“Well, it certainly seems like our Alpha is in good spirits! Must be the hunt,” Nilzan shouted to the crowd, coming up behind her.
She cringed internally, hoping that her friend didn’t witness her momentary lapse of insanity as she leaned against Thame. She did not need rumors floating around the sea of gossip about her fancying herself with a prisoner. Not that she wanted Thame, she told herself, there was just something about him that was so familiar and comfortable. A quality that made her feel almost normal when he was close by.
“Yes,” Aribelle said loudly, stepping forward, putting Nilzan just behind her left side. “Today, we move camp and make way to Rynoch!”
The crowd erupted in rowdy cheers and shouts of, “it’s about bloody time.” Aribelle waited for the hubbub to quiet down to continue.
“We will all hunt together tonight as a pack, like family. Then you will all head straight to Rynoch, where your families and friends are waiting for you. I will be traveling alone with my assistant and the prisoners. This is not up for debate, nor do I want to hear your sexist protest about how I should not be alone with the prisoners because I am a woman,” Aribelle said, talking over the mumbles of protest that had started to stir from within the crowd.
“Alpha, are you confident this is the right course of action?” Nilzan whispered concernedly.
“I’m confident that I just said it wasn’t up for discussion,” Aribelle said coldly.
“Of course, Alpha, my apologies,” Nilzan said, his body tense and jaw clenched.
“Are those humans?” Dru gasped.
Aribelle followed his pointed finger to where several women stood in the crowd next to their husbands.
“I’ll tell you a secret,” Aribelle whispered, leaning towards him.
Her side rubbed against Thame as she leaned, his scent filling her nostrils. It was like euphoria when she was near him. A peace settled over her, one that she didn’t want at all. Ignoring the sensation and the unfamiliar desire to fall into his arms, she focused on the other prince.
“We are all humans, dumbass. We just happen to have wolf counterparts. As for those women, they come from different lands. My people are free to travel and barter as they wish. People meet, fall in love, have babies. It happens.”
Dru snorted his disbelief, glaring at Aribelle.
“You mean to tell me that those women,” he said, stabbing his finger in their direction, “are here willingly, with beasts?”
Dru laughed manically, sarcasm dripping heavily from his next words.
“And I’ll just bet that you treat them so kindly. They aren’t beaten into submission or anything. Oh no, not you, Queen of Beasts. You probably bring humans flowers and remember their birthdays and sweet shit like that. What are you doing to hold them here? Threatening to murder their real husbands and children? Are they bewitched?”
Dru was shouting at the end of his rant. Aribelle thought if anyone looked feral or damned near frothing at the mouth, it was Dru. The gentle prince sounded absolutely unhinged, and at his breaking point, Aribelle thought.
“Did you lose too much blood when I stabbed you? Is that what this is? Your mind is addled beyond repair?” Aribelle sniped.
Thame stepped up to Dru, putting a reassuring hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“Use your gods-given eyes, brother. Do these women look fearful or in any way forced to be here? They laugh with their husbands, with each other. They give affection freely to their husbands. What about them leads you to believe they are slave or prisoner?” Thame said reasonably.
Aribelle’s heart felt painfully heavy, and yet her body felt lighter than a feather as Thame defended the women and attempted to get through to Dru.
This was a dangerous territory within which she had never ventured nor experienced. People like Dru she could handle as she was used to the assumptions, derision, and hostile attitude towards her and her people. She knew how to defend herself against people like the gentle prince. She could be an ass, insulting him until she tore him down so thoroughly that he would never repair his damaged self-esteem. Or she could just rip his throat out and dine on his inners. The rules of the wolf were simple: submit to the Alpha or die. Those are the rules she grew up learning, the punishments she doled out the moment she was old enough to assert her dominance. But Thame’s words ignited a hope deep within her soul that she knew she had no right to feel.
She was what everyone said she was.
Beastly. Evil. Cruel. Depraved. Vicious. Ruthless.
If Thame saw past all of that and found something worthy of his attention and adoration, he was the only one who could see such a thing. For not even she could name a single redeeming quality, anything soft or admirable to counter all of the darkness that dwelled within. She peered at Thame discretely, a tingle of foreboding tingling up her spine like an icy finger of dread. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she pondered the idea of testing the waters with him, see if mayhap it was possible for her to form true connections, make friends, or even have a lover that was there as more than a warm body to lay beside.
"What leads me to believe they are here by force?" Dru echoed with disbelief.
Aribelle's eyes drifted from Thame's profile to Dru, who was now pointing an accusing finger at her chest.
"The beast makes me believe such things," Dru spat. "How do you not see what is before your eyes, brother? She is a poison, the purest evil that this world will ever know!"
"That's enough," Thame rumbled low.
The horde of beasts was watching the princes with narrowed eyes, the women looking far more outraged than the men, who looked more amused by the brothers' squabbling, their rapt attention on the drama unfolding before them. Frequently there were challenges within the pack, arguments taking a violent turn, or their wolf counterparts fighting to assert their dominance over others. It was rare that her people witnessed a disagreement or bloody fight outside of the pack because most of them chose to stay within Jurot, whilst others lived nomadically for several months out of the year. But where her people saw entertainment, Aribelle saw a red mist begin to haze her vision.
"No, it's really not, Thame! You have lost your fucking mind in this place. We should be focused on getting home, yet you're talking about marrying the bitch that just stabbed me. You're acting like all of this is normal, when it is not. These beasts should be put down, not treated like us, like people. And, just in case you forgot... SHE IS THEIR LEADER! She turns into a wolf for the gods' sake. She turns other people into wolves! Is that what you want? To become a beast and be exiled and hunted for the rest of your life, because that is exactly what will happen?" Dru bellowed, his face flushed ruddy as spittle flew from his mouth.
"You should calm down and look at the facts, brother, because I do not think we have all of them, and the ones we do have do not support your conclusion," Thame said calmly, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly.
"Why is it always this way with you, huh? You are wise and all-knowing. Just because I prefer a well-versed novel over fighting and sex, that just has to mean I am stupid and naïve," Dru said, throwing up his hands in exasperation.
Thame gave his brother a wounded look, one mixed with confusion.
"I never said that, Dru. I don't believe you to be naïve or dumb. In fact, you're the smartest person I know. I just think right now, you are speaking out of fear of the unknown, rather than speaking from knowledge and understanding," Thame replied.