3

Cake, slaps and diplomatic crimes

Anne

I entered the ballroom with the stranger’s black cloak covering my torn dress and a composure so fake it deserved an award.

Hundreds of guests were toasting under crystal chandeliers. The representatives from Willow Creek occupied one side of the ballroom and those from Ravenshade the other, as if a long table and a treaty could erase generations of bites, ambushes, and territorial disputes.

In the center stood my great masterpiece.

A five-tiered cake covered in white frosting, sugar flowers, and two sculpted wolves bowing their heads over a golden bridge.

It had taken me four days to finish it.

At that moment, I didn’t think about the others; I just thought that my creation could also serve as a blunt weapon.

“Anne,” my stepmother whispered behind me. “Go back to the kitchen.”

I ignored her and kept walking.

Garret emerged from the hallway with wet lips, disheveled hair, and the audacity of a man who still believed he could explain it all.

Nicole appeared a few steps behind him. She’d touched up her makeup, but not the cloying scent of her perfume or the guilt that was written all over her face.

My father caught up with me and grabbed my elbow.

“Don’t take another step,” he ordered, and I yanked myself free.

My action caused silence to spread throughout the room as quickly as a fire spreads.

“If you make a scene,” my father muttered, “you’ll no longer be part of this family.”

I looked at him seriously.

For twenty-seven years, being part of my family had meant working without recognition, putting up with comments about my body, and apologizing every time I took up too much space. Even so, a small part of me had always hoped that one day they would appreciate me.

They’ll never appreciate you, Nina said angrily.

And in that exact moment, I saw what she always meant.

“Then spare me the paperwork,” I replied firmly. “Consider me officially disowned.”

My stepmother clutched her chest.

“Anne.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to claim the family tableware. It has too many flowers on it.”

Several people stifled their laughter.

I walked over to the head table.

The Alpha of Willow Creek stood up, confused.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” I said. “I need to make a small correction to the program, if you’ll excuse me.”

Garret came up beside me and tried to take my hand.

“Anne, don’t do this,” he pleaded.

I pulled my fingers away before he could touch me.

“Don’t do what? Interrupt your second dinner of the night?”

Someone burst out laughing, and Garret turned pale.

“You’re upset.”

“I found you with your pants down and my cousin on her knees. I think I’m reacting with admirable restraint,” I snapped without holding back.

A murmur rippled through the room.

Nicole approached; her face flushed.

“You don’t have to humiliate us in front of everyone!”

I looked at her slowly.

“You chose a bathroom right next to the reception hall. You didn’t seem concerned about discretion when you were moaning with pleasure.”

Garret’s mother stood up from her seat.

“This needs to be settled in private,” she said sternly.

“That would have been possible before your son turned my relationship into a community event.”

Garret clenched his jaw.

“It was a mistake.”

“Six months isn’t a mistake, it’s a membership."

Another wave of laughter erupted.

Garret looked at me with a hatred I’d never seen in him before.

“You want to break up with me? Perfect. I was planning to do the same.”

The pain came, but it no longer had anywhere to settle. Rage filled every inch of space.

“What a coincidence. Were you going to tell me before or after you ate the cake I baked?”

“Don’t turn this into a tragedy. Our relationship hadn’t been working for a while.”

“It worked for me. Maybe because I didn’t know there were three people inside.”

Nicole smiled with that expression of false compassion she’d used since we were little girls.

“Garret needed a woman who could satisfy him. Not one who hid behind trays and aprons.”

My hand stung.

Garret took advantage of the silence.

“You can’t blame me for wanting something different. I tried to help you, Anne. I recommended diets, workouts, and more flattering clothes. You never made the effort.”

Therein lay the problem.

He didn’t cheat on me because I was careless, cold, or distant.

He cheated on me and decided that my body could serve as his absolution.

I told you he didn’t love you, Nina said, and the remark irritated me.

“I tried my best every day,” I said. “I worked for your family. I organized your parties. I cooked your meals. I stood up for you when everyone said you were an unambitious idiot.”

“Watch your language.”

“You’re right. Some idiots do have ambition.”

Garret’s smile vanished.

“No important man will take you seriously with that body and that attitude. I was the best you could get.”

The room fell silent.

The blow stung because I remembered all the times I’d put up with crumbs of affection while thinking exactly the same thing.

I took a deep breath.

“Well, enjoy having reached the peak of your potential.”

Nicole let out a laugh.

“Please! Everyone knows Garret was with you out of pity,” said the little prude.

I turned toward her.

“And was he with you because he was running out of oxygen?”

“At least I don’t need a dress designed to hide me.”

“No… you just need to hide in bathrooms.”

Her smile twisted.

“She’s jealous because he chose me.”

“Nicole, you’ve spent your whole life wanting what I have and then pretending it was trash after you stole it from me.”

“What could you possibly have that I’d want?”

That was the last straw.

I slapped her.

The sound was clean, crisp, and almost musical.

Nicole turned her face away, and a red mark bloomed on her cheek.

The entire room gasped.

I curled my fingers.

“This,” I said. “Is just excellent wrist technique.”

Nicole lunged at me, but two women held her back before she could reach me.

Garret grabbed my arm.

“You’re crazy!” he exclaimed.

“Let go of me.”

“You’re going to apologize,” he ordered.

I picked up the main cake with both hands.

“You’re right. This has been unprofessional.”

Garret frowned.

“What?”

I smashed the cake hard into his face.

The top tier crumbled against his nose. The second tier fell onto his shoulders. The sugar wolves flew off in opposite directions, a rather apt metaphor for the treaty.

Garret stumbled backward, covered in frosting and vanilla cream.

One of the wolves was stuck to his forehead.

“There,” I said. “Relationship over.”

The ballroom erupted.

Some guests screamed, while others laughed. Nicole tried to break free, and my stepmother looked as if she were about to faint onto a centerpiece.

The guards advanced toward me.

“Anne Marlowe, you are under arrest for assault and disrupting an official ceremony.”

“Are you also going to charge me with cake murder?” I asked sarcastically.

One of them tried to grab me.

A shadow crossed the floor.

The stranger appeared at my side with impossible speed. He was no longer wearing a cloak but was dressed in a black suit with silver clasps and the emblem of a raven pierced by a moon.

“Don’t touch her,” the stranger ordered.

The guard froze.

The Alpha of Willow Creek turned pale.

“Alpha Blackstone.”

I looked at the man beside me.

It took my brain a few seconds to process the information.

“Nathan Blackstone?” I asked.

He nodded slightly.

“At your service.”

“You lent me your cloak.”

“She seemed to need it.”

“You also let me joke about Alphas without mentioning that you were one.”

“I was enjoying myself too much.”

A nervous laugh rippled through the room.

Garret wiped the icing from his eyes.

“You can’t interfere. She belongs to Willow Creek.”

The rage returned with a vengeance.

“I don’t belong to anyone!” I exclaimed furiously.

Nathan didn’t take his eyes off Garret.

“Miss Marlowe wishes to leave the premises.”

“You can’t take her off the territory,” Garret retorted. “The Neutral Blood Clause forbids it.”

“The clause governs claims and alliances. Not voluntary transfers.”

“She’s a registered magical heiress.”

I turned toward Garret.

“I’m what?”

His expression revealed that he’d said too much.

“Anne, this isn’t the time.”

“You just pitted my private life against a treaty. It seems like a fantastic time to me.”

Nathan watched me closely.

“Didn’t you know she was registered?” The Alpha asked me, and I shook my head.

“Until ten seconds ago, my biggest problem was having wasted an excellent cake.”

Garret pointed at Nathan.

“If she crosses the border with you, the council may consider it the appropriation of a strategic resource.”

“I’m not a resource,” I muttered, claws out.

Nathan reached out toward me but didn’t touch me.

“Do you wish to leave Willow Creek?”

I looked at my parents.

My stepmother avoided my gaze.

My father’s face was set with shame, not because of what they’d done to me, but because of what I’d revealed.

I looked at Garret, covered in cream, and at Nicole, with a mark on her cheek.

Then I placed my hand on Nathan’s.

The touch produced an intense heat that traveled up my arm and settled beneath my ribs. Nathan’s fingers closed around mine with the utmost care.

“Yes,” I replied. “I want to leave.”

Nathan led me toward the exit.

No one dared to stop him.

We walked through the main doors under the gaze of both packs. I was still wearing his cloak, my dress held in place by a pin, and I had destroyed the most important cake of my career.

I had never felt so free.

Nathan’s car was waiting in front of the residence, and he opened the door for me.

“Do you always escort disowned women after diplomatic ceremonies?”

“Only when they attack with pastries.”

“It was a vanilla cake,” I said defensively. “Technically, it was a soft weapon.”

Nathan got into the driver’s seat.

“Where do you want to go?”

“Far away.”

“I can do that.”

The engine roared, and we left the residence behind.

For several minutes, neither of us spoke.

I watched the lights of Willow Creek fade away through the window.

I didn’t cry.

“Music?” Nathan asked.

“Anything that doesn’t mention unfaithful men.”

He turned on the radio.

A man’s voice began singing about a secret lover.

Nathan turned it off.

“That rules out half the songs.”

“And it should rule out half the men.”

The corner of his mouth turned up.

“I’ll try not to take that as a threat.”

“It depends. Do you use restrooms during negotiations?”

“I prefer rooms with locks.”

He kept his eyes on the road, but his smile became more noticeable.

He’s not afraid of blatant flirting. I like that, Nina said with a chuckle.

The sign marking the state line appeared in front of us.

As soon as we crossed the border, something whistled through the darkness.

Nathan jerked the steering wheel.

The rear window shattered.

I ducked with a scream as a black arrow pierced the seat where my head had been just seconds before.

Nathan reached out an arm to shield me.

Another arrow flew out of the woods.

And this time, it was heading straight for my chest.