Chapter 95 AURORA

I could tell from the look on Dane’s face that he hated what I’d done. I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, either. My grandmother was a difficult woman. But if Dane had the right to lock me in a room, I certainly had the right to keep him from murdering another Alpha and going to war, even with someone I now hated on a visceral level. Even looking at Holden–who was giving me sad eyes while clutching a bloody cut from Dane throwing him into the wall–made me want to vomit.

“Luna DeVere,” Dane said in a dangerously calm voice as he plucked the phone from my hand. “Didn’t your granddaughter tell you that Alpha Coleridge assaulted her?” My cheeks colored. It was a good thing that was all Dane knew. If he heard Holden was going to mark me against my will and make me his mate, not even my grandmother would be able to stop him.

“Yes,” my grandmother said from the phone. Dane’s eyes darkened. “And you still want to be allies with him? You still want her around him?”

“Fall Line remains our ally, as well as Blue Ridge,” she said. “Therefore, the Alpha will remain present to protect my interests.” I knew she felt that way, but I still flinched. I wasn’t sure how to feel about my grandmother’s insistence that Fall Line stay. I knew why she wanted Holden here. Fall Line was our established ally. If Dane and Blue Ridge decided to just take the relic and its powers for themselves, Fall Line would be our only hope of getting it back. Not just because they were here in the states, but because High Alpine Pack was engaged in other conflicts on other fronts. My grandmother wasn’t the kind of person to only stick her finger in one pie.

Grandmother didn’t explain further. One of the things I’d learned from watching her: there was power in stating facts and nothing more. Explanations meant you thought you owed a person something. According to Augusta DeVere, High Alpine wolves owed nothing to anyone, ever. If you didn’t explain, people didn’t have anything to argue with.

Dane clutched my phone in his hand, his knuckles going white. Her not giving him something to argue about wouldn’t stop him from pushing. I worried he might crack my phone screen; he held it so hard. “Are you suggesting your top candidate for Luna-heir remain in the presence of a man who disrespected her and your pack? Did you not believe your own granddaughter when she told you she was attacked?”

My grandmother paused, and in the silence, I felt every ounce of her displeasure. She was not a woman who was used to being questioned. Then again, Dane was not a man who took orders from anyone, ever.

Tension sparked in the air, even though my grandmother was an ocean away. Holden stood there, arms folded, looking between the two of them and sometimes at me. My stomach twisted whenever he did. It was like feeling him betray me, try to violate me, all over again. Not only did I have to process being attacked, but I also had to process losing someone I thought was a friend. Even though that left me feeling wilted and numb inside, I would never let him see. I kept my back straight and gave him nothing in return for his looks except a glare.

“I am suggesting,” my grandmother said slowly, “that I will not allow the interests of the High Alpine Pack to go unprotected. If you believe, Dane Montague, that my granddaughter needs protection from one of the individuals I must employ to do that… I suggest you see to her safety.” She paused again, letting us all internalize her words. Then she said, “Nothing is personal. However, I will be in contact with the elders of Fall Line about the behavior of their Alpha.”

This time, it was Holden’s turn to flinch. But before anyone could speak, Grandmother hung up the phone and was gone. “Well,” Holden said, his eyes going from Dane to me. “Now that’s settled, I think we have some kids to look for.”

Holden went to leave. Before he could, Dane lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat. “Let me make one thing very clear,” he said, tightening his grip until Holden’s face started to turn red. “If you touch Aurora again, I will kill you. I don’t care who it condemns in the eyes of the Council.” Gasping, Holden nodded. Dane let him go. There was already a bruise forming around his neck where Dane’s hand had been. Shaking, I watched Holden turn away and go into his room. He slammed the door behind him. Dane stared at the door. I stood just behind him, shaking. So much was happening. Too much. My mind raced from thought to thought, emotion to emotion. I couldn’t get a grip on my breathing, my heartbeat. It was all too much, and I was about to lose control.

HOLDEN

I knew they were still outside the door. I didn’t care. I touched my bruised neck and thought about the way she looked at him. Fucking Montague. He didn’t deserve her or the twins, not like I did. If we didn’t need him… I bared my teeth. It didn’t matter. They thought they knew what they were getting themselves into, thought they knew exactly what that journal was leading them to. They didn’t have a clue. By the time they did, it would be too late for Montague. Then I would have Aurora and her children–the family I’d sold my soul for so long ago.