Chapter Ten

In my human form, the remnants of the clothes I'd changed into the day before hung on my frame in a tattered manner. Rowan was enraged and it wasn't hard enough to figure out why, the room was a spectacle; overturned by the chaos from me and Kara's fight, and Kara stood by the corner, Matilda who'd now returned, next to her, accessing the gash on her back.

“What happened here?” Rowan barked.

I opened my mouth to speak but Kara beat me to it.

“You need to kick her out, Rowan. She's a mess and doesn't deserve our kindness.” Kara said spitefully.

“If I was going to seek your advice, Kara. I would have. I asked a fucking question!” He roared and this time, even I flinched and I caught the flash of nervousness in Kara’s eyes.

“The wild beast attacked me,” Kara spat, nodding in my direction.

“And for good reasons.” I snapped.

“You should try coming at me without shifting and I'll rip you apart flesh to bones!” She growled, taking a menacing step forward.

A smirk curled up the corners of my mouth. “Tend to your wounds and broken ego first, love.”

“Enough!” Rowan’s voice boomed, silencing us both. He strode toward me, his eyes never leaving my face until I felt unnerved by it. “You attacked Kara.”

It wasn't a question.

I sucked in a breath. “She deserved it,”

Kara stepped forward. “I was asking her to do her duties. She got irritated at the thought of being a servant and attacked me for daring to bring it up. What was I supposed to do other than defend myself, defend poor Matilda, and the pack? Her wolf aside, Scarlett is untamed and spoiled, and the sooner you realize we are better off without bringing someone like her along, Alpha, the better it is for the pack.”

His cold eyes were still on me. “Is this true?”

My silence was my answer. Even though what Kara had said had layers of lies to it, it didn't matter if I defended myself. Obviously, there was a bias here and I wasn't stupid enough not to recognize that there was something between Rowan and Kara. It was in the way she looked at him, the way she had addressed him by name last night when she thought it was just the two of them, how easily she had let it slip that she was worried for him, and her hate toward me even when I had done nothing to her particularly to deserve it.

Rowan’s voice was quieter. “I asked you a question, Reed.”

Being this near to him and knowing he was my mate did things to my heart. I could feel my wolf’s excitement and I hated it, I didn't know anything about any of these so it all felt new and invasive. From the corner of my eyes, I caught Kara watching us intensely and I wondered if she knew he was my mate, if he knew I was his.

When I looked into his intense grey eyes, I had to remind myself that this man could tell what I was thinking. That without even needing to say a word, Rowan read me like an open book and I'd never felt so invaded my whole life.

“Yes,” I said in a clear voice. “I attacked her.”

The room fell silent, the tension thick and almost unbearable. Finally, Rowan nodded, a small tilt of his head that I could've missed if I wasn't watching him like I was.

“There are rules that guide the Nightshade pack closely, rules that keep us in order, and if you are going to stay here…”

I cut him off. “I am being held here by you.”

His jaw ticked and the anger in his expression and voice was a clear warning. “You are going to adhere to the rules of my pack and one of them is no fighting. You have lost your privilege of staying in this room and seeing how you've trashed it, I will be moving you to the servant's quarters.”

A lump formed in my throat and I felt something burn at the back of my eyes.

Rowan continued, his voice colder with every word he spoke. “There are no freeloaders in this pack. You are not leaving here like I told you before so I'll advise you to make use of what I am offering. You will work with your fellow servants henceforth and earn your stay here. When I deem you fit enough, only then will you and I have a discussion about your training.”

I scoffed. “You can't be serious! Are you insane? How can you snag me off the street and treat me like this?” The tears rolled down my cheeks.

“I don't deserve this,” I said and immediately hated the pity I detected in my voice.

Rowan clenched his fist. “You dare to whine about what you ‘deserve’. Not a single person deserved the torture and brutality your father and his cohorts put us through, the horrors we suffered for long harrowing months, and you, his spawn, have the audacity to complain about your punishment?” His voice was poison, laced with stinging venom.

“You should be grateful I didn't rip your throat out on the spot I first met you. You, Reed, are alive only because I allow it. If it were up to the rest of the pack, you'd have been left to rot, just another forgotten corpse among the numerous other bodies lying by the road in the Midland!”

With that, he barged out of the room, Kara hot on his heels

I stood rooted to my spot, a cold shiver traveling down my spine at Rowan’s words. I felt myself trembling and I swallowed the lump in my throat. His words had left me shaken and filled me with a thousand unanswered questions. What was he talking about? What did my father do so terribly it caused Rowan to hate me this much, and not just him, but every member of this pack.

What was this pack? And why hadn't I ever heard of it for once considering Asher lived here? And did Asher hate me because of his brother or as Rowan had said, was it something grotesque my father had done to them?

I shook my head —it was a lie, it had to be.

“Come with me to the kitchen.” Matilda snapped at me before walking away.

I swallowed and went after her slowly. I wanted answers and until I got them, I was going to have to do as Rowan said.