Chapter 45

Violet

I waited for him to open the message. His face didn’t give much away, but there was something about the stillness in his posture that told me plenty. Owen was trying to pull out of the deal he’d struck.

“Well?”

“He’ll consider Shelter after you officially become luna of Midnight.”

My shoulder slumped. That… wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected, but it was still a problem.

“Consider? Is that what he said?”

He nodded and I set my jaw. Of course he would only consider it, which meant he wasn’t planning to allow it at all. He was going to dangle it in front of Theodore until he either couldn’t or Theodore gave up.

The petty bastard.

Theodore shrugged, utterly unfazed. “The Luna ceremony will be after we win against Lucas. Plenty of time to perfect the proposal.”

I looked at him, wondering if he really had that much faith in Owen or he had some other plan up his sleeve. I had to believe it was the later because there was no way he believed that Owen wasn’t going to just keep yanking him around.

“Let’s move it up.”

“What?”

“The ceremony. Let’s move it up. We can use the moonstone thing as a catalyst. He won’t think it’s weird and he’d be forced to hurry up and make a decision.”

Outing himself as a liar in the process.

His lips curved into an infuriating smirk. “Eager to be my Luna already?”

“Not even a little,” I snapped, crossing my arms. His smirk faltered. It served him right. “We both know Owen’s going to keep using Shelter—and me—as leverage against you. He wants control, and this is how he’ll get it, and the sooner he’s outed as just out to spite you the better.”

Theodore shrugged, unconcerned. “Let him try.”

“Spoken like someone who isn’t the pawn in his little chess match,” I scoffed. “But fine. Your monkey, your circus. What about the proposal I gave you before we left?”

Theodore waved his hand. “I’m not undermining the efforts of my men. They oversee their families because it’s their responsibility as protectors and providers. It works out just fine. There’s no need for it.”

I was again dumbstruck by what he was saying. He wanted refuge and peace for rogue women of other packs, but the idea that a woman in his pack might want the right to pursue her own education rather than waiting around for a mate to take care of her was met with there’s no need for it?

I set my jaw. Staring at him. I didn’t want to believe that he was so very much like every man I knew. I wanted to believe that he had some plan that he just wasn’t telling me.

Maybe he liked to see me irritated, liked holding something over my head—liked having a plan that I wasn’t privy to.

My gut churned at the thought, and I thought of Lucas. It only pissed me off. I clenched my hands in the skirt of my dress. I took a deep breath, centering myself. I had my own plans to carry out. I didn’t have the time or energy to invest in trying to figure it out.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Violet, don’t just shut down because I don’t agree with you.” I twitched and looked at him. “I can tell this is a sore spot for you, but you have to understand–”

I held up a hand to stop him. “I don’t have to understand anything. Your pack. Your decision.”

I stood to leave, not wanting to even think about it any longer. He reached out and grabbed my arm.

I looked back at him, seeing his eyes filled with light. He really had to learn to control that.

He set his jaw, his hand tightening around my wrist. “Violet, I’m trying to talk to you.”

His voice was dark and heavy, more of a growl with something else behind it. I grew tense, every part of me was on edge, bracing for an attack even though I knew that was unlikely.

“I don’t have anything to add to this conversation.”

“Don’t give me that. Pouting doesn’t suit you.” I set my jaw, and let the words roll off my back. “My power, as great as it is, is built on a carefully balanced network of allegiances. Changing too much will upend it all, and what good will that do anyone? You might not understand it being from a noble pack, but that’s the facts.”

I blinked at him. “Is that all you wanted to say?”

He worked his jaw. “Yes.”

“Then let me go.”

“Why are you—”

I snatched my wrist free of his grip. “I said I had nothing to contribute to this conversation.”

“Violet, stop, and talk to me.”

I looked back at him. “I have nothing to say. It’s your pack, your legacy, your network, not mine.”

“And yet you look like you want to punch me.”

I gave him a thin smile. “It hasn’t crossed my mind yet.”

He licked his lips. Something dark and hungry filled his eyes. Then, he was up on his feet, in my space. The heat between us was palpable, the tension crackling in the air. His gaze locked on mine. He reached out, aiming to grab me. I tried to dodge, but he was just fast enough to wrap his arm around my waist and drag me closer to him. I twisted away from him and out of his arms, leaving him standing there, seemingly confused that I would push him away.

“Stop it. I’ve already told you I’m not sleeping with you no matter how many passes you make.”

He groaned. “For fuck’s sake, we’re mates, Violet. You can’t expect me not to want you.”

I scoffed. “It takes a special kind of con man to buy his own con.”

“It’s not a—”

“We’re not mates, Theodore.” I pursed my lips. “I don’t know why you’re so fixated on trying to sleep with me. There’s all of Midnight and beyond. I think you can manage to be discreet.”

He threw up his hands. “We are mates, Violet. I know Lucas—”

“Lucas has nothing to do with this,” I snapped. “I don’t care if you’re just trying to manipulate me into sleeping with you or think this is some sort of comfort for the state of Midnight, but stop.”

I walked out before he could say another thing. My anger simmered as I stalked to my room, determined to put the conversation—and Theodore—out of my mind for the night at least. We weren’t mates, and even if we were, I wouldn’t want to be tied to anyone who could view the rights of anyone as being less important to whatever power I might have or be after.

Theodore

I snarled, watching the door close behind her, but I knew that if I went after her now, I’d just end up doing something I’d regret. Desire turned my blood molten. I felt on the edge of combusting.

I’m not sleeping with you no matter how many passes you make.

It felt like a knife, just short of a rejection, and my instincts weren’t having it. I left the room, tearing through the house to find Dahlia. She took one look at me and followed me to secret passageway out of the house without saying a word. She started to take down the locks on the door.

“It may be easier to just tell her.”

“She’s not going to believe me.”

She would have to come to the realization on her own, no matter how torturous it was to wait. Violet’s heart hadn’t skipped at all. She didn’t believe we were mates. What good would it do to tell her about this?

“She thinks I’m a sexist prick who doesn’t give a damn about the women in my pack.”

Dahlia made a non-committal sound. I snarled at her.

“Don’t.”

She shrugged.

I shifted as she stepped around me and opened the door, and I took off. I heard the heavy door closing behind me. The woods opened before me, the cool night air slicing through my fur as I ran. I reveled in the freedom, paws pounding against the damp earth, lungs burning with the exertion I so desperately needed. The euphoria of running, hunting, ripping and tearing through the night, through prey, through the cold air was second best to the rush that sex had given me before I met Violet.

I should have known then something was up.

I pushed harder, the world blurring around me, a singular drive overtaking the knot of frustration boiling in my chest. Violet’s words echoed in my mind, cutting through me and every instinct about who we were together. Everything in me wanted to show her, force her to see it, and it was a line I would never cross.

I would never go the path my father went.

I’d rather hunt every elk, deer, and rabbit in the mountains and beyond before harming my mate, before forcing her.

We’re not mates, Theodore

I snarled, fury at her denial burning through me. I caught the scent of a buck. I spun in that direction and went after it hoping that by morning I would have burned off enough of this fury, this desire, and soul-deep need to be coherent.

I really… enjoyed the simple pleasure of sitting with Violet over breakfast.