Chapter 222

I couldn’t move. The words rang through me, and I was so confused.

All I could hear was Candido telling me this was my birthright. I took deep breaths and tried to focus. I looked over at Bella, who was still huffing and puffing.

Then, I felt Candido’s hand on my head.

“Take it easy,” he said, stroking my head. “You’re probably going to be a bit tired. Come out of the shift when it’s comfortable. I know you’re still getting used to it.”

I pushed my head against his hand, enjoying the way he stroked my head. My heart sang with happiness. His voice was warm and gentle, just like I remembered from before the war.

But when I met his eyes, there was nothing in them. No warmth for me, no feeling. They were just looking at me, and it chilled me. There was a brief flicker of anger and maybe something else in his eyes, but I couldn’t tell what it was exactly.

He stood up, and Bella growled.

“This isn’t fair,” she hissed. “I only did that because Hedy ruined my engagement!”

“Hedy didn’t do anything,” Candido said. “She didn’t know about your ex-fiance’s infidelity. She hadn’t even known we were coming to the event until I brought her there.”

Bella’s eyes went wide. “Y-You…”

“I had your ex-fiance followed and watched out of concern for what fight would come up when Hedy was ready to return to Wolf Fang. Exposing him at that party was the easiest way to make sure it didn’t happen and save the pack turmoil in the long run. Your father may have been a decent alpha, but he was a terrible father.”

“Don’t talk about Daddy that way!”

“He was going to sell Hedy to a man suspected of killing his wives, and you were going to be trapped in a loveless marriage for money,” Candido shook his head. “While I would have interfered in Hedy’s wedding before she came of age, I only interfered in yours for the sake of Hedy’s future.”

Bella burst into tears. Slowly, I started to feel my limbs tingling. I felt tired, and I felt myself shifting back. My fur disappeared, and skin took its place. I tried to stand and swooned. He put a hand on my shoulder to steady me. I was grateful that I had kept my clothing during the shift.

“What should we do with the dead?” Someone asked.

I swallowed. “We’ll… bury them before we leave.”

“Leave?” Someone else asked.

“Candido says we’ll be going to the safe camp. It’s the best option. We’ll leave after everyone is buried.”

No one argued, but everyone started to look around for shovels. No one looked my way to help bury the dead. I looked up at Candido, searching for some sort of approval, a reaction about what I had said, but he didn’t look at me. He left me with someone from Wolf Fang, someone I didn’t recognize before joining the rest of the men heading toward the cemetery area. For a moment, I wondered if my mother was buried there. I clenched my jaw at the thought.

Then, I looked at where Bella had been.

“Where did Bella go?”

The few women who were left behind shook their heads. They had no idea. I turned to look for Candido to ask what I should do, but he was gone.

His words rang through my mind.

You want to pretend to be my equal? You want to stand by my side, then do it.

“Find her,” I said. “I don’t want her getting herself into trouble.”

“Of course, Regent.”

I stiffened at the title, but before I could correct them, they were off. At least the people of Wolf Fang followed orders quickly. I headed towards the cemetery to watch them dig graves and wait for the rest of them to come back when I saw Bella darting back towards the house. I looked around for someone to go after her, but everyone was busy digging graves.

I huffed and went after her. By the time I caught up to where I thought she was, she was back at the house.

“Bella?” I called. “Are you going to come out?”

To be honest, it would have been easier if she had just died in those caves. I knew the rest of Wolf Fang would probably expect me to look after her now that her parents were dead, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t even want to look after Wolf Fang, but if it was going to help make Candido change his mind and really accept me as his mate, then I would use every last person left of Wolf Fang for as long as they were useful.

As I walked, my mind went back to the change in my fur color. There was something else about my shifted form that struck me as odd. I felt… smaller than the last time I had shifted. I tried not to think too much about it. Maybe I was just weaker than usual, or maybe it was just a fluke, and the next time I shifted, I would be a golden wolf like Candido.

I imagined us running side by side. I imagined him protecting me from everything, just like always. I’d have that again soon if I just held on a little longer.

I walked into the house just as the back door slammed open. I sighed and followed the sound of her footsteps out the back door.

She circled around the house and back towards the cemetery where all the bodies had been collected. There weren’t a lot of them, but that didn’t matter.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

She ignored me and kept rifling through their pockets. She tossed empty wallets over her shoulder and took jewelry off the bodies as she went.

“Bella, what are you doing?”

She turned and growled. “Get away from me, Hedy! Haven’t you done enough?”

I lifted my head. “This is an order. Stop.”

She scoffed. “As if I would take an order from you.”

“I’m going to be luna of Full Moon and queen,” I said. “You have to listen to me.”

“I’d rather be stuck in that cell and drained to death than listen to you,” she sneered. “I wish you had just died when Mom started poisoning you.”

She stuffed things in her pocket and then started to head toward the woods again.

Candido headed towards us. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Bella took off running. Candido went after her, calling for others to head her off. Then, she shifted, and a bit of jealousy went through me as I watched her disappear into the woods.

Of course, Bella knew how to shift. I could imagine Lilian and Steven teaching her on those warm afternoons while I was sick from the poison and lying in bed, unable to move. I bet she learned how to keep her clothes during the shift while I was recovering with Candido.

If it weren’t for the poison. If it weren’t for Lilian and her meanness, I could have had that too, and maybe, Candido wouldn’t see me as such a child anymore.

I heard someone scream. It echoed through the woods. I watched the tree line, waiting for someone to show up, and slowly they started to come back. All of them looked sad, but most of them went back to the cemetery.

Candido came back with a dark expression. He stopped on the edge of the tree line.

“Bella fell into the ravine,” he said. “It’s unlikely she’ll survive. I sent a team to search for her body.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.”

Candido looked at me.

“It’s better for her to be gone,” I said. “Whether she’s alive or not… I don’t need the reminder of what they did to me… And it would be hard for me, as luna, to have a connection to someone who is still involved with vampires.”

Candido’s expression didn’t change, but he seemed stiff.

Then, he turned and headed back to the cemetery. “It’s your pack.”

I went after him. “When are we headed to Full Moon?” I asked. “Shouldn’t we be bringing everyone back there? That’s the better place for a safe camp.”

“It’s the first place anyone will look,” Candido said. “We’re leaving after I’ve buried the dead.”

I set my jaw, a little frustrated. I had to make them change their mind so I wouldn’t have to try to keep up with Cillian and Candido on foot all the way to Full Moon.

I sank down onto a rock to watch them work and think. Soon, they had put everyone in the ground. Candido said nothing, and neither did I.

“Regent,” someone said. “Will you bury them?”

“No,” I said, keeping away from the rest of them. “Let’s get this done, so we can head out.”

The people left from Wolf Fang looked uncomfortable, but they did as I said. Then, I turned to Candido.

“We should take a truck.”