Page 133 of Contested Crown

“Fine.” I strode to the center of the room, right in front of the door. Anyone who wanted the people in the room would have to go through me. Nia stood next to me on my left, just slightly behind me, ready to protect my weaker side.

When the black-robed church members came into view, we were ready for them. The man in front wore his gray hair and beard clipped close to his face, his gaze severe when he looked over the room. Behind him was the older nun we’d chased out, and to their side was a wolf in priests’ robes. He glared at me, although he stopped short of a snarl.

“Who are you?” The priest in front raised his chin, his shoulders back and his eyes sharp.

“A friend of Coral and Theo. We’re helping out with their mages.” I gestured. “We’re done now.”

“You need to leave. All of you. Sister Camila says that you’re an alpha, encouraging them to join in apack.” He spat the last, as though I was personally smearing dog poop on the walls. “Get out.”

“There is nothing wrong with joining a pack,” I said sharply. “Nothing.”

“If you are under our roof, claiming sanctuary from whatever you’re running from, you will not participate inbarbaricrituals that promote dehumanization of your kind!” The priest wasn’t looking at me anymore, his gaze focused behind me where Coral and Theo were standing. I didn’t turn to see their expressions. I knew what they were. I knew the part of them that curled up when someone they trusted called them animals. “And you! Get out. We won’t have your monstrousness here! We aredecent, goodpeople, and there is no place for what you’repeddlinghere.”

I stared at him, feeling the heat under my skin, the challenge he’d issued with such aggressive certainty that I’d listen. For a second, everything was on a knife edge. He had one wolf, but I had apack. I couldn’t back down, but I also didn’t want this man’s blood on my hands.

As much as he might have deserved a quick lesson about what happened when he tried to dominate a real wolf instead of a child who’d been given into his care, we had bigger issues than him. The fastest way to add the police to our list of problems was to kill him.

That didn’t stop my wolf from rising up, turning my words into a growl. “You do not own me,Father. I’m not one of the kids you brainwash into hating their own skin. We aren’t going to stay here, but not because you’re kicking us out. Because I can’t think of a place I feellesssafe than a church.”

“How dare… you think… let’s just see what the police have to say about this!” He raised his chin. “Trespassing! Assault! Threatening a member of the church!”

The wolf beside him moved forward, but Evelyn was there, her teeth bared and her hand on his throat, lifting him up. His eyes went wide, his legs kicking out, and she let him flounder for a minute before dropping him down on the ground.

“Don’t get up,” she snarled.

Sister Camila took a step back from Evelyn, her eyes going wide. She searched the room for any allies and locked eyes with Coral.

“Coral,” the nun said. She shook her head. “Think about what you’re doing.”

“She’s doing what I should have encouraged her to do a long time ago,” Lily said. She wrapped an arm around Coral’s shoulders. “I love her, and I’ll back whatever she decides, but I won’t let you call her barbaric again.”

The nun took a step back. “No. You’re a mage! You of all people know that wolves need to be controlled otherwise their animal instincts make them unsafe. They’re too dangerous to be allowed to make their own choices.”

“That’s not true,” Lily said quietly, but she wasn’t even looking at the nun anymore. She was speaking to Coral. “It’s not.”

“I know,” Coral said. She looked over at Theo. “We’re going with him. Are you?”

Theo hesitated, but Jack wrapped his hand around his. “We can do whatever you want. We can go with him or leave the state. Whatever you want.”

Nodding, Theo looked down, then at me. “We’re coming too.”

“Excellent!” Rhys said. “Now, let’s go quickly. I have a charcuterie board setup waiting, and I’m famished.”

They gestured everyone closer, and I turned to Gabe. “Get the wolves out front.”

“You, uh, sure, boss?” He looked doubtfully at Rhys. “I could go back with them, guard the stash house.”

“Get them.” I met his eyes. “Now.”

He was off instantly and returned in a couple of minutes with the rest of my nascent pack. Rhys closed their eyes, and Nia walked over, leaning back against them. Rhys sighed. “Thank you, love.”

The world around us shimmered as flowers began to fall from the ceiling until petals blocked everything from view. They closed around us, and then we were in an enormous room, the window blinds pulled open to reveal the expanse of the city below us.

Cade exhaled sharply, clearly recognizing where we were. When he looked at me, he said, “The building owned by House Bartlett.”

“You’ve got it, my dear prince.” Rhys gestured around to an array of couches and chairs. “Mi casa, et cetera.”

“I didn’t know anyone in the house leased one of the units,” Cade said. “In fact, I know they don’t.”