2

Peace could wait

Anne

The stranger and I stood staring at the bathroom door as the moans grew louder and more intense. Someone inside was engaging in “diplomatic relations” with far too much enthusiasm.

The stranger cleared his throat.

“Maybe we should look for another bathroom.”

I thought about the layout of the Alpha’s house as I remembered it and shook my head.

“There isn’t another one nearby.”

A sharp knock rattled the door.

Then came a woman’s gasp so exaggerated it would have deserved applause, a standing ovation, and perhaps medical attention.

I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter.

The stranger closed his eyes for a moment, but his shoulders shook.

“Don’t laugh,” I whispered.

“I’m not laughing.”

“Your face is lying through its teeth!”

That made him let out a brief burst of laughter. One of those laughs that entered through your ears and settled in places where they weren’t invited.

My body responded with an unwelcome flush of heat.

Great.

My dress was torn, I had someone else’s cloak draped over my shoulders, and I was flirting in front of a bathroom occupied by two people who seemed to be trying to tear down a wall using reproductive methods.

My stepmother would be so proud.

“I’m sorry about this,” I said, embarrassed. “On behalf of Willow Creek. We usually lock the animals up during diplomatic ceremonies.”

The corners of his lips turned up.

“In Ravenshade, we prefer to let them roam free. It’s easier to know where they are.”

He’s not only handsome, he’s witty too, Nina said admiringly.

I ignored her immediately.

“A sensible policy.”

Another moan echoed through the wood, but this time it was accompanied by a man’s voice.

“That’s it, baby. Don’t stop.”

Everything inside me froze.

I knew that voice perfectly.

I’d heard it for almost three years, telling me that he loved me. Promising that someday he’d stop hiding our relationship from the more conservative members of his family. Assuring me that he didn’t care about the comments about my body.

I’d heard it that very morning when Garret told me he’d arrive early to support me.

The stranger turned his head toward me, and his expression changed when he saw me.

“What’s going on?” I asked with genuine concern, but I couldn’t answer.

I raised a hand to signal for silence.

Maybe I’d heard wrong.

Maybe another man had the same nasal voice as my boyfriend when he was aroused.

Maybe the universe wasn’t that vulgar.

“You’re perfect, Nicole,” Garret gasped from inside. “So much better than her.”

The universe was vulgar, had terrible taste, and had just kicked me in the stomach with the force of a megaton, completely shattering me.

I don’t remember deciding to move.

One second I was frozen in place, and the next, I flung open the bathroom door so hard it slammed against the wall.

The smell of sweet perfume, sweat, and betrayal hit me before I even saw him.

Garret was leaning against the sink with his pants unbuttoned. Nicole was kneeling in front of him, her blue dress hiked up over her thighs and one hand still clutching his belt.

They both looked at me.

Nicole was the first to react. She stepped back and covered her mouth as if that could erase what she’d just done.

It took Garret longer to come to terms with the reality of the situation. Much longer.

He’d never been known for his quick wit, to be honest.

“Anne,” he said finally.

I squeezed the cape pin between my fingers.

“What a relief!” I replied sarcastically. “For a moment there, I thought you’d forgotten my name.”

Garret buttoned his pants with clumsy movements.

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

I looked at Nicole, looked at her knees, and then looked at Garret’s position.

“Then I need a creative explanation. Because it looks like my cousin was looking for a coin and you decided to tuck it inside your pants,” I snapped angrily.

Nicole jumped to her feet.

“You have no right to barge in like that!”

I stared at her.

Indignation rose from my stomach to my throat, burning and thick.

“I have no right?”

“It was a private moment.”

“You used the guest bathroom during a peace-making session to make out with my boyfriend. Privacy left the building before your dignity did.”

Nicole’s face turned red.

Garret took a step toward me.

“Anne, calm down.”

There he was.

The favorite phrase of men who had just caused a catastrophe and believed that the real problem was the volume of the woman who had discovered it.

I told you he was an idiot, but you didn’t listen to me, Nina said angrily.

“I’m calm,” I said in a deadly voice.

“You’re yelling.”

“Not yet.”

My voice came out low, too low, and Garret noticed, which is why he took half a step back.

“We can talk about this later.”

“Later what? Dessert? The treaty? Nicole rinsing her mouth out?”

“Anne!” my cousin exclaimed.

“Don’t use that tone with me. I have knives sharper than your excuses, and I know exactly where they are,” I snapped fiercely.

To my surprise, the stranger was still standing in the hallway.

He hadn’t come in.

He hadn’t tried to intervene.

He remained on the other side of the door, his body partially blocking the hallway, giving me space to handle the situation without turning it into a public spectacle.

I was more grateful for his presence than I could admit.

Garret tried to approach me again.

“It was a mistake.”

“Did you trip and fall right into her mouth?” I asked sarcastically.

“Don’t be vulgar!” Garret said angrily.

I laughed.

Not because anything was funny.

I laughed because, if I hadn’t, I might have ripped the sink off the wall and used the plumbing to declare a different kind of war.

“You were half-naked in a public restroom, and I’m the vulgar one.”

“You’re blowing this out of proportion.”

His words cut right through me.

For months, I’d ignored the signs Garret was hiding. Canceled dinners. Comments that I should dress more modestly. Smiles he’d give Nicole when he thought I wasn’t looking.

I’d chosen to believe him because I loved him.

And discovering that my trust had been used like a cheap napkin hurt more than the infidelity itself.

You just believed in love, Nina said solemnly.

I clenched my fists tightly.

“Since when?” I asked. Garret looked at Nicole, and that gesture was enough. “How long have you two been together?”

“A few weeks,” Nicole replied.

Garret closed his eyes.

“Months,” he corrected.

I felt something snap inside me.

“How many months?”

“Anne…”

“How many months?” I repeated angrily.

“Six.”

Six months.

Six months during which I’d cooked him dinner. Six months listening to his advice on how I should dress so as not to draw too much attention. Six months believing that his distance was due to his family obligations.

Nicole crossed her arms.

“You can’t blame him for seeking what you didn’t give him.”

“Self-respect?” I asked sarcastically.

“Passion.”

“Sure,” I said with feigned calm. “I should have guessed he was looking for something small and easy to hide.”

She opened her mouth, but hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.

My stepmother appeared first, then my father.

When they saw us, they both stopped short.

My stepmother looked at Nicole’s disheveled clothes, then at Garret’s face, and then at me.

She didn’t ask if I was okay, didn’t come closer, and didn’t seem surprised.

She just closed the door.

“What did you do?” she asked me.

For a second, I thought she was talking to Nicole.

Then I realized she was talking to me.

“I opened a door.”

“You’re causing a scene.”

“No. The scene was already happening. I just turned on the lights.”

My father pointed down the hallway.

“Keep your voice down. The court officials are nearby.”

“Garret was cheating on me with Nicole.”

My stepmother looked at my cousin.

“Is that true?”

Nicole lowered her eyes.

“We fell in love,” she whispered.

“They fell in love,” I repeated. “How romantic! Will your next date be in the pantry, or would you prefer something more intimate, like my bed?”

“Anne, that’s enougde!” my father ordered.

“Enough?”

“Garret made a mistake. You can’t let this affect the treaty.”

I looked at him as if I didn’t recognize him.

“How exactly does my boyfriend using my cousin for entertainment jeopardize the peace?”

“Garret is the Beta’s son,” my stepmother said. “His family is important to Willow Creek. If you humiliate him tonight, you’ll create a political conflict.”

“He humiliated me!”

“No one knows that yet.”

That sentence hurt me more than all the others.

My father approached me.

“Go back to the kitchen. Finish the catering. We’ll talk calmly tomorrow.”

“You want me to go back to serving you food?” I asked in disbelief.

“It’s your responsibility.”

“My responsibility was to prepare a dinner. Not to protect the reputation of the man who cheated on me.”

“Think of the family,” said my stepmother.

I looked at her.

I had spent my whole life thinking about my family.

I had worked for free at their celebrations. I had accepted their criticism. I had toned down my voice, my clothes, and my expectations so as not to make them uncomfortable.

And when I finally needed them to think about me, they told me to go back to the kitchen.

Something inside me stopped pleading.

Get away from them; they’re not good for you, Nina said without hesitation.

“No.”

My father’s face hardened.

“What did you say?”

“I said no.”

A few guards appeared at the end of the hallway, drawn by the voices.

The stranger moved.

He didn’t draw a weapon; he didn’t growl. In fact, he didn’t do anything dramatic.

He simply took his place in the center of the hallway, tall, motionless, and radiating an authority that needed no introduction.

The guards stopped.

“The young lady needs privacy,” he said.

“This is a Willow Creek matter,” replied one of the guards.

“The door remains closed,” the stranger said firmly.

His voice didn’t rise, but it didn’t need to.

My stepmother grabbed my arm.

“Anne, get yourself together and get back to work.”

I pulled away.

“Don’t touch me! You’re not my mother,” I snapped, and her expression filled with offense, as if I’d just betrayed her.

Garret spoke from behind me.

“Anne, we can work this out.”

I turned to look at him with disgust.

He still believed I’d come back.

Because I’d always come back.

Because I’d been taught that love meant putting up with it until the other person got tired of hurting me.

“Yes,” I replied. “I’ll fix it.”

Garret sighed with relief.

So did my stepmother.

I took off the stranger’s cloak, but he shook his head.

“Keep it,” the man said, and I nodded.

Then I adjusted the pin on my chest.

I no longer cared about the torn dress.

There were far more important things that were about to fall apart.

I stepped out into the hallway.

The stranger stepped aside to let me pass.

His gray eyes scanned my face with silent concern.

“Are you all right?” he asked carefully.

“No.”

It was the first honest answer I’d given in years.

I looked toward the living room where everyone was celebrating peace, drinking my wine, and eating the food I had prepared.

Then I looked at Garret.

“But I will be.”

And as I walked toward the party, I realized I wasn’t going back to the kitchen.

I was going to end it right there in front of everyone.