“A prince?” Matthyw interrupted.
“Her own damned brother!” Viktor shouted.
Matthyw didn’t bother to hide his grin. Viktor always maintained such a cool demeanor that Matthyw made it a habit of attempting to get under his skin as often as he possibly could.
“This is pathetic,” Matthyw finally said. “You bring down our name, our own pack, because of your pride. The humans try to grow stronger by using us to do so, and you do nothing about it. You’re willing to marry her off — to whom? Better me than some sopping child who can’t show her the pleasures of the flesh —“
“Pleasures of the flesh?” Viktor asked through gritted teeth. “My daughter? Have you thought about this before? With her?”
Matthyw said nothing. The truth was, he thought about it too often to admit. He purposefully chose whores with hair like spun moonlight and eyes like the grass. He called out her name during his climax.
Without warning, Viktor reached back and punched Matthyw in the face.
“Don’t you have a wife?” Viktor asked as Matthyw reached up to touch his new injury. “You can’t possibly marry my daughter, not only because I would never allow such a thing, but because you are already married.”
“I can get it annulled,” Matthyw said, examining his fingers. It appeared Viktor managed to cut his lip.
“And how can you do that?” Viktor asked.
“We never consummated the marriage,” Matthyw said.
“You realize annulling your marriage would annul our alliance?” Viktor said. “And that I cannot do. That pack will help us in battle –”
“They only have land,” Matthyw said dismissively.
“Land we might need should the Vrykolakas overrun the academy,” Viktor said. “We need to have a place our pack can go to, and by annulling the marriage, you threaten that. That cannot be undone! Even if you didn’t fuck her when you got married. So…go fuck your wife and make it official.”
“You think I would fuck her? She’s nothing to me. I couldn’t get my cock up even if I wanted to, which I don’t.”
“And you would do so with Adrya?” Viktor asked.
“I don’t think you want to hear all the things I would do to Adrya,” Matthyw said, earning him another punch from Viktor.
Matthyw could have fought back. He could have flipped Viktor onto his back and killed him before Viktor even realized what had hit him. Instead, he took his father’s punishment. He reveled in the throbbing jaw, the pulsing cheek, the blood. He would endure much worse if it meant he got to marry her, if it meant he got to claim her as his.
“Out of here, Matthyw,” Viktor said, his voice filled with exhaustion. “Out of my pack. Out of this bloody school. Do everyone a favor and die on a mission, will you?”
Matthyw said nothing. Instead, he gave Viktor a long look. “Marry her to someone else and you will regret it,” he said.
Viktor’s mouth dropped open. “Did you threaten your Alpha?”
But Matthyw didn’t answer him. Instead, he slowly strolled out of the room. He wasn’t surprised that this was how it turned out, but he had to try.
He would have Adrya, even without Viktor’s blessing, but first, there was something he needed to do.
Freya
I threw up.
I couldn’t help it.
I hadn’t even had that much to eat, but I threw it all up anyway.
I backed up, nearly slipping in the emptied contents of my stomach just to try and get away from the sight. I wanted to yell for help, but I couldn’t seem to find my voice.
Lucy was gone.
Lucy, my only friend, was gone.
Did the wolves know?
I shook my head. That wasn’t what I should be concerned with. At the crux of the matter, Lucy was dead and she was in my room. I had no idea why she was here in the first place. Judging by the positioning of the body, the fact that there was no blood trail to or from the body, her death was made here. In my room. Either someone had grabbed her and done this here, specifically, or they had stumbled upon her in my room by accident and killed her without original intention.
But why?
Why had Lucy been here?
Why my room?
“Help.” The voice that came out of me was small, so small it was pathetic. That was no way to call for help. I tried again. “Help.”
Still no good.
I opened my mouth. My jaw was rigid, like it was going to split in two simply from the movement.
“Help!” This time, my voice was loud. I did it again and again, dropping to my knees. The whole time, I couldn’t take my eyes off of Lucy. I kept blinking, trying to wake myself up because it had to be a dream. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t waking up.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there on my knees, but eventually, someone rushed in. It could have been more than one person. I didn’t actually know.
The only thing that pulled me away from the sight was the captain I noticed before at the dining table, the one who seemed to be popular with the female students. The expression on his face as he noticed the body was shock schooled into neutrality. He was surprised but didn’t want to show it.
He looked as though he had come from dinner. Dark aviators covered his eyes so I couldn’t see what color they were. I couldn’t see if he was concerned or worried. All I could go by was how he used his lips and whether or not there were wrinkles in his brows.
“Hey. Hey.” He gently touched my shoulder.
I flinched, once again snapping out of whatever hypnotic force kept pulling me under.
The man immediately released his hold on me and continued to remain at a distance. “My name is Captain Rainey,” he said. “Jeffrey Rainey, of the Water pack. You’re the new girl, I take it. The human.”
I nodded, still unable to find my voice.
“Hey.” Every time I tried to look at Lucy again, Captain Rainey’s low voice pulled me back to him. “I need you to look at me. I need your help. Can you tell me what happened?”
I recounted all I could, but there wasn’t much to tell. I had gotten back from dinner and found her body like that in my room. No, I hadn’t touched it. I thought I lifted my hands just to show him that that wasn’t the case. No, I didn’t know why Lucy would be in my room. No, Lucy and I weren’t planning on meeting after physical combat. No, I didn’t know who would do something like this.
When he finished his questioning, he looked over my shoulder. I hadn’t realized someone else was in here. I didn’t realize they closed my bedroom door, probably to prevent others who heard my desperate shouts of help to see what had happened.
My stomach turned at the thought.
How could Lucy be dead? Out of everyone here, why her?
Maybe that was a selfish thought. Maybe I should be punished for implying such a thing. But Lucy was sweet, kind, and welcoming. I didn’t think I would have acclimated here if I didn’t have her, guiding me, talking to me, making me feel like I belonged. She was someone I already considered a friend, and, like my mother, she was gone.
“What’s going to happen to her?” I asked the captain.
He pulled his gaze from the body and turned back to me. He positioned himself in front of it, shielding the ghastly sight from my visage. The captain wasn’t an extremely tall man, but I appreciated his attempt at protecting me from the brutality of what happened. The only problem was, I discovered the body. He could hide it all he wanted to. The sight of it would stay etched in my mind like a brand that still burned each time I happened to think about it.