Page 45 of A University of Betrayal

Silence.

Nervousness settled on my chest.

“Tell me that’s not true.”

Alarik didn’t seem pleased at all.

At the same time, my stomach filled with an oppressive heaviness.

Father had already invited the Rolanows for this month…

“I expect you to welcome them with open arms.” Alarik did not reply. “You owe it to the Rolanows.”

“If you’ll excuse me.” A few seconds later, the door burst open and a somewhat irritated Alarik stared at me as if he had seen a ghost.

I looked at him pleadingly and without another word, he closed the door behind him and pushed me by the shoulders toward the exit.

Songs of the Forest

Experience Nature

We crossed the raised veranda until we stopped in front of the stone railing from which we could look out into the expansive garden with its lush meadow and old oak trees in full view.

Directly below the railing was the paved flower garden with its fountain, which made the house look picturesque.

“I just wanted to...”

“It’s all right. I’m the last person who wants to hold you responsible for anything. Especially in your situation.”

I looked at him, somewhat surprised. Alarik, for his part, leaned on the railing with a crumpled expression. There was something distracted about it. Almost as if the world was coming to an end around him, and he was sitting at the key lever.

“Please, just tell me how you’re doing.”

He turned to me, looked at me urgently, and I didn’t know what to tell him. He was my uncle, and he had the right to be worried. Still, I hadn’t asked him to, and I was old enough to stand up for myself. How I felt didn’t matter when the existence of the pack was at stake.

“I’m sorry. Believe me. I would have done everything in my power to make sure he didn’t do it again.”

This was the moment my brain started to stumble. Alarik looked like a mess. More than usual.

“He wants me to marry a Rolanow,” I voiced what was hanging in the air, stunned. It was as if it had taken me days to realize how much responsibility Father was putting on my shoulders.

“He won’t be able to make that happen.”

“But...”

“I’ll take care of it,” Alarik pressed out stubbornly.

There was a sparkle in his green eyes. Confident and rebellious. Just like I knew my uncle. You’d think it would cost him his head, and yet, it had taken him far. The problem was that Alarik didn’t know when to stop. Another Alpha would have reprimanded him long ago.

I turned away from him thoughtfully and let my gaze wander over the railing. Our large garden looked like something out of a storybook. A little enchanted and idyllic, flowers lined the front part in circular flowerbeds, harmonizing with the old wooden benches and even with the ivy that wound its way up the right wing to Alarik’s apartment, as if it wanted to hide my uncle there. The house was old. Very old. It had been built by the first Copelands.Cornelius and Jeremiah Copeland.Father and son. A memento of the founding days.

Further back in the garden, the guys were playing around. To put it better, they were fighting like mad.

They stood in a circle, shirtless, and cheered on the two who were fighting a duel in the middle. It was daytime, so all of them were in their human form, but I could feel their energy. They were just waiting to roam the woods tonight and finally enjoy the hunt again.

It was in us, connected us to nature. Connected us all.

Monday had been a new moon, which meant we couldn’t transform on that day, and often for two days around it neither. Some of us spent the day at home or slept through it completely, like Nash and Finn. I, too, had once again needed three mugs of black coffee to keep me going in the law library, but I had also gone home shortly after and spent the remaining twelve hours under my sheets, somehow surviving my period cramps that seemed to love the new moon.