Chapter 39

Violet

And there it is.

It was almost disappointing how predictable it was. The suspicions and speculations that had been building at the back of my mind all snapped together like a portrait. This visit was never about Theodore.

It was about me. It had likely been about me from the moment that Theodore had decided to announce our engagement the way he had. If Owen was smart or at least cunning, he likely knew that Theodore was supposed to help me with Lucas. He might not know we had a contract, but getting me free of Lucas was required if I was going to be his luna.

He might not have anticipated Theodore picking me up to fulfill his idiot requirement for Shelter, but whoever Theodore had picked up to be his luna, would have been brought here for this very moment all the same.

The only question was why.

I looked over at Theodore whose expression was oddly guarded. I cocked an eyebrow at him. He must have seen the desire to tell him I told you in my eyes because he looked away quickly.

Owen continued on, his voice dripping with malice and arrogance. I didn't look away from Theodore, waiting for him to face me, to own up to it, but he didn't, and that gave me more questions than answers.

What was I missing in all this? Owen’s malice was obvious, but there was something else in Theodore’s reaction.

“This isn't what we agreed on,” he said slowly.

“Agreed on?” Owen asked, his voice rough. “I am the alpha king. There is only what I command and what you will obey. There is no agreement if I say there isn’t one.”

Theodore grit his teeth, and I realized that he still thought this was about Shelter.

I held back a scoff, looking between Owen and Theodore. Owen's insecurity about the throne wasn't because of anything Theodore did or didn’t do. It was about what Owen couldn't control. It was about his inferiority complex.

Owen would have never given up a chance to become alpha king. He also couldn’t have turned an insult into an asset. Theodore, for all of his arrogance, was a skilled and ambitious man. A good man, too. I swallowed. The Shelter Project was really the only thing he could hold over Theodore's head, and now, Theodore’s decision to help me. Just when I thought I couldn't lose any more respect for him as the alpha king.

Revolution never looked so appealing.

On the bright side, Owen was bluffing for the most part. He didn't have the power to outright give Darkmoon to Lucas, not easily and not without consequences he couldn't afford. But the hollow, almost haunted look on Theodore’s face, the way he gripped his silverware, gave me pause.

Fear.

He was afraid, and that was not something I had anticipated. It bothered me. Arrogant, swaggering, even furious Theodore I could handle, but fearful?

I thought of my father. He told me that good men were trouble to anyone in power because they couldn’t be bought, and they could only be controlled by their own goodness. He told me to beware a good man who decides to stop being good.

Was Theodore seeing a time in the future where he would stop being good, or was there something else to that look? A large part of me didn’t want to find out. I placed my hand on his. His attention snapped to me, and our gazes met. His hand shook, but I pressed it still, trying to ground him and tell him that it would all be alright.

“We haven't chosen the cake yet.” His eyes widened. The fear eased, and his hand relaxed a little. “We'll be home soon.”

I looked at Owen.

“We make the stone glow, and we go back to Midnight. No protests, right? And the next time we see each other is at the wedding.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps.”

“Oh, are you going to put us up indefinitely?” I smiled. He flinched. Theodore’s hand twitched in mine. “Just imagine having us across the table every mealtime. I have a lot of uncomfortable questions to ask, and how long do you think before the people of Midnight start aksing questions? The Capital? Half the city saw us enter. I wonder what people will say…”

I beamed and looked off with a dreamy smile.

“Maybe they'll wonder if we're holding the ceremony at the temple the way my parents did, or…”

Owen flushed. “I have no need for you here after I’m certain of your bond.”

“That’s still not a guarantee.”

“I assure you, I will send you off as soon as possible.”

“Good, I still have to pick out flowers.” I gestured vaguely. “Shall we get on with this?”

Owen growled and barked at a nearby steward. “Bring it here.”

His mother looked furious, but that look of disdain on his wife’s face was gone. She was staring at me in outright shock, like she didn’t believe I was real.

She’d probably never seen Owen so helplessly angry. It served him right. The bastard had the nerve to drag us here, insult me, threaten us both, and not expect a fight? He was several years too young to play psychological games with me. I glanced at Theodore again. He looked less fearful, but his face hadn’t regained its color from earlier.

Owen was going to pay for that. I was certain of it.

“Oh,” I said, getting Theodore’s attention. “Do you think we’ll have time to get in contact with a few department stores? Tailors would take a bit too long, I think.”

He blinked. “... for?”

“Clothing,” I said. “Everyone will need something appropriate to wear to the first mating ball.” I smiled at him, watching him become more present here. “I’m thinking that it should be our reception. Two birds one stone. We’ll have a more even group because of all the invitations.”

His lips twitched. “I was… almost certain you weren’t going to plan one just to spite me.”

I scoffed. “There are far more effective ways to spite you. I don’t need to involve the pack members in that.”

He laughed.

Owen's lips curled in disgust. "You're surprisingly obedient, considering what I’ve heard of you. Did Darkmoon ever have a mating ball?"

I clenched my fists, the urge to punch him growing stronger by the second. But I held back, forcing myself to remain calm.

“Several to great success. Didn’t you read the reports?”

He ground his teeth. The steward came back with a box and opened it. I had seen one before, so I could tell by its iridescence that it was real. Interesting. I expected it to be rigged. Owen must have something else planned that was riding on it being true.

“Go on,” Owen said. “Unless you’d rather admit this is all a farce.”

Theodore looked down into the box, hesitant. That look of fear was creeping back into his expression. For moon’s sake, the man had magic. He could make it appear to glow.

I reached in, snatched it out of the box and started the incantation.

“Sacred eye of the Goddess, see…”

Theodore

The sound of her voice and the words yanked me from my thoughts.

How did she know the incantation?

“See into our hearts and illuminate us in your light if we walk the path of your design.”

The stone erupted in a blinding light, a celestial glow that filled the room. Owen sucked in a shocked breath. His mother and wife looked like they would fight. Everyone in the room aside from us, shielded their eyes. She lifted it high over her head.

“Sacred eye of the night, cut through the darkness of our doubts. See us as we are: one and chosen.”

The light turned golden around us, washing through the room and falling over me with a heavy warmth. I slumped back in my seat, dazed in the feeling, the sense of belonging and truth confirming what I had only just started to suspect.

I heard my mother’s voice whisper.

Then, the light started to dim and Violet tossed it back into the box and glared at Owen, her whole body still glowing from the light.

"Happy now?"

I smiled at her dreamily and took her hand. She turned her head to look at me. I lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. The light still lingered in her eyes and I felt it thrumming where our hands were intertwined.

Owen set his jaw and gave a thin smile.

“Well, proper celebrations are in order, I suppose.”

“It’ll have to wait until after our wedding,” Violet said.

“You’ll have to stay at least a few days.”

“I think not,” Violet said. “You have no need for us here. Within an hour is as soon as possible.”

The stone was still glowing. I smiled and tugged her to face me.

“At least the night,” I said. “We could use the rest.”

She hesitated, staring at me, searching my face for something. I smiled. I didn’t really want to stay, but it was too good of a chance to irritate Owen to pass up. She nodded.

“Okay.

Owen lifted a glass to me. “Congratulations, general. I couldn’t be happier.”

He was a terrible liar, but that was the least of my problems. I stood and wrapped an arm around Violet.

“I think we’ll take our leave now.”