Chapter Thirteen- The Alpha Who Wasn’t Invited

Seren’s Pov

I was wearing the silver dress.

Della had tied it, with her tongue between her lips as she pulled the ribbons tight at my back. I gasped as I turned to look at my reflection in the mirror. It cascaded down my body, flowing like moonbeams, and the waist was cut low to give a softness. I knew exactly why Rysen had chosen it for me. Although he couldn't have known, I rubbed my hands across my stomach before forcing them down.

I hadn't slept well. I had been holding my breath for three days, and every time Caelum looked at me over the breakfast table I felt my throat tighten. Every time Rysen laughed I wanted to cry. I smiled a lot.

"Wow," Della whispered, her eyes sparkling.

"I look like I'm about to be sick in a flowerpot."

We both laughed. Although it wasn't quite right.

The great hall was buzzing. Long tables filled with roasted meats. Wolves I had never seen up close laughing with their mouths full. Silver ribbons hanging from the ceiling in huge loops. Caelum hadn't liked the idea. Three days after a council decision to hold a feast was inviting trouble. But Rysen had won again. As he always did when he wanted to make people happy.

"When a house holds its breathe for too long it starts to rot." He had said. I had been holding my breath for days.

I was sat in the middle of them, in a large chair at the head of the table. Trying to look like I fit. The gravy smelt like it wanted to kill me. I breathed through my nose and kept my hands in my lap.

"You look pale," Caelum said, his voice low in my ear.

"I'm fine."

"You said that yesterday."

"So did I."

His eyes lingered on mine. He knew I was lying. But he didn't press me, which made it worse. He was waiting for me to be ready.

Rysen leaned over me and snatched a bread roll from Caelum's plate. They bickered softly, not caring that everyone could see them. I loved it. Two babies. Two. Who would be brought up in this madness.

The doors burst open.

Both sides slammed against the stone walls, causing the whole hall to jump. The music stopped mid note. Two hundred wolves froze. Like prey hearing something in the grass.

A tall, burly man stood in the doorway, six warriors fanned out behind him. His dark hair was streaked with silver at the temples. He had a scar running down his left eyebrow. His black coat had a red crest I didn't recognise. He smiled as if he had been invited.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, his voice booming effortlessly. "The roads up north weren't very good."

Caelum stood. I could feel it in the thread. His shoulders tensed and his body turned to ice. "Thorne."

"Hello Caelum," he smiled, widening his grin. "Rysen. You two really are throwing a feast."

"Rysen," he said, all teasing gone. "No. I heard some interesting news and couldn't resist coming. I saw her," he said looking down the head table. Past the twins. His eyes landed on me. "There she is."

My skin prickled. My wolf lifted her head, protectively. Not in fear, but something sharper. My lip curled.

"Alpha Thorne of Redmoor," Caelum said to me, to the hall. Never taking his eyes off him. "Old rival to our father. Lost his position on the northern council the same year we got ours."

"I didn't lose anything," he said politely. "I had patience."

He strode down the centre of the hall, warriors in tow. Not one wolf moved to stop him. This was what scared me. They wanted to. I could see it in their shoulders. But they couldn't. It was their law to be hospitable. An Alpha couldn't be turned away from a feast. And he knew this. He had planned it.

He stopped ten paces away from the table. "I hear Vord territory has found a white wolf. A real one! The species has been extinct for two generations and yet here she is, sitting at your table eating lamb as if it was meant to be."

"She's registered," Caelum said. "Confirmed by council. Her bond is law."

"Yes it is." He smiled. "But what about her heir? Is that law too?"

Ice ran through me.

I hadn't told anyone. Caelum, Rysen or Della. I had hidden it behind my teeth for three days. And yet this random man I had never met before was just blurting it out to two hundred wolves as if it was common knowledge.

I could feel both twins tense. The thread tugged painfully.

"What did you say?" Rysen asked, his voice low.

"Oh don't look at me like that," Thorne said, spreading his arms. "The girl in the healer's cottage hears plenty. She sells a little information for a little money. These houses aren't sound boys. Yours never were."

The healer's girl. The one who had looked back at me. I had seen it in her eyes.

I couldn't breathe. All eyes were on me. Cruel wasn't bad enough. They were hopeful. Two hundred wolves who had been longing for an heir, had found out in the worst way possible that I might be carrying one. I wanted to crawl under the table. I wanted to scream. I wanted to undo the last three days.

"It's mine."

My voice broke. I stood up, pushing my chair back. My hands were flat on the table to keep me upright. "Whatever you paid that little scared girl, it's mine. I get to say it. I get to tell everyone. And you don't get to announce it in here."

His eyebrows rose. For the first time his smile changed. Interest sparked in his eyes. "Brave."

"I'm angry," I said.

"Even better." He stepped forward and my wolf surged. My vision swam with silver. I could hear Caelum growling. I could hear Rysen's chair slam onto the floor. "I came to make you an offer little wolf. Just a courtesy seeing as you're new to our world. The northern packs won't allow a white bloodline in the hands of two brothers who bought their Luna from a gambler. They will take what they can't trust. And I would rather do it gently."

"If you say take one more time in my house," Caelum said, his voice soft but deadly. "I will rip it from your mouth."

"I'm not here to take anything tonight." His eyes remained fixed on me. "I'm here to be seen. So every pack at this table know who stood in here and told you what was coming. In seven days Vord will bring the white wolf and her unborn to the border council at Redmoor for a custody hearing. If not, I will petition the northern packs to declare her a threat to every territory on this side of the mountains. They will listen. They want to."

"Why?" Rysen asked, his voice shaking with the effort to stay still.

"Unregistered bloodline. Unverified fertility. An heir born outside of northern law." He smiled almost kindly. "And a mother who, forgive me, hasn't shifted once before three weeks ago. Who doesn't even know what she is? What she will become?"

He bowed mockingly.

"Have fun at your feast."

His warriors followed him. The doors remained open. Cold night air swept through. No one said a word.

Caelum's hand tightened around mine. I looked up at him. His face was completely blank. No control whatsoever. Just a man who had heard the truth and was terrified.

"Seren," he whispered. "Is it true?"

Rysen stood beside him, his face pale and eyes bright.

Two hundred wolves stared at me.

And I thought of Marguerite's gentle pale eyes. One beat. Then another. The one thing Thorne hadn't got right. Despite his spies and money.

I lifted my chin.

"Yes." I said. "And it's not one."