"The Cousin's Protection"

The next morning brought Tybalt Capulet to Juliana's breakfast table like a storm cloud in an expensive suit. At twenty, her cousin had already earned his place as the pack's primary enforcer through a combination of ruthless efficiency and unwavering loyalty. He was everything the Capulet family wanted in a son—strong, traditional, absolutely devoted to family honor.

"Heard about the engagement," he said without preamble, loading his plate with enough food to feed a small army. "Lorenzo Escalus is solid. Good choice."

Juliana nearly choked on her orange juice. "Good choice for whom?"

"For the pack. For your future. For keeping you safe from wolves who'd use you to hurt us." Tybalt's dark eyes were serious as he studied her face. "You don't look happy about it."

"Would you be happy if Uncle Vincent arranged your mating without asking your opinion?"

"If it was best for the pack? Absolutely." He said it with such conviction that Juliana wondered if he actually believed it or if he was just really good at lying to himself. "Besides, it's different for you."

"How is it different?"

"You're the princess. The future of our bloodline. Your safety matters more than your personal preferences."

The casual dismissal of her autonomy made her wolf snarl with frustration. "My safety, or the pack's political advantages?"

Tybalt's fork paused halfway to his mouth. "Both. They're the same thing, Jules. A strong alliance keeps you protected from enemies who'd love to hurt you to get to us."

"What enemies? We're not at war with anyone."

"We're always at war with someone. Montagues top the list, obviously, but there are plenty of other packs that would see the Capulet princess as a valuable target." His voice carried the grim certainty of someone who'd seen too much violence. "You've been sheltered from the worst of it, but I haven't. I've seen what they do to innocent people."

Juliana set down her juice glass with careful precision. "Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"About the Montagues. About what they've done that's so terrible."

Tybalt's jaw tightened. "You don't need those nightmares in your head."

"I need to understand why everyone hates them so much. Why their very existence justifies arranging my entire life around avoiding them."

For a moment, her cousin looked like he might refuse. Then his shoulders sagged slightly, and she saw past the enforcer mask to the young man who'd spent his childhood protecting her from playground bullies and pack politics alike.

"The Riverside Incident, ten years ago. You were too young to remember." His voice was flat, carefully devoid of emotion. "Montague warriors ambushed a Capulet family during what was supposed to be a neutral territory meeting. Parents and two children, all dead. The youngest was eight years old."

Juliana's blood went cold. "That's horrible."

"They left them there for us to find. Sent a message that nowhere was safe if you carried Capulet blood." Tybalt's hands had curled into fists. "I was the one who had to tell your father what we'd found. I was the one who helped carry those bodies home."

The weight of generational trauma settled over the breakfast table like a suffocating blanket. Juliana tried to reconcile the monster Tybalt described with her romantic fantasies of forbidden love conquering ancient hatred.

"But that was ten years ago. Surely not all Montagues—"

"All Montagues benefit from the fear those murders created. All Montagues choose to carry that legacy instead of denouncing it." Tybalt leaned forward, his voice intense with conviction. "There are no innocent Montagues, Jules. There are only ones who haven't shown their true nature yet."

"So I should marry Lorenzo because he's not a Montague?"

"You should marry Lorenzo because he's a good man who can protect you from wolves like them. Because building alliances is how we prevent more Riverside Incidents." His expression softened. "I know it's not romantic. I know you wanted to choose for yourself. But sometimes the right choice and the easy choice aren't the same thing."

Juliana stared at her cousin, this man who genuinely believed that sacrificing her happiness was a small price to pay for her safety. Who saw the world in such stark terms that political marriage seemed not just reasonable but necessary.

"What if I said I wanted to go to college first? See something of the world before I settle down?"

"I'd say the world is full of wolves who'd love to hurt Vincent Capulet's daughter. I'd say that every day you spend unprotected is a day our enemies could strike." His voice was gentle but implacable. "I'd say that you matter too much to risk on romantic dreams."

"And if I tried to run away?"

Tybalt's smile was fond and absolutely terrifying. "I'd find you before you made it to the airport. I'd bring you home safe. And I'd make sure you never had another chance to put yourself in danger."

The threat was delivered with such love that it took Juliana a moment to recognize it as a threat at all. Tybalt would destroy her freedom to save her life without a moment's hesitation. In his mind, it would be the ultimate act of devotion.

"I need to think about all this," she said carefully.

"Think all you want, but don't think too long. The engagement announcement is in eight days." Tybalt reached across the table and squeezed her hand. "Trust me, Jules. Trust the people who love you enough to make the hard choices."

After he left, Juliana sat alone in the breakfast room, surrounded by the weight of family expectations and ancient hatred. Eight days to accept her gilded cage or figure out how to escape the most loving, protective, suffocating family in supernatural California.

Eight days to decide if she was brave enough to risk everything for the chance to choose her own life.

Eight days to choose between safety and freedom, duty and dreams, love and sacrifice.

The clock on the wall ticked each second away like a countdown to her execution.