Tristan
When she screamed, I thought I might lose my mind. I thought I might tear through the world to reach her and make sure she was safe, and I hated myself for it.
Is this truly the will of the Goddess? For wolves and men to lose themselves to a bond they did not even choose, a bond they might not even believe in?
My wolf claws at my insides in protest, but I push it down deep within myself. I will not be a slave to my urges nor place my trust in something as fickle and fragile as a heart. I will not bend or break for a girl I barely even know. I refuse.
When I found her door unlocked and rushed to check on her, she clung to me as if her life depended on it. Even after she woke, she stared at me with those haunted eyes, wide and violet, impossibly beautiful.
I roll over onto my side, kicking off the bedcovers. I’m back in my own room down the hall from hers, unable to stop thinking about the way her fingers grazed my skin, soft as an angel’s breath. I’ve been with my fair share of women before, but I’m a warrior. A king. A Rogue Alpha. I’m used to things hard and fast, rough and strong. But the girl’s touch had been impossibly soft, her skin like petals brushing against mine. No one has ever looked at me the way she did, with that quiet sort of wonder. No one has ever been gentle and timid and so fucking beautiful in the moonlight that it made something ache inside me.
Then when I kissed her, she yelped and crawled away, looking back at me with fear in those lovely eyes, and everything that had warmed and softened beneath her touch froze solid.
I bury my face in the pillow, biting back a frustrated growl. I am not made for sweet and tender. I could have stormed out of the room and never looked back. I should have.
But she asked me to stay. Fuck. She asked me to stay, and I was unable to leave her, not even when she revealed that she was Viktor’s niece and rage had threatened to rip me apart. She was the ward of an Alpha I despised, and her own cousin threw her at my feet. She’s so tiny, so thin and meek, but she still fought back, and Oscar nearly beat her right in front of my eyes for it.
I’ve always known the Banes are savages, but this is a new low. My stomach churns at the thought of that girl trapped in Viktor’s “care.” Oscar could probably crack her like a twig, and from what I know of the Alpha’s son, I certainly wouldn’t put it past him. Men like him like stepping on small things to make themselves feel big.
Viktor himself called her a mutt, a mongrel, a freak. Is that what she’s always been called?
I curse the darkness of the empty room.
She doesn’t even have a name.
All the anger I felt when she refused to tell me her name was now replaced with a deeper, darker kind of wrath. This time it is not directed at her but at what had been done to her. I am furious at the things she was deprived of, furious that she even felt the need to apologize for it.
I have half a mind to go back there and tear the Banes apart for that.
I’m sure Mark would love that. My Beta is still pissed that I risked my neck without him.
Sophie’s prophecy claimed my destiny lies with the violet-eyed daughter of bane and brimstone. Our Seer insisted that finding her was the best thing for the Rovers, that fighting for my mate would secure the future of our pack.
But finding her was the easy part.
****
The next morning, Lucy knocks on my door to check on me. If she’s aware of my nightmarish fit, or if Tristan told her anything about what happened last night, she does not show it. She merely strides into my room with a cheery step and throws open the curtains.
“Sorry my brother was such an ass yesterday at dinner,” she says as a greeting, wasting no time. “Amara probably gave him an earful about minding his manners if that makes you feel any better.”
It does not. More conflict is the last thing I want. The morning sun is streaming in through the glass, a cool breeze sweeping into the room as Lucy opens the sliding doors onto the balcony.
“It’s okay,” I mumble, offering Lucy a tentative smile. Though she seems somewhat unimpressed with my general existence, Lucy has been the friendliest person in the Villa Du Lac. If I want to make a better impression on the residents of this household and avoid stirring up any more trouble with the Rovers, I should probably start with her.
“She speaks!” Lucy says, arching her brows, and I realize I haven’t actually talked to her since I arrived. Her slanted eyes crinkle around the corners as she grins in amusement. “Thank Selene. If you want to give your mate the silent treatment, that’s fine by me, but Goddess knows I need another girl to talk to around here.”
I slide my legs off the bed, stretching my arms over my head before getting up to get dressed.
“Don’t get me wrong, Amara is lovely,” Lucy adds, content to chat away, “but she’s so serious and sultry. Very femme fatale, which I totally respect. Honestly, I admire anyone who can put up with my brother, let alone mate with him, but she’s not a lot of fun. She hates gossip almost as much as I love it.”
I’m beginning to understand why Lucy said that she talks too much when she first introduced herself. No wonder my silence annoyed her.
“I don’t think I’m very good at gossip,” I say tentatively. I’ve never had an ally before, let alone a friend. As Lucy strolls onto the balcony and breathes in the cool mountain air, I’m suddenly filled with the urge to please her. I’ve always strived to make myself invisible, to avoid being a nuisance or an inconvenience as a form of self-preservation.
I want Lucy to notice me. Heck, I want her to like me. It’s a new sensation.
“That’s alight; I can fill you in,” Lucy says. At the very least, she seems satisfied that she’s gotten me to talk with her, like engaging in conversation was some kind of personal mission for her. “Nico and I are going for a run in the woods on the other side of the lake in a little bit. If you want, you can come with us, and after that, we can head into town and show you around a bit.”
“Nico?” I repeat the name, my still-groggy brain racing to find an excuse. My ankle is almost completely healed, and I already made the mistake of revealing that I’m related to Viktor Massen. It might be wise to hold off on telling everyone that I’m defective and wolfless.
“He’s Tristan’s Gamma. He’s a little dorky, but he’s good fun,” she says, tossing me some fresh clothes. “Here, get dressed, and we can go meet him by the lake.”
“Do you mind if I just meet you after? I’m not really feeling up for a run,” I mutter, staring at the clothes in my hands to avoid her inquisitive gaze.
“Is your ankle still hurting? I can get the healer again if you want. I’m sure Doc won’t mind taking another look at it.”
I shake my head quickly. “No, that’s not necessary. I’m just… I’m a bit tired, that’s all,” I say, making my way to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face and change.
“Fair enough,” Lucy replies from the other room, though I detect a not-so-subtle trace of disappointment in her voice that makes me purse my lips. “How about you catch up with us for lunch? I’ll take you downtown to get some new clothes. My fashion taste is impeccable, but we’re going to need to size down to find you something more flattering.”
I chuckle at her words, relieved that I haven’t pushed her away entirely. “I would love that,” I say sincerely, emerging from the bathroom, fully dressed in my borrowed clothes.
“Great. There’s some breakfast downstairs if you’re hungry, and the villa’s gardens are really pretty if you want to go and sit for a while until I come back.”
I suck in a breath, anticipation and hope fluttering in my chest like a bird’s wings against a cage, ready to be set free. “The garden?” I repeat, and my excitement must be comically apparent on my face because Lucy laughs when she looks at me.
“Oh yeah, I’ll show you,” she says, swinging the door to the room open and leading me down the hall. “Come on, new girl, you’re gonna love this.”
