Page 14

MALIK

W hatever hopes I’d had for me and Aria this evening were snuffed out by a summons to the pack house.

Roman wanted our presence for a formal dinner with a visiting alpha from the south—one that he’d failed to inform me of until an hour before it began.

He’d invited the alpha to visit the Intonat Nocte Pack for the sole purpose of meeting the male’s daughter.

She possessed an alpha’s blood and a fertile womb—the only two prerequisites my brother deemed necessary in a Luna.

To make matters worse, something was wrong with my little dove. From the moment I returned to the cottage this evening, every smile failed to meet her eyes and she quietly avoided my gaze. Nervous energy prickled in the space between us.

This was before I even told her about Roman’s dinner party at the main house.

Now, we made the trek to the pack house in silence, only the sounds of our footsteps and evening crickets filling the air. My fingers furled and unfurled into fists, an outlet for the anxiety roiling through me in waves.

She was sad. I felt it as readily as it showed on her face, like whatever turmoil pulling on her heartstrings tugged on mine, as well.

Goddess, what had I done? What had changed from last night?

As far as I knew, she spent the day with Emerson and Estelle in the clinic.

According to the head healer, Aria was a natural and blossomed under the pressure of treating new patients.

Pride had swelled in my chest at the news, and I’d been excited to ask Aria about it in another round of passing notes over dinner.

Now, I could hardly get her to look at me.

Something must have happened, but I detected no foreign scent on her skin nor any sign of injury or ailment. Whatever plagued my little mate, it was a pain of the heart.

With every step we took toward the pack house, I cursed Roman and his piss-poor timing.

The castle-like pack house loomed before us now, but before we could cross the threshold, Aria’s steps faltered. I turned to my little mate, who stared wide-eyed at the massive structure. In the dying light, her face looked pale.

“Sorry,” she murmured, shaking her head. “I was just thinking about the last time I made this walk.”

Understanding swept over me. The last time she made this walk, her father walked beside her, intent on gifting his only child to Roman.

Disgust still curled in my bowels at the memory of Mason Knox’s surrender, serving up his daughter on a platter for Roman to do with as he pleased.

Though I only felt disdain for the man, I knew Aria undoubtedly held affection for her undeserving father.

I shifted the weight on my feet, slowly invading Aria’s personal space in order to place my hand on her cheek. In our short acquaintance, I’d learned that touch always brightened her eyes.

Her lashes fluttered as she lifted her chin to meet my gaze, a gasp slipping past her parted lips. Her skin warmed beneath my palm, and I dared to stroke her cheekbone with my thumb to comfort her. One beat passed before Aria relaxed into my touch, closing her eyes as she nuzzled into my palm.

And, though it was something I’d never done before, I closed the remaining distance between our bodies and dipped my face to hers.

I kissed her, just the briefest brush of my lips against hers, half-afraid that she might recoil at the touch of my twisted scar tissue. Electricity sparked where her soft flesh grazed mine, kickstarting the organ in my chest.

I pulled back in an instant, my heart thundering erratically against its cage.

I was certain it might break a rib. I slipped an arm around her waist, while my hand on her cheek buried into her hair, cradling her head against my chest. I was terrified of what I might see in her eyes when the embrace stopped, so I held her.

Aria melted into me while a lethal dose of adrenaline shot through my veins. I struggled to pull air into my lungs, elation and desire and nervousness wreaking havoc on my system.

“Thank you,” she whispered at last. She clasped her hands behind my back and held onto me.

Slowly, with Aria secure to my front and shadows creeping to conceal us from any onlookers, a sense of calm settled over me. I nuzzled my nose and mouth against the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent. Goddess, she fit so perfectly against me.

Knowing that Roman would fume if we arrived late, I released Aria and took a small step back. To my pleasure, there wasn’t a trace of disgust or fear in her eyes. Only affection pooled in those crystalline depths.

“Do you think we’ll be able to leave early?” A mischievous smile curled on her lips, and her cheeks held a rosy tinge that hadn’t been there before.

Doubtful, I wanted to say. Instead, I lifted a shoulder in a shrug and slipped my fingers through hers. Hand in hand, we entered the pack house.

Roman had spared no expense in decorating for the visiting alpha and his daughter.

Candelabras lined the main hall. The floors had been polished.

Portraits of our blood ancestors were on full display, glaring down at every newcomer with vacant coldness.

Soldiers stood at attention every five paces. Roman wanted to impress and intimidate.

His efforts only made me roll my eyes.

Aria’s grip on my hand tightened as we walked further into the belly of the castle, and I squeezed her hand thrice. A reminder that she was not alone and my brother could not hurt her.

I smelt the foreign alpha before I saw him. He bore the stench of saltwater, a tribute to his pack’s home on the southernmost sea cliffs. It was a territory that Roman had not fancied taking for himself. Yet.

Aria and I turned into the grand dining room, and the conversation went silent.

Every eye in the room followed our movements as we hovered in the doorway.

Platters of food waited, untouched, at the center of the feast. My brother sat at one end of the table while his guest sat opposite him.

Every other seat around the table was filled by emissaries from the visiting pack and Intonas Nocte members.

All except one.

Dread wound tight at the base of my spine, my features hardening as the realization hit. Anger crept up my neck .

“Ah,” Roman drawled, not bothering to stand from his seat to greet us. He leaned one elbow on the armrest, lounging back in his throne-like chair. “You’re late.”

My jaw cracked from how tightly I clamped my teeth together. He hadn’t called me here to dine with the party. I was not a guest.

Roman’s attention flashed to Aria, and my blood began to boil, simmering beneath an impassive surface.

His eyes trailed down my mate’s body, taking in every curve and inch of skin.

She wore an exquisite white dress with gossamer skirts that flowed to her ankles, reminiscent of the nickname I’d given her. Little dove.

My brother looked ready to devour her, and I wanted to kill him for it.

“Though, with a mate as beautiful as sweet Aria, no one could blame you for arriving late to every obligation.” His words dripped with saccharine poison, but he offered Aria a smile as he gestured toward the single open seat beside him. “Come, sit.”

Aria’s mouth hooked into a frown, and she didn’t release my hand. “There’s only one chair,” she murmured with a furrowed brow.

Roman cocked his head to the side, as if bewildered by her response.

“Of course there’s only one.” He chuckled, looking to the other Intonat Nocte Pack members around the table. Every member of his inner circle laughed alongside him.

Aria’s fingers gripped me with bruising force, and I swept a soothing thumb over her knuckles. It’s okay, I wanted to tell her, knowing that the worst was yet to come. Don’t let his words upset you.

Roman laughed again. “You don’t expect a monster to eat at the same table as his master, do you?”

Roman’s taunting echoed between my ears, and the blood rose to my cheeks. Typically, I’d let his insults roll off my back, but, at this moment, he sought to harm more than me , and his words met their mark.

Aria stiffened beside me, her lips parting in utter disgust.

Not at me, I realized. At Roman.

Her claws protruded from her fingernails, slicing into my palm. She trembled, palpable ire radiating from her.

But my brother wanted this reaction. He wanted a reason to punish us, and I refused to give it to him. I refused to let Aria sacrifice herself to defend me.

“How could you say—” She began.

I silenced her by squeezing her hand, subduing her trembling. Her face turned to me, and I shook my head, a barely perceptible twitch. No, little dove.

My heart ached for her, for the humiliation she’d endure because of me this evening. But I forced myself to begin the shameful walk to Roman’s side, nonetheless. First, I walked Aria to the open seat beside him, pulling the chair out for her to sit.

She stared at me, a mixture of horror and anger filling her vibrant blues. For a moment, I thought she’d refuse, but I held her gaze and willed her to read the words I couldn’t speak.

Trust me. Please.

Tension consumed the dining room until, at last, Aria lowered into the chair. Her hands clenched the edge of her seat, even after I pushed her chair back into place at the table. I felt Aria’s gaze follow me as I stepped back and took up my position.

I struggled to keep my head high as I moved to Roman’s flank. He liked for me to stand behind him at these official dinners. Like a loyal guard dog on display.

For decades, I’d bowed my head and accepted my fate. Roman saved my life from our father, after all. I owed him . But, something changed the moment I laid eyes on Aria, and every instinct in my body—every fiber that wove through me—recoiled at the idea of submitting.

It was almost as though she’d awakened the parts of me that had gone dormant since the attack. Her presence reignited the fire I’d snuffed out long ago…

In one, startling moment, I realized I wanted to kill my brother. I could do it easily. Demand a duel so that no one would dare question my authority when the life sputtered from his lungs. He could not beat me. Not in single combat, nor any other form of combat. And yet…

I was not worthy of calling myself Alpha. I could hardly call myself a male. An alpha did not hesitate to claim his mate. An alpha did not cower when fingers brushed a battle scar. An alpha required a voice.

Fighting to keep my fists from shaking, I turned to stand behind Roman’s left shoulder.

My brother and the rest of the Intonat Nocte warriors had already focused their attention elsewhere, though a pair of bright blue branded me in place.

I avoided Aria’s gaze, all too aware that meeting it might rekindle that flame of desire to become more.

More than a guard dog. More than a monster.

More.