Chapter 9: Let Me Make It Easy

Rowan stood by the archway, sunlight catching in his hair like a halo, making him look every inch the golden boy Alpha. Except his eyes weren’t soft today; instead, they were wounded, burning with a different kind of fury than Kieran’s.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I hissed automatically, glancing around. I bobbed my head to the right twice as a signal for him to leave.

A few curious eyes were already peeking. Great. Just what I need right now, more gossip. Elder Malkirk would probably love it if they all thought I was threatening their precious treaty and hated me.

Rowan ignored that, striding forward until he was too close, until I could smell damp earth and pine on his skin. “You look tired,” he said quietly, reaching out to touch my cheek. “What did he do to you?”

“Don’t.” My voice cracked sharper than I meant, but if I let him, Rowan would unravel me in a different way than Kieran. Not with overbearing dominance, but with his earnest devotion that made my chest ache with guilt. “I don’t need rescuing.”

I need rescuing. Comfort me. Save me. Take me home.

He scoffed bitterly. “That’s what you think. But I’m not blind, Elowyn. I see the marks on your neck, and I see the way he drags you around like a trophy. You’re not safe with him, Elowyn. You know it.”

God, if only he knew how little “safe” had meant to me lately. “Rowan, stop.”

“I can’t.” His eyes shone with something that looked dangerously close to desperation. “Do you remember the meadow by the river, before the packs tore us apart? You said you wanted freedom. You said you wanted someone who would treat you like more than a bond. That’s still what I want for you.”

No I don’t remember shit. That wasn’t me. “Look, I seriously need you to leave now, Rowan. You’re making this harder than it already is.”

“Then let me make it easy.” His hand reached for mine, fingers brushing so lightly I could’ve pulled away, but I didn’t. Stupid body, traitor body. His warmth seared into my skin, and suddenly I was drowning all over again, only this time in Rowan’s gaze.

If you can’t already tell by now, I wasn’t exactly a Casanova in the real world. There are never really any opportunities to date when you spend all your time indoors obsessing over fictional werewolf men. So now you probably get why it’s so difficult for me to resist.

Real hot werewolf guys. Wanting me. I stopped thinking about the danger and started being delulu again. If you ever find yourself in a book like I have, please don’t be like me.

He leaned in, his voice a whisper only for me. “Say the word, Elowyn, and I’ll take you away from all this. From him. From everything.”

My chest heaved. The book said Elowyn chose him first, before tragedy ripped them apart. And while my body remembered Kieran’s hand on my throat, his fire, my heart remembered Rowan’s boyish smile and gentle promises.

I was losing my mind.

“Rowan, I—”

But fate, apparently, has a sick sense of humor. Because just as his lips were about to claim mine, a growl split the air like thunder.

“Get your hands off her.”

Oh, sht.

Kieran stormed across the courtyard, every line of his body a storm barely held in check. His eyes glowed dark red, his power pressing against the stones like the whole place might shatter under his fury. The crowd of pack members scattered like leaves before a gale.

Rowan didn’t flinch. His hand tightened around mine, his chin lifting in defiance. “She doesn’t belong to you.”

“Say that again,” Kieran snarled, closing the distance with terrifying speed.

I watched in horror as he made the shift and turned into a massive dark wolf, so dark I could tell one feature from another, and all I could see within the dark shadows were two menacing red eyes and long, sharp, yellowed teeth.

Rowan had just begun to shift too when I yanked my hand free from his and shoved myself between them, palms out like a referee about to get flattened by two linebackers. “Enough! Both of you!”

They barely heard me. Their eyes locked over my head, two storms about to collide, and I realised in dawning horror that this was exactly what the prophecy warned about. Bonds shattering. Kings falling. Packs tearing each other apart over me.

I needed to think fast, before someone died in the middle of the damn courtyard.

“Kieran.” I turned to him first, grabbing his wrist, grounding him with my touch. His chest heaved, nostrils flaring, but his gaze flicked down to me, just enough. “Please. Not here. Not now. You’ll destroy everything you’ve built.”

Then to Rowan, my voice softer, pleading. “And you—you can’t keep cornering me like this. You’ll get us all killed. Please. Go before this gets worse.”

God, how cringe. Now I’ve turned into the “This isn’t you.” Or “He always calms down for me” kind of girl.

His eyes searched mine, and for a moment, I thought he’d refuse. But finally, with visible pain, Rowan took a step back, then another. His voice cracked low as he said, “This isn’t over, Elowyn. I’ll wait for however long it takes.”

Then he was gone, vanishing into the archway, the love-struck fool. This wouldn’t keep working forever, I got the sinking feeling that sooner or later, one of them would tear the other apart. If not for the Luna’s sake, then for something else.

Kieran’s arm coiled around me instantly, pulling me against him in a tight hold that was equal parts possessive and protective. His voice rumbled low in my ear. “I don’t know if I have to lock you away where no one will ever find you till you come to your senses. You don’t get a choice in this. Do you understand me, girl? You get no opinion, no say. You are mine, you belong to no one else, and Rowan can’t keep you safe. Only I can.”

Lock me away somewhere?! What? Like Rapunzel? What kind of crazy---

But before I could manage to say anything, or even breathe, a shout rang out from the far gate.

“Attack! Humans at the border!”

The courtyard erupted into chaos as warriors scrambled about, and omegas rushed for cover.

While Kieran’s grip tightened around me, his eyes darting about as he thought of a million and one strategies to find out what the hell was going on and protect his people. The rebellion was no longer some far off rumor.

It was real. It was here.