Oaths Expire, Marks Don't

By the time the sun sank behind Black Fir Forest, Keller had come back alone to apologize. He stood with his head bowed, guilt all over his face. I stopped my mother before she could explode and led him into the backyard, far enough from the main house for the pine fence to keep curious ears away. Whatever I had once felt for him, I needed to put it to rest myself.

I had barely pulled the betrothal contract from my pocket, its pages stamped with both packs' seals, when Keller caught my hand and fastened a cold moonstone bracelet around my wrist. He smiled as if this were the most natural thing in the world. "Evelyn, don't be angry. Consider this my peace offering. Give me one more year. I'll replace the bonding gifts, and the whole North will watch you become Blackwood's primary mate."

So this was what he meant by sweet talk. In his mind, I really was that stupid, that docile, the kind of woman who could be made to wait with a trinket.

I took off the bracelet and stared at him. "What are you going to tell the Council this time? Bad moon phases? Another shortage in Blackwood's stores?"

The excuses were laughable. I had covered for him only because I could not let go of the bond we had shared since childhood. When Keller saw my reddened eyes, he sighed and pulled me into his arms. His scent was so familiar that my wolf quieted for one treacherous moment, and a flicker of hope rose inside me.

A second later, he chuckled above my head. "So you know. Fine, I won't hide it. Some things matter more than others. Lydia has nothing left, but you have your family, your territory, and me. Don't hold this against her."

My tears finally spilled over. Our oath was the lesser thing, the thing that could wait. Only Lydia's tears were urgent. Only she mattered.

Keller wiped a tear from the corner of my eye, impatience creeping into his voice. "Lydia feels awful about this. She even picked out the bracelet for you. She's a good person, Evelyn. Stop making this so difficult."

I was about to hand him the betrothal contract when muffled sobbing drifted from the main house. Keller's expression changed instantly. He let go of me and rushed inside. He moved faster than he had ever moved toward me in three years.

Lydia stood in the middle of the sitting room, pale and fragile, wringing her hands as she begged my forgiveness. By the time I walked in, Keller already had an arm wrapped protectively around her waist. My mother let out a cold laugh. "If you want to paw each other, go back to Blackwood territory. Don't leave your scent all over my home."

Keller stiffened. "Mrs. Hall, watch what you say. Lydia and I are like brother and sister. Nothing more."

I nearly laughed. No brother would postpone his own mating for a sister. No brother would hold her in his arms all night at the winter solstice ball. And no brother would favor her so blatantly that his betrothed had to endure three years of gossip.

My mother snatched the betrothal contract from my hand and flung it at Keller's feet. "Take it. The Halls are done with you and your pack. A man this selfish and dishonest doesn't deserve my daughter."

The pages had barely hit the floor when Lydia stepped on them as if she hadn't even seen them, her heel grinding into both packs' seals.

With tears brimming in her eyes, she protested, "Why would you say something so cruel? If the Hall family hadn't demanded so much, Keller wouldn't have struggled year after year to put the gifts together!"

Both packs' elders had agreed on the amount three years earlier. Blackwood could afford it easily, and the Halls had promised control of Neutral Zone trade routes of equal value in return. Yet Lydia twisted Keller's betrayal into proof of our greed.

My mother took one step toward her. Lydia suddenly clutched the side of her neck and collapsed into Keller's arms.

An old wound from a silver trap had never bothered her on an ordinary day, but now she shook as though silver toxin had flooded her veins.

Keller panicked, called her name over and over, and carried her out without a backward glance.

Rainwater and mud from the entry soaked into the ruined contract. My mother looked at me, worried. I lifted my chin and let the last of my love disappear with Keller's retreating back. "Mom, send for the Lunar Council's matchmaker."