Mistress of Blood and Fur

Chapter 21 - Gnashing

Grace

I’m fuming. I realize that Sarah took advantage of Onyx’s dizziness to claim him. Who knows if she did something else to him after he got hit on the head? She pulled him from the rest of the pack as quickly s she could.

Even Dash and Fox aren’t happy. Onyx is still his friend. It doesn’t matter if Sarah’s claim means one last strong rival down. To think that I helped Onyx ensure her cabin’s safety.

It’s not a lie if I say I have never been this angry. I walk toward the cabin where the three new brides are. The room closest to the front door is Josie’s, based on the powdery smell with that extra hint of mint. I can imagine Sarah telling the other girls where they should go. She knows she’s going to make enemies here and she’ll want to be as far away from the main entrances as possible. If she doesn’t know that yet, I hope she knows it by now.

I knock at the door, keeping my temper on the down low. I remind myself that I like Josie and Elaine. They live here, too, and don’t deserve anything other than a warm welcome.

“Yes?” Elaine opens the door with a big smile. She probably thinks I want to hang out. Oh, I do, but I have to deal with one little b***h first.

“I’d like to talk to Sarah, please,” I say, as polite as my dad would have, but about to unleash my mom’s temper.

Elaine’s face changes. She knows what I’m here for. My tone may be calm, but my face is saying it all right now.

“Um, okay, Grace. If you can remember, I asked you if Onyx was yours.” Her words are tentative. She’s afraid I’d turn on her, but I’m not terrible like that.

I remember. I messed up, but it doesn’t mean to say anyone should claim Onyx when he’s not 100% okay. I can’t believe Alpha Kele is just letting this happen, just because he wants to attract more brides.

“It doesn’t mean Sarah could claim him when she knew that he was still under his spell.”

Something in Elain’s face shifts. I wonder if she knows Sarah well enough.

“I’m going to call her, but I’m pretty sure she heard us already.”

The place isn’t large, and my voice has been rising. Someone has to be a deaf non-wolf not to hear me.

“I’ll talk to her, Elaine,” Sarah says as if she’s the boss of everyone in the cabin.

“Well, I’m here. Talk to me, Sarah. Why did you have to claim him when he’s still out of sorts? You could have waited for him to feel better. Don’t you want a man who actually wants you?”

Elaine backs off a little but remains in the living room with the two of us. She’s ready to pull us apart, I can tell. She makes a little trilling sound. Soon, Josie is there with us, looking confused. From the corner of my eye, I see Elaine tap her hand and she simply nods.

“Oh, he wants me, Grace. He was on my table,” Sarah declares haughtily. Inside my head, I wonder how I ended up in this situation. I told myself that I would never fight any woman for one man.

“Because he was still leaning on you, after you supposedly healed him. You know it.”

“Well, I’m sorry. You don’t get a say just because you are Gideon Sloane’s and Riva Dorival’s daughter. Yes, I know them. Your mother supposedly descended from the same witch and wolf who founded Opium Hills. But my family came through the same line, too. The Alperns carry more Native wolf blood than the Dorivals. Onyx and I belong to nature. To the hills.”

I shake my head in disbelief. Does she really believe what she’s saying? Family makes only a part of who you are. In the end, you form yourself. I have never even wanted to accept the wolf part of me until this invitation. There was something strangely compelling about it. It was everything I hated – arranged marriages, breeding for a pack, and being treated as a means to an end. And yet, something has been calling to me. It brought me here.

“You are a daughter of this hills, Grace,” Greta reminds me. “Fight for it.”

“What are you beyond your bloodline, Sarah? You are a cheat and a liar.”

“You can do whatever you want. You can hit me, Grace Sloane. Bite me. Kick me. But you can’t change the fact that I’m now bound to Onyx Warcloud. We will go through the mating ritual during the next full moon. Don’t even think of giving your virgin self to him, if you don’t want to be shamed. Would you want to risk producing bastard pups for him?”

The only reason I didn’t hit her is because I know it will strengthen her cause. I need to know if I’m fighting a battle that has long been lost, anyway. I need to hear Onyx’s side.

“I won’t hit you or stoop down to your level, but I hope to the wolf gods that you didn’t do anything to betray us.”

I swear she pales a little, but it may be wishful thinking on my part. I just think it a lttle too convenient that the attacks happen upon the brides’ arrival, and it gives her the weapon she needs to claim Onyx.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Grace,” she says, a smirk on her face.

“This isn’t over, Sarah Alpern. Josie and Elaine, thank you for listening. For being here,” I mutter. The two breathe sighs of relief. They don’t even try to hide it. The tension has been escalating to the point wherein anyone expects a wild fight.

“Temper, temper. Hold that temper, Grace,” Greta reminds me. “Especially when the moon has waxed full.”

A low growl rises from my throat, as I leave the brides’ home.

**

I walk the path to the place I share with Carlotta. I don’t feel like talking to her. I don’t really know how she’ll react. She’s a bride but she looks like she’s only here to be entertained. To have fun. A part of me begins to appreciate her.

“Grace?” A familiar, deep voice calls me from the dark.

“Onyx?” My voice is slightly high-pitched.

He steps out of the trees, looking like an angel of death with his dark hair reaching his shoulders. He’s also wearing all black, a wolf in camouflage.

“I didn’t choose her table,” he says, his throat working. Why was I so stubborn? I was here first. I was waiting for something – a fairy tale spark? I’m not sure. Reassurance. Yes, that’s what I was waiting for. I had never have my heart broken and not taking a risk turned out to be biggest risk of them all.

“I know. I saw. I saw you looking at me.”

“Fox found a way out, but it’s a little hard.”

“There’s a way out. That’s what’s important. Did you ask your father first?” I ask, reaching out for his face. His face is usually clean-shaven, but there’s a little stubble there. I rub as a growl reverberates in his throat.

“He says the only way I can get out of the claim is if Sarah rejects me.”

“What?” I splutter. “She will never do that. I just talked to her, and she believes that the two of you are meant to be together because of the Opium Hills bloodline.”

“That goes back centuries?” Onyx laughs, and I’m relieved that he finds the whole thing as ridiculous as I do. The two of us came here, both skeptical of what our traditions can bring us. We were both afraid to be shackled by our ancestors’ beliefs, but we were willing to accept everything because we’re both here.

“If we disobey the rules, what will happen to us?”

“I thought about that, too, Grace. We will be shunned by the whole pack and my dad will have no choice but to pass on the seat of power to someone else – someone with more than just a scent power. But y-you know, I don’t care about that.”

I look at him and I realize that he’s worth taking a risk for. He’s willing to give up his birthright for me.

“I know what you’re thinking, Grace, but I’ll be honest with you. I really didn’t care much about Opium Hills, but leaving with you strengthens that belief that I’ve nothing here.”

“No, we can’t leave, Onyx,’ I say, thinking of Sarah. There’s something more about her. Power. I felt it. What if it’s a ploy to take Onyx’s rightful place?

“Then, we’ll have to follow Fox’s plan,” he says, looking a little disappointed. There’s also worry there. It seems that Fox’s plan isn’t going to be easy.

“Tell me about that tomorrow, Onyx. Kiss me now.”

“Does it change things?” he asks, boyish hope lighting up his dark, dark eyes.

“No,” I admit. “If you mate with me, it won’t change anything with Sarah. I’ll be shamed and you’ll still go through the ritual with her.”

“But you’re asking me to kiss you, anyway, even though we’re not sure we’ll succeed?”

“Yes,” I say.

So, he does. He does it so swiftly as if he thinks I may change my mind. His lips are firm on mine. He angles his head to sweep his tongue into my mouth, and I moan as I curl my fingers into his hair. We kiss for a long time, and it feels enough. Everything.

When he carries me into the woods, my legs around his hips, I don’t stop the kiss. Maybe, it’s time to simply seize moments like these.