Chapter 40 Chapter 40
Zane didn’t answer immediately. He just stood there, backlit by the morning sun filtering through his curtains, looking every bit the Alpha he was. Commanding, untouchable, and impossibly distant.
And I was sitting in his bed, drowning in his shirt, waiting for him to ask me something I could guess I may not want to hear.
“There’s a pack alliance being discussed,” he finally said. His voice was measured. Like he was briefing his Beta about territory disputes instead of talking to his mate. “One that could benefit Fangstain significantly.”
I pulled the blanket tighter around myself, suddenly feeling more exposed than I had moments ago.
“What does that have to do with me?”
His eyes flickered just for a second, before that mask of control slid back into place.
“It involves Kaius.”
My stomach dropped. Because at that point, I was certain where he was headed.
“A marriage arrangement,” he continued, each word careful. “A political union with one of the packs in the central Territories. It would strengthen our borders and secure trade routes.”
I stared at him, trying to understand what he was actually saying beneath all the formal language.
“You want your nephew, Kaius, to get married?”
“I want him to consider an advantageous match, yes. His age and position make him a viable candidate for alliances.”
“And you need me to… what? Convince him?”
“Yes.”
The single word landed like a stone in my chest.
I looked down at my hands, at the way they twisted the blanket between my fingers. My head still throbbed, my mouth still tasted like wine and regret, but suddenly those discomforts seemed insignificant compared to the ache spreading through my ribs.
“You have said it yourself that I don’t even know him. Why me? Why am I assigned to do this job?” I asked quietly. “You’re his uncle. His Alpha. If you want him to do something, I believe you can just tell him.”
Zane took a moment before his lips parted, shifting his face as he did. “I am asking you because the issue to be discussed is marriage, it’s not an issue where we would see eye to eye. I also think he doesn’t listen to me the way he listens to you.”
There was something in his voice, something raw beneath the control, that made me look up.
His jaw was tight. His hands hung at his sides, but I could see the tension in his fingers, the way they flexed slightly like he was fighting the urge to clench them into fists.
“He respects you,” Zane continued. “And somehow trusts your opinion. If you suggested this match, pointing him to the realization that it is a good idea, he would consider it.”
“But I don’t think it’s a good idea.” I blurted out.
“That’s not relevant.”
The coldness in those words stung badly, more than it should have.
“Not relevant?” I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper. “You’re asking me to convince your nephew to marry a stranger for political gain, and you think my opinion isn’t relevant?”
His eyes flicked at me, then his gaze settled at an empty distance between us. “Your opinion does not change what needs to happen.”
I wanted to argue and let him know that this in its entirety was wrong. Kaius was as mature as him, and he deserved to choose his own mate, and using me as some kind of messenger felt manipulative and cruel.
But the way Zane was looking at me—like this was already decided and my compliance was inevitable—made all those protests die in my throat.
“This marriage,” I said slowly, trying to understand. “It would send him away? To the Central Territories?”
“For a time, yes. The arrangement would require him to spend significant time with his mate’s pack. Establishing connections and building trust. His mate would also spend time with him either here or in his pack in the northern territories.”
Got it! Zane wanted Kaius away from here. Away from Fangstain pack and me.
The realization crept through me like blood circulating through my veins, except that this was unwelcome and impossible to ignore.
Zane wanted Kaius gone. To a place where he couldn’t smile at me during speeches or request dances or be with me in private lounges late at night.
“This is about last night,” I said quietly. “About the dance and the fact that you think…”
“This is about politics,” he cut me off. “It’s all for the benefit of the pack.”
“Is it?”
His eyes hardened. “Yes.”
“Then why do you need me to convince him? I’m not a part of the council. If it’s just some political alliance and strategy for the benefit of the pack, why can’t you handle this yourself or assign an elder to?”
“Because—” He stopped abruptly, his jaw working like he was physically holding words back.
We stared at each other across the space between the bed and where he was.
The morning light made his features sharper, and with it brought a bit of contempt in my heart for the man who stood before me.
Looking closely, there was something else he was trying desperately to hide.
Fear? No, not quite.
Jealousy.
The word whispered through my mind unbidden, and once it was there, I couldn’t shake it.
He was jealous. Of Kaius. Of the easy way we talked, the comfortable silences and the way I smiled at him without thinking.
Why should he be jealous? If anybody should I not be the one to feel that way? I basically stood with a woman he had been involved with, intentionally and painfully holding my jealousy back.
I ignored the sly remarks she had made about me even as it bothered me for nights.
And who he was coming at was Kaius?
Interesting that he suddenly understood the concept of jealousy.
I lifted my face, staring back at him. “Alpha…” My voice came out softer than I intended. “Do you want your nephew gone because of politics… or because of me?”
The question hung between us like a live wire.
Zane’s entire body went rigid. His eyes locked onto mine with an intensity that made my breath catch, and my heart hammer against my ribs.
Say something, I thought desperately. Tell me that I’m wrong. Tell me this is all just pack business and nothing more.
But he did not.
He just stood there, silent, while the seconds stretched into an eternity.
And in that silence, I found my answer.
He wanted Kaius far away from me, and he was willing to use me to manipulate my friendship to make it happen.
It hurt much more than I expected. More than it should have, considering Zane and I barely had a relationship beyond the bond forced upon us.
But somehow, knowing again that he saw me as a tool rather than an actual person who had cared for him for almost a decade of my existence cut deeper than any of his cold dismissals or angry lash-outs ever had.
“You’re not going to answer me, are you?” I whispered.
His throat worked. Once then twice.
But no words came.
Just that terrible, damning silence.
And somehow, that was worse than anything he could have said.
I shifted my face away quickly, blinking back the tears that prickled at the edges of my eyes.