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Recompense

Caspian

“Cas. Cas!”

I startle awake when someone nudges my foot, and it takes my groggy mind a moment to realize the one staring down on me, laughing, is Dimitri.

“Rough night?”

“You could say that,” I groan, spotting Annalise’s guards at the end of the hallway, ready to start their day. Typically, they’d be posted at either side of the threshold to her bedroom, but I’m guessing they knew to keep their distance when they arrived to find me asleep outside her door.

Like a misbehaving dog.

I’m slow getting to my feet, feeling stiff and disoriented from waking up someplace other than my own bed. While I don’t glance toward Annalise’s door, fearing my brother might sense how I long for her, I do find myself wondering if she’s awake. Is she aware that I kept my word, that I didn’t move from that spot the entire night?

“Sorry to disturb you, but… we have guests,” Dimitri says, walking beside me as I smooth my hands down my wrinkled shirt.

I estimate that it’s approximately five-thirty or six a.m. by how low the sun is in the sky.

“Guests? This early?”

He nods. “Yes, and if I were you, I’d brace myself.”

The warning has a groan resonating in my chest, but there’s no time to ask questions when Dimitri and I part ways the moment we finish descending the stairs. He’s at least mindful of pointing me toward the parlor where I’m to guess that the early-morning visitors have been taken to wait.

Before I twist the knob on the door, I hear the passionate chatter of angry men, which is never a good sign, but especially not so early in the day. Taking a deep breath, I enter the room, observing the vaguely familiar faces. I’m aware of them being the fathers and grandfathers of the Consort Elects, but many of their names escape me.

“Gentlemen?”

One by one, they turn to meet my gaze, and the scowls set on their faces are telling of the tone this meeting will take. Supreme Arbiter Emory steps forward, making it clear he intends to speak on behalf of the other men.

“I’m aware that it’s impolite to darken someone’s doorstep before the sun’s fully risen, but I will not apologize for disturbing your morning, Alpha. Not when I spent my night tossing and turning to the sound of my dear, sweet Wilhemena’s sobs!”

Not only does the man have a flare for the dramatic, he’s also a fucking liar. The only thing sweet about Wilhemena is the sound of her footsteps when she leaves your presence.

I take another deep breath. “Yes, I’m certain you all were caught off guard by last night’s development, but I can assure you?—”

“She said you were on your knees, begging that Breedlove girl for her forgiveness? Meanwhile, Wilhemena and the others whom you so callously chose to toss aside, were forced to watch, having their hearts ripped out of their chests, having their dreams shattered, because you’ve… changed your mind,” he adds through gritted teeth.

The other men get riled up, complaining amongst themselves before Supreme Arbiter Emory quiets them.

“Can you imagine what will happen once word gets out?” he gripes. “Our girls, our families , will be the laughingstock of New Eden! It will be nearly impossible to find them husbands now. Every man in Clan Centauri will see them as damaged goods, women coldly rejected by the alpha. There is no recovering from shame of that magnitude.”

My blood is boiling, but losing my cool will not bode well.

Another fucking deep breath to keep from tearing heads from shoulders.

“You men have my deepest, most sincere apologies for whatever hardship you fear this decision may cause your families, but you have my word that I will release a public statement, clearing the names of the Consort Elects. When I’ve completed my address, there won’t be a question in anyone’s minds that this change is a reflection of me, and me alone.”

“Clear their names?” another speaks up, scoffing at the offer. “We were promised wealth… status ! That was the agreement!”

The others concur, and my nerves are wearing thin.

For a moment, it’s as though I’m seeing behind the veil, observing our world through Annalise’s eyes. A world where women are pawns and men tout their selfishness and greed like a badge of honor. I recall the words she spoke that fateful night I first made her acquaintance in my study. They were honest and vulnerable, but they went in one ear and out the other, because I was only aware of my own needs. In arrogance, I ignored her plea in favor of brutishly staking my claim on her.

A right I had neither then nor now.

A chill rushes down my spine and, in an instant, I’m awash with shame and guilt for having ever been that man.

For having only recently shed his existence.

But that’s a moment of reflection for another time. Setting aside my own emotional unfoldment, I focus on the emotions of the men standing before me.

Angry, entitled men who think more highly of themselves than they ought to.

“We demand your word,” the arbiter states.

“My word concerning what exactly?”

“Concerning your personal guarantee that our girls will be paired with noblemen, men of notoriety.”

That sense of my blood boiling returns, and I’m not sure how much longer I can suppress my true nature, the side of me that would rather spill these men’s blood on the floor than negotiate.

Taking measured steps, I approach them. Supreme Arbiter Emory’s gaze slips down to my feet as I detect a hint of perspiration in the air. He’s afraid.

As he should be.

“Leave.”

His nostrils flare as that single word leaves my mouth, but he seems to suddenly remember he has an audience of men behind him. Men paying careful attention to his response to my demand. Men who likely put him up to being their spokesperson because they lacked the courage.

“Not without your word,” he says, but his voice is noticeably shakier now.

But no one will have a chance to analyze how he’s begun to cower, because he’s barely gotten his sentence out when I grip his collar, shoving him toward the parlor door.

“I tried handling this like a gentleman, but you’ve left me no choice.” For every step I take forward, they take several in the opposite direction.

“Alpha, we?—”

“Go! Before I lose my temper, leaving your families nothing to identify you by but your fingerprints.”

One seems to sense the seriousness of this matter before the others, gripping two of the men by their shoulders as he pulls them toward the foyer. The others follow. Supreme Arbiter Emory pulls the door open, and during his less than graceful exit, he trips over the threshold and nearly tumbles down the steps. He glances back in fear, and I decide to confirm what he likely already knows.

“Consider this my formal denial of your request. And for your own safety, let this be the last time you step foot on my property.”

I slam the door behind them, breathing wildly as I rest my head against the cool wood. I’m filled with a sense of pride for having resisted the urge to take at least one of their lives, but it was so incredibly tempting.

“Bravo,” a voice calls out, drawing my attention toward the staircase.

Standing at the bottom of the steps, clapping slowly as a faint smile curves her lips, is Aunt Pen. She turns and begins to ascend, biting into an apple as she leaves me with a few sage words as always.

“Well done, Nephew. It appears you’re the alpha after all.”