes. War.”

A chill ran through my body, but the question remained the same. “Why, though? I’m not that important.”

Dastien ran his fingers through my hair. He was quiet for a second. “She knows something about you that we don’t. Or she wants to use you somehow.”

He was on to something with that one. “Like what? What could she know? How could she use me?”

“I have no idea, but if she’d risk centuries of peace over this, it’s got to be big.”

I rolled over and pressed my face against his sternum, breathing in his scent. “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For the way things went last night. For not fighting for us.”

He ran his fingers through my hair. “It’s never a good idea to fight when it can be avoided.” He tugged on my hair a little until I looked at him. “But I wished we’d gotten to do the ceremony.”

“Me, too.” I pressed my lips gently to his. “Me, too.”

***

Since I still hadn’t fully moved over to Dastien’s cabin, I made my way back to my room to shower and change. And call my parents. They’d want an update.

Mom was shocked about what’d happened. She didn’t trust Luciana at all. It was the whole reason she’d kept me away from the coven growing up. She made me promise to keep her updated before hanging up.

I plopped down on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

This wasn’t how my day was supposed to be going. It wasn’t like we were going to get a honeymoon or anything. We had to stick around for the Tribunal, but I’d been looking forward to relaxing the day away with Dastien. Instead, he was revising his speech, which I should’ve been working on, too, but I couldn’t. The words weren’t there. How many ways could I say ‘leave me and Dastien the fuck alone’?

I dug through my bedside table until I found my red and blue bouncy ball. I threw it against the wall by my tiny window as I thought.

There had to be something more that I could be doing. This was my fault…well, not exactly my fault, but still. I wanted to fix it. I wanted to make this whole situation with Luciana go away.

When I tried to talk to her rationally about the curse she’d put on Meredith, it’d been a disaster. A complete waste of time.

Damn it. Why had I told my cousins we were doing the ceremony? That was so dumb. They’d been so helpful before, I’d just thought they were my friends. They were my family.

A blur of movement caught my eye before the ball was snatched out of the air. “You’re killing me with this.” Meredith wore a pair of pink camo sleep shorts and a tank, and her hair stuck out all crazy.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Donovan already left, so I was up-ish. Just not physically up.” She sat on my bed. “You’re not doing so hot, huh?”

When I first got here, she’d walked right into my room and made me feel better about everything. It was pretty damned awesome of her to do that for a total stranger. But this time she had her work cut out for her. It felt like I couldn’t catch a break. All I wanted was a little peace. I wanted to enjoy Dastien and my friends. It’d taken me so long to get to where I was—a really good, happy place—that I really resented what was happening.

Meredith nudged her shoulder against mine. “Brunch? I’m feeling like it’s omelet time.”

“I seriously don’t think food is going to fix this.”

She scoffed at me. “A good meal can fix just about anything.”

Werewolves and their food addiction…

My stomach growled. The traitor.

“I’m going to throw on some clothes.” She jumped up from my bed. “I won’t even shower. Give me five.”

“Cool.” I reached my hand out. “Can I have my ball back?”

She narrowed her gaze at me. “Are you going to bounce it against the wall again?”

“No?”

“No. I don’t trust you with it.” She threw the ball in the air and then caught it. “Your bouncy ball privileges have been revoked.”

I pouted. “But I had a really bad birthday.”

She pointed a finger at me. “Don’t give me that face. It’s not going to work.” She closed the bathroom door. “Read one of your steamy romance novels. I’ll be ready in a sec.”

By sec, Meredith definitely meant at least fifteen minutes. It’d been a while since I’d actually had time to sit down and read a book. I scanned my shelves, picked up a random one, and flipped through. The scent of forest and wolf filled my senses. I put my nose to the spine and inhaled.

The books still smelled like Dastien. When I’d first moved in, he’d brought all my stuff. He even made sure to put all my books in order alphabetically by author and separated by genre.

I grabbed a Christine Feehan book, one of her Sea Haven novels. That series was seriously awesome. I got swept away by the sisters that all had special powers. Kind of like the coven.

That got me thinking. If I’d met the coven first, would I have wanted to be part of it? Would I have drunk their Kool-Aid?

I hoped I would’ve been able to see through it, but it was possible that I could’ve been blinded by their powers.

It was dumb to sit around thinking about what-ifs. That hadn’t happened. I was here with the pack, and I liked my life. I doubted the coven could’ve helped me gain control of my powers so fast. I would’ve been stuck on their land, living in their middle-of-nowhere compound—that sounded terrible.

I liked running with the pack. I liked being with Dastien.

No. I loved being with him.

I sighed and tried to focus on the words as I read the first chapter.

I was fully sucked into the story when Meredith popped back into my room. “Ready?”

“Yes. I’m starving, Miss I-said-I’d-be-a-sec-and-meant-half-an-hour.”

“Shut it. Not everyone can be as naturally gorgeous as you.” She laughed at her own joke.

Werewolves were all kinds of hot. Probably because they all were ripped and had naturally healthy skin and hair. They looked like the best versions of themselves at all times. When I first showed up, I’d thought I’d walked onto Mount Olympus. Each Were was a testament to perfection. It was sick. And I was from LA. I was used to people working hard at looking good. But the Weres made it effortless. Tall. Fit. Graceful. My five feet and change couldn’t ever really compete with that, but I didn’t care. I didn’t mind being different. I was used to that.

We chatted about the ins and outs for the watching order of Firefly as we walked to the cafeteria, agreeing that the chronological order, not airing order, was best. The cafeteria was next door to the dorms. I smelled the food before I saw it. Cooks worked at different stations while workers on the line kept heaping more into the trays of prepared food. It was enough to drive my senses crazy. I ignored whoever was in the room and went straight for the buffet. Turned out, I was hungrier than I’d thought.

We made our way around the stations, loading up our trays until they were piled high. When I turned, I found a mostly full cafeteria.

That was weird. Sundays were usually the most laissez-faire time on campus. People slept in and came and went throughout the day. They were my favorite days for that reason. No packed cafeteria.

This Sunday wasn’t my favorite. Not only were there a bunch of new people, but someone in particular caught my eye as I made my way between the large round tables.

Imogene Hoel.

She’d helped her father nearly tear the pack apart a month and a half ago, and she was the whole reason we were having the Tribunal. Sure, I’d attacked her, but she’d gotten in my face. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t tried to kill me in return. If Claudia and Raphael hadn’t stepped in, she might’ve succeeded.

Her father, Rupert Hoel, was still on the run. No one had heard from him since his failed attempt to take over, but that didn’t mean he was gone for good. His wife butted into the whole Luciana thing last night—sponsoring the coven for the Tribunal and at the ceremony—and now his daughter was back from her mandatory leave of absence. That whole family was trouble, and I had a feeling I’d be hearing from Rupert before long.

It was stupid to be blindsided by the sight of Imogene, but I’d totally forgotten that she would be here for the Tribunal. Or maybe I’d been hoping I wouldn’t see her. We’d kind of made peace with each other before she left, but I still didn’t trust her. It was one thing to forgive, but another to forget.

And now she was sitting with Dastien. My Dastien. Her hand was on his arm.

“Calm down,” Meredith said. “No need to rip her throat out again. We all know Dastien’s yours.”

I took a breath. “Yeah, but does she know that?”

“She’d be dumb to not know that now.”

Meredith was right. I’d forgiven her, so I needed to stick by that. The only reason she was bugging me was because I hadn’t seen her since she left, and her parents were trying to make my life miserable. This was not the time to act like a jealous girlfriend. Even if I kind of was one.

Dastien looked up, and his glowing eyes met mine. He scooted away from Imogene. I don’t like what you’re feeling right now.

“Me neither,” I muttered to myself. Jealousy sucked. It made me feel petty and weak and insecure. I didn’t like it one bit.

There’s nothing to be jealous of. You’re my mate. It’s not a secret.

Sorry. I started toward him. I’m feeling a little unsettled after last night, and she’s not bringing out the best in me.

Dastien pushed out the chair next to him. As soon as I sat, he brushed his lips against mine. “I was going to come get you in a few if you didn’t show up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He held up his phone. “You barely made it.” The countdown had less than a minute on it.

“Why the time limit?”

He sat back in his chair. “You wouldn’t eat on our run again. You’re still going too long between meals.”

Ripping into a live, fur-covered Bambi wasn’t something I wanted to do, no matter how natural everyone else thought it was.

I kissed his cheek. “Thanks.”

Meredith plopped down next to me. “Hey, Imogene.”

“Hey.” She drew out the word a little too long for it to be mistaken as anything nice. “Well, I’m going to get going. Good to see you Dastien.” She put her hand on his arm again and squeezed. I wanted to rip her hand off her body.

I shoved a giant bite of omelet in my mouth to keep from talking to her.

“See you, Tessa.”

“Mmm-hmm,” I said around my bite.

Dastien leaned back in his chair. “You’re kind of adorable when you’re jealous.”

My cheeks heated. Shut up, I said through the bond. I glanced over to Meredith, who was nodding and staring off into space. “How’s Donovan?” I said when I was done chewing.

She jumped a little in her seat. “Oh. He’s fine. He’s on his way. Sorry, was I doing it again?”

“Yeah, but I’m just as bad.”

“He wants to talk to you two.”

I dropped my fork. I didn’t like the sound of that. “Anything bad?”

“He didn’t say.”

Perfect. The way the last twenty-four hours had been going, chances were on a scale from one to ten the news ranked somewhere around fifteen, a.k.a. mega-terrible. I just knew I wasn’t going to like whatever he had to say.

Before I could worry too much, Donovan appeared at the table and settled into the chair next to Meredith. He didn’t say hello. Instead, he put his arm around her, drawing her close. “How’re you two doin’ today? Feeling okay?”

Dastien stiffened beside me, and I put a hand on his leg. “We’re going to be okay, provided that we don’t have the same problem next month.”

Donovan sighed. “I can’t promise anything. What I can say is that Luciana’s up to something.”

I clasped a hand against my chest. “No! You don’t say?”

The side of his mouth tilted up. “All right. I get it. But I want you to be prepared for what may come. Don’t be afraid of fighting for what you want.”

I met his gaze and couldn’t look away. “Even if it puts other people in danger?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head. No way. “That’s too selfish. I don’t know that I could do that.”

The only sign that Donovan was pissed was the sudden glow in his blue eyes. “Fine. Don’t completely ignore the good of others, but don’t be a martyr either. I’ve seen that look in Luciana’s eyes before. Seen it in others, too. I know this is going to come down to a fight. It’s just a matter of how big.”

I broke his gaze. Not because it was too intense, but because I was confused. How was I supposed to know what move to make when he was contradicting himself? What was right? “You really think it’s going to be a fight no matter what?”

He settled back in his chair. “There’s a delicate balance between us supernaturals. Any one gets too big for their britches and it’s bad for the lot of us. Last time it was us who were in the wrong. We wanted too much control. Too much power. An evil wolf came to rule all the packs, and it went downhill from there.”

“What about the Seven? Didn’t they do anything about it?”

“That’s exactly why the Seven were formed. One person can’t know everything. One person shouldn’t be able to make a choice for a whole. It’s the individual that can be corrupted, but by conducting open discussions between equals, we can decide what’s best for all packs.” He blew out a breath. “It works better this way. Trust me.”

That sparked something. “Mr. Hoel wanted to do away with the Seven.”

“That’s right. And I’ll not be surprised if he’s working with this local coven.”

More fantastic news. “So worst case, we fight with my coven and whoever is still backing the Ass-Hoel. Some stand against us. Some don’t. That’s that.”

“Not quite. You see, we did some bad things to the witches before. We attack one group, they’ll all come calling. And they won’t be thinking rationally. We’re sending messages. Some will believe us. Some won’t.” He paused. “One fight, one little misstep, and the balance will be thrown off.”

This sounded way more tenuous than I’d thought. “You say not to give up and be selfish, but how am I supposed to do that and keep it from being a fight?”

“I’m not sure there’s a way.”

Great. Let me work up a miracle. “I thought you were supposed to be in the all great and powerful Seven. Don’t you have a plan? Shouldn’t you…I don’t know…figure something out?”

“Ehm. Well. We’re trying, but a lot now rides on the results of the Tribunal. We’re talking to our contacts and gathering some witches to our side to counter whatever Luciana has planned, so don’t worry too much. More importantly, have you written your speech for the Tribunal? Thought about what you want to say?”

I wish I had it done, but that just wasn’t the case. “I’ve got a few points, but I’m having writer’s block.” Dastien squeezed my hand, and I appreciated the support, but I needed to stop procrastinating. Not doing it wasn’t going to make the Tribunal go away. It was only going to make me unprepared. “You know, you supernaturals are really making it hard for a girl to enjoy her life. All these fights and battles and coups.”

“It usually isn’t like this,” Meredith said.

“Yeah. That’s why you have the Cazadores. Because everything is usually sunshine and rainbows.” The ‘hunters’ took out all the bad supes that preyed on humans—they wouldn’t exist if they weren’t needed.

“Eat,” Dastien said. “I can help you prep. We’ll come up with something to make sure we’re together.”

I hoped so. Going back to the coven’s compound was not something I ever wanted to do, but Donovan didn’t have a clue how I was going to avoid that without a fight. And fighting wasn’t an option. At least not yet, it wasn’t.

I dug into my omelet, wishing that Meredith had it right and food could fix things.

If only it were that easy.