C5

ELOWEN WHITLOCK POV

"Please do not be mad at me, Elowen," Isolde Ashbourne says. Her small face gets very sad, and she pulls on Caelan's thick shirt sleeve. "I made a big mistake by coming here last night. I ruined your night with Caelan. Please sit down and eat the alpha eggs with us so I can feel better."

"I do not need your apologies," I say.

I want to laugh out loud because it is so funny. Human girls like me have to work hard every single day, but a pretty wolf girl just has to cry once. She can do anything bad, and everyone still loves her.

Caelan does not look at me at first, but when Isolde speaks, his gold eyes snap to my face.

"Sit down and eat," Caelan says. His voice is very hard, like an Alpha commanding a low pack member.

"Okay," I say. I nod my head and try to smile.

My heart feels totally numb now. I can never say no to Caelan because I loved him the first time I saw his wolf form in the woods. It is too hard to stop loving him.

This is the first time I ever eat food made by Caelan's hands. The wild eggs and meat are just regular food, but they taste very heavy to me. I always thought an Alpha of the Thorncroft Alpha Dominion was too high up to ever stand by a cooking fire. He only does it for her.

"Eat this one, Elowen," Isolde says. She drops a hot egg onto my wooden plate with a big fake smile. "Caelan always cooks this for me when we run in the mountains."

"Thank you," I say.

"Caelan, you promised to run with me in the flower valley today," Isolde says. She turns her bright face to him and giggles. "You cannot break your pack promise to me."

"I will go with you," Caelan says. He eats his meat very neatly, looking like a royal prince. He is always very quiet, but he answers every single word Isolde says.

Lucan Blackmoor just sits across from us and chews his food slowly. He watches us like he is watching a show, but he does not say anything to help me.

I look down at my plate and my eyebrows go close together. The funeral ritual for Alpha Alaric is today. If Caelan leaves the pack lands with Isolde, what will happen to the ceremony at the family house?

Nobody finishes their food because the air feels too heavy. Caelan stands up first and walks up the stone stairs to change his clothes. I leave my fork on the table and follow right behind his big steps.

Inside the bedroom, I shut the heavy door.

"What do you want, human?" Caelan asks. He does not turn around. He just pulls his shirt off, showing his giant wolf shoulders and the scars on his back.

I look at the floor fast so I do not see his body.

"Grandpa Alaric's funeral is starting," I say.

"Go by yourself," Caelan says. I hear the sound of his heavy leather belt buckling up. His voice sounds like he is talking about the weather, not his own bloodline.

"He is your grandfather and the old Alpha!" I say. My face gets hot. He is the first grandson of the Thorncroft Bloodline. If he is not there, the whole pack will whisper bad things.

"Osric Fenwick is managing the ritual lines," Caelan says. He walks toward his big alpha desk room. "Talk to him if you have questions."

"Caelan, stop!" I yell loud. A big wave of sadness hits my chest. "Is everyone in the world trash to you except Isolde? Do your own pack elders and family mean nothing?"

Caelan stops walking. He turns around slowly, and his eyes look like two sharp yellow knives.

"You are just a human bought by my grandfather," Caelan whispers, and his breath is very cold. "You have no right to talk about my pack bloodline."

"I am your wife," I say.

"You are not worthy of this pack," he spits out.

He walks away, and his heavy boots make a loud sound on the floor. I stand there, and I feel like someone threw freezing river water all over my body.

I am not worthy.

Two years of trying to make him like me, and I am still nothing to him.

"I thought you were just fat and stupid, but you are a nosy human too," a mean voice laughs from the doorway.

I look up fast and see Isolde Ashbourne leaning against the wood door frame. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and her face is not sweet anymore. She looks very mean and angry.