Page 82 of Dream in Darkness
Nausea hits me, but I push the sensation down.
“Do they have a soul bond?” Gemma asks.
I shake my head. “No, he didn’t want one. It’s always bothered Lilian.”
Gemma visibly sighs in relief. “Okay, so we kill him.”
Draven helps Absinthe over to the table, and Reina rubs a hand down her back.
“I need a day,” Draven says, and it’s only now that stress really shows on his features. This might just be his breaking point.
“What do you mean? Love, we just need to fucking execute him.” Gemma looks truly exasperated, but knowing Draven, he’s going to choose his next words wisely.
“Given everything we’ve just learned, I need a little bit of time. We have to formally gather the evidence for me to get permission for an execution, just as we do with anyone else, but we also have to tread lightly. Luc was just informed that he must get married, and this gives him the perfect opportunity to force Lilian’s hand, and I just won’t allow that. We’re not going to kill her husband and force her to become Luc’s baby-making-machine in one fell swoop,” Draven says, his eyebrows pushed up high on his forehead. “I want justice, but I also know we have to be careful.”
I actually agree with him. “We can place him on lockdown. Khalid can guard his door. He doesn’t go anywhere without an escort, to prevent him from hurting others.”
“Does he know you saw him?” Gemma asks.
Absinthe wipes away her tears. “He definitely knows.”
Movement No. 31
Tempest
The pack leaders and I agreed to meet in the economic district, specifically a building owned by Alpha Duncan. It’s tall,, though not as immense as Luc’s office looming nearby. No building is.
Entering through the plain doors, it reminds me of a dentist’s office. Everything is exceptionally crisp and clean, the walls painted white with not much decor. It makes me wonder what Pack Forres does as their main source of income. As the heir, I feel like I should know these things, especially if we’re going to be signing treaties with the other packs, but I’ve been kept in the dark most of my life.
I want that to end now.
A gangly-looking lupion with wavy blonde hair greets me at the front desk. “Tempest Lupine, right this way,” she says.
We continue down a narrow pathway until we reach a conference room where Alpha Ferdinand, Alpha Duncan, and both of their seconds wait. My heart beat quickens at the sight of Ferdinand and Alonso, but I ignore the feeling, taking my seat beside Lennox Porter—the second of Pack Forres.
“Your Alpha is late,” Alpha Ferdinand says, his deep, ocean-blue eyes fixated on me, and it instantly makes my blood boil.
“He is not late, we are early. I wanted to talk to you alone before he joined the conversation,” I say. It’s a little bold, admitting that I’ve purposefully isolated us, but I have to find out things for myself. I’m hoping transparency helps make that happen.
“Oh?” Duncan Porter’s thick brows furrow.
I try to word things methodically, careful not to let them know I might be second-guessing my father’s leadership. “I was obviously never supposed to be heir, so I was not raised learning the ins and outs of Pack Escalus in the way that an Alpha would be. Is there anything I should know—from your point of view—that would help me be a greater successor than my father?”
“I have a lot of respect for your Alpha, but he is not always a man of his word,” Ferdinand shares, faster than I expected. I nod. What Yasmeena shared about his agreement with Luc regarding The Legion, and the fact that he likely broke said agreement, told me a lot already. This is just further evidence. “We had previously discussed a marriage between myself and you, and he went against that.”
“I see.” I fidget in my seat.
“If you are going to take over one day, I would make sure that you stick to your arrangements, especially if we sign a treaty with the felion,” he says.
He’s not wrong.
“Most definitely. I think it’s important to do what you say you’re going to do. It’s key to maintaining trust with allies.” I’m channeling my inner Yasmeena.
“Your father is vicious. He will do anything to get what he wants,” Lennox says before his brother and Alpha elbow him in the stomach.
“That is not your place,” Alpha Duncan cuts in, his green eyes giving his brother a hard glare.
“Ask him yourself,” Lennox coughs, holding his stomach with his arm, clearly in pain. “Ask Cain Lupine how he gets his atra, orwhat happens to all the people who take his magic drugs. Ask your Alpha?—”
