Chapter 03 - Daphne

His words cut so deep that, for a moment, I even felt my breath catch in my throat.

Why did he always have to be so merciless? He knew my magic meant so much to me, even though my health had never allowed me to use it as I should. It was something I had inherited from our mother. A bond I had maintained with her even after she was murdered when we were children.

I hadn't just been pushing myself in the last few months, ever since Rosalind appeared. My whole life, I trained and tried to squeeze every last drop of magic out of me.

And even then it wasn't enough. That was the worst part. I think that's why I never had the strength to respond to Leon the way I should have, when he attacked me like that.

I wasn't like Rosalind. My magic didn't flow easily like a river or obey me whenever I needed it. Every spell, every healing session I performed in the capital's temple, however quick, drained my energy far too quickly. I could never help everyone in need. I was forced to watch their hopeful faces turn disappointed in seconds. When my mother was alive, no one in the pack stayed sick for long. But since they were forced to rely solely on me…

I wasn't what they expected. Nor what they needed. I knew that. And I was deeply grateful to the Moon Goddess for sending Rosalind to our people, but…

I was trying hard to be helpful at that time. To not be a disappointment. I was really giving it my all.

But hearing Leon talk like that made me fear that I would fail again.

“I won’t let the pack down.” When I finally found my voice again, it sounded fragile, nothing like that of a dignified and centered princess “No matter what happens, I will help Saint Rosalind destroy that monster once and for all. No matter what it costs me.”

“You’re definitely going.” Leon rolled his eyes “It doesn’t matter if this is the mission the Goddess gave Rosie. I won’t let anything hurt her. Especially not when Dad and the elders made the stupid decision to agree to let that damned son of a bitch travel with us tomorrow…”

“What a lovely reception…” a deep voice interrupted my brother, causing us all to freeze at the same time “Does this mean I’m free to express my equal appreciation for the future Alpha of Clan Vitale?”

My heart raced as my eyes turned toward the beginning of the corridor, where my father was approaching us along with Melvin, the leader of our council of elders. But it wasn't either of them who had spoken those words. No. That imposing voice, capable of chilling the blood of even the strongest warrior, belonged to the third man who was with them.

Alpha Cross.

He was wearing the same heavy silver armor that covered his entire body the few times I'd seen him from afar. Alpha males, like Sean and my brother, tended to be tall. But this man stood out even in that.

He loomed like a wall, tall, cold, and intimidating, his face completely hidden by the perfectly closed helmet of his armor. I don't know if anyone had ever seen his face. At least not since his parents died and he assumed leadership of his pack as a teenager.

The only thing that could be seen was the glint of his golden eyes through the visor.

And, the moment his gaze met mine, even if only for a second before I quickly turned my head away, I felt my body tremble.

I did my best to stay away from that man, but his presence never failed to fill me with that feeling of… Anxiety.

“Leon!” my father’s firm voice reprimanded “What do you think you’re doing, saying such things in front of the saint and our ally? How many times will I have to say it…!”

“We should have allied ourselves with a pack of snakes. It would have been safer for Rosie and all the other packs!” Leon attacked again, without hesitating for a moment, and instinctively, I placed myself between him and Alfa Cross.

I knew he hated being in the presence of the man who used to be his arch-enemy on the battlefield, but Dad was right. Creating more animosity with the Crescent Pack, especially while those monsters were out there ready to kill any of us, was a terrible idea.

“Leon, please…” I murmured “Calm down. Think about the deal with the Haven Pack…”

"Don't interfere!" he cut me off, his eyes gleaming silver as if his wolf himself were attacking me “This has nothing to do with you!

However, in that brief moment when he turned to look at me, a small slip was enough for Rosalind to slip out of his reach. As if she hadn't noticed what was happening, or as if she hadn't heard everything we said about Adrien being extremely dangerous, she approached him with a smile. And, I could be wrong, but it seemed like an even brighter smile than the one she always wore for the rest of us.

“Adrien!” she called his name with immense naturalness, making everyone there freeze “Finally we’re seeing each other again! Sometimes I feel like you’ve been avoiding me!” Rosie giggled, but it didn’t surprise me that Cross didn’t join in “I have a gift for you! I made it myself! It’s for your sword! Some werewolf girls told me this was the best way to show you that my prayers will be with you, so you don’t get hurt during our mission tomorrow!”

Rosalind pulled another handkerchief from the pocket of her dress, perhaps the prettiest of the four I had seen so far, embroidered with a dark shade of blue that contrasted perfectly with the gold threads. Any man would be deeply honored to receive such a gift, especially coming from the saint.

But not Adrien Cross.

Several seconds dragged on as they both stood there, without him moving a single muscle to accept her gift. And, Goddess, I couldn't see his gaze clearly behind that helmet, but I could swear he was staring at Rosalind, the chosen one of the Moon herself, with contempt.

“You don’t want it?” Rosie finally seemed to realize something was wrong with her silence and took a step back, head down “I… I made it with so much affection to show my appreciation, but… If you’ve already accepted another girl’s scarf…”

“I’m surprised that this would bother you, Your Holiness.” Cross didn’t let her finish, and now I could definitely tell he wasn’t honored by Rosalind’s gesture “I’ve heard you’ve been handing out gifts to a considerable number of men lately, even the committed ones.” His piercing gaze lifted to Sean and me “I think perhaps that’s why the Goddess chose you. You always seem to have a lot of affection to distribute around, especially to men who wield more power than others…”

“How dare you offend Rosalind’s honor like that?!” Leon’s hand moved toward the sword on his back, but I managed to grab his wrist first, holding it with all my strength.

“Quite the opposite. I seem to be the only one here who truly cares about the saint’s honor.” Alpha Cross shrugged, and from the tone of his voice, it almost seemed as if he was amused by the whole thing “The poor thing seems to be the victim of malicious people. After all, how could anyone have dared to tell her about the tradition of the scarves but not warn her about the meaning behind it?”

For a moment, I even forgot that I was supposed to be stopping my brother from trying to rip his head off.

He… He had a point. But all the servants in our castle loved the saint deeply. And I was certain that no one would be naive enough to forget to pass on the most important information to her. So, who…?

“I… I didn’t mean any harm.” Rosalind whimpered “Now I know it’s not exactly appropriate, but… I didn’t mean to send that kind of message. I just wanted to show all the members of our team how much I care about you…”

“You already know the tradition, and yet those scarves are still on their swords?” Although his sentence was in the plural, Alfa Cross was clearly only looking at the adornment on my fiancé’s weapon “Well, it seems the Vitales don’t follow some traditions as strictly as my people do. It was foolish of me to be surprised.” He shrugged “That being said, my honor prevents me from accepting your kind gift, Your Holiness. Why not give it to Princess Vitale? I’m sure a young woman wouldn’t mind receiving two beautiful ornaments from you, would she?”

All eyes turned to me, filled with confusion, and when Adrien Cross spoke again, I felt as if I had fallen into a trap.