Saving Aeron

Affray

Brigh sat across from her husband, watching Fergus scrunch his nose and push the food around on his plate. She tried to love him, to remember what it felt like to feel safe in his presence and like he was the only one under the moon. It had been a year since their wedding, since he lost his wolf, and they were living like roommates, sleeping in separate beds and barely making time to eat meals together. She braced herself for the inevitable conversation she needed to start. Would they continue or would they divorce? Would it even be divorce if their wedding had never even been consummated?

She looked at the bland steak and potatoes with a side of asparagus and lost her appetite. Even when he had been cheating on her, albeit in a different life, they had never been this silent. Her stomach churned, did she really long for a time when he was actively hurting her, plotting against her, planning her death? Had it started that early in their relationship?

"We need to talk." She put her fork down and he groaned. He heard it in her voice.

"No, we don't." There. That was the voice she could hate. That tone, that control, the gaslighting that would follow.

"We need to re-evaluate this partnership." A simple split would divide the pack since their union had united the Aeron Pack with the Jericho Pack. Jericho had benefited from the union but the Aeron gained resources where they shared power. "How would you like to do that?"

"Everything's going fine. The packs are happy."

"But we're not. I'm not. You're not."

"Does that even matter? Plenty of people stay in marriages when they are unhappy."

"Unhappy is one thing. You're miserable."

"My wolf is gone."

"And you've had a year to come to terms with that and figure out how to move forward." He glared at her from across the table as he dropped his fork and it bounced off the table and onto the floor. "I'm not saying move on, I'm saying adjust. It's time to figure out who you are without Angus."

"Did you already find a wolf to be your Alpha? Regulate me to Beta." He spat the word Beta out like it was poison on his tongue. He had balked at the idea of her being the one in control, but in her pack, Lunas carried the power and the Moon Goddess had blessed them. His family had convinced him, however, and they united their packs. He wouldn't be Beta, though. He'd be without rank. If she gave him a rank, it'd be honorary- without a wolf, he'd be essentially human in a supernatural world.

In his own pack, he'd led the front lines of any violent engagement. He had grown men bow and quiver in fear when he walked into a room. But since Angus left, he'd been slow and the power inside of him had disappeared, too. He couldn't command a room, never mind a group of testosterone-filled men itching to let their wolves run and attack.

She hadn't been looking for another Alpha and certainly wouldn't replace her current Beta, Fynlee. There was no one else she could ever fathom having her back, certainly not someone who had stabbed her in the back.

"You haven't even looked at me since Angus left." He protested, suddenly shifting his tone. He went from angrily indignant to soft and hurt. "You haven't reached for me or even touched my hand."

Reaching across the table, Brigh, brushed his hand before he moved it away. Her body didn't react like it had on their wedding day. Neither did his. There was no attraction. She knew better than to dismiss his words, though, because she hadn't tried. He hadn't let her. When she walked into a room, he took his space furthest from her. When she spoke, he shut down. He left no room for them to connect.

"I don't know how to." She confessed. "We didn't know each other until we walked down that aisle and then you were in recovery and now we're here." She didn't lie but she didn't tell the truth. She could stand him about as much as he could stand her and she was not going to cater to his needs, not after he killed her. But he didn't kill her, not yet anyway. "This is a whole new world for both of us."

"You could try harder." There it was- that cold, accusing tone she recognized. The man behind that voice had killed her. "You could make them listen to me, give me more power." She nodded. She could. The word of the Luna was law and what she uttered would be honored. But she didn't commit. Being heard didn't mean he had to be obeyed.

She called Fynlee to her side, tearing her friend from her own dinner with her husband. Within minutes, Fynlee walked into the dining room, followed by Gavin, her mate. In another pack, Gavin had been a foot soldier, quietly obeying orders. With Fynlee, they had become a powerful partnership, their ability to find information and interpret it truthfully had made him indispensable to the Aeron Pack. His loyalty to Fynlee had endeared him to Brigh.

Fergus rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. "Calling in back up."

"Because the original agreement isn't reflective of our current circumstances, we're going to revisit it." Brigh asserted. "Who would you like here with you?"

Fergus knew he couldn't stop what was going to happen. The best he could do would be to negotiate for the most he could get. Brigh didn't know what he would want, though, or how he would make that happen. He nodded. "I want Neasa and Balor." He smiled. Brigh knew he had something planned and she probably played right into it.

In a few minutes, her sister walked in with Balor behind. He looked unamused at the summons but Neasa walked in with her held high, smiling and trying to wield a power she didn't have.