Chapter 213

We ate quickly, then made our way to the hallway. Brandon went up the ladder, but I held him back. “What’s up?”

“Let’s wait until the announcement happens.” I smirked at him, and he nodded. We got chairs, and Brandon kicked down a few long extension cords for us. We plugged in the tablets and waited.

“What’s going on here?” A few random people stopped and asked us, but we just smiled.

“There is going to be a big announcement today, and we are just getting ready to help the students here.” I smiled at one girl who stopped in front of the table.

“Okay…” she trailed off as she turned, but I called out to the students hanging around.

“I can’t tell you what the announcement is going to be, but when it happens, remember we are here to help streamline the process.” Everyone giggled as the confused students moved away from us.

“They probably think we are crazy.” Hanna tossed her hair and nodded. I grabbed a lock and twirled it around my finger.

“Hanna, your hair has grown so much since we met.” I still remember the short-haired, bird-framed girl I scared in the bathroom. “You have grown so much.”

She flexed her arm, making the firm muscle jump there. “I know. It’s crazy how much we have all changed. Well, everyone but you and Toya.”

Toya grinned and flexed her arms, making her thin-looking arms look huge. “I changed. It’s just less noticeable because I trained before.”

Brandon stared at all of us, flexing with a weird smile. “I never knew any girls who enjoyed being this…”

“Strong?” Toya lifted her brow.

“Fit?” Wendy offered.

“Muscled,” Brandon finished. “It’s weird. But not in a bad way.” He waved his hands as he watched everyone’s face darken.

I laughed. “Our bodies are our weapons, and we have to keep our weapons honed so that we can protect our packs, our friends,” I let tears spring to my eyes as I met his and allowed one to slip down my cheek as I finished my thought, “Our families.”

I winced as I said it, the stark reminder that he had something to do with the supposed death of my father’s pack. And I could see he wanted to feel guilty. There was a tiny glint of it in his eyes, but behind the guilt was something far more menacing.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then all of our phones dinged at the same time. We all pulled them out and clicked the link that was being broadcast from the Royal House. Show time.

Rowan stood there in all his glory, and I had to look away. He was perfection. His tousled hair was still pulled away in a topknot. There was a new slash that cut down his face, which meant the attack he just fought in was bad. For it to not fully heal before he came up to do an announcement meant it was deep, or it was tainted with wolfsbane. “Good morning, everyone. Now, I know what you are wondering: Why am I holding a press conference so early that is being pushed out to everyone?” There were a few laughs from the press there. This was going to be seen on every wolf broadcast around the world.

He continued, but I put my phone down and looked over at the girls to find Brandon staring at me. His eyes had flashed to the dark black of his wolf, and there was a possessive look in his eyes. But as soon as I put my phone down, he caught my eye, shook himself, and he was back to normal. “You okay?” I played dumb, pretending I didn’t just catch him freaking out at me watching the king.

He choked a little and then cleared his throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

I stood, still hearing Rowan’s dark, delicious voice, and I turned to the banner, pointing at it. “Wanna get it up now?”

Brandon had to force himself to look away from me, which wasn’t a good sign. He got up the ladder and started to tape up his banner as I fed it to him, but I turned my thoughts inward. I searched for whatever could cause this, and after a few moments, I found it.

Deep in my clearing, my candle, the only thing keeping Brandon from knowing I was his mate, was flickering. It had burned down to nothing and was about to go out. I nearly screamed in frustration. Enough is enough.

I closed my eyes and pictured a full candle, focusing on keeping the flame strong, and I opened my eyes. The candle before was gone, leaving the one I changed it with in its place.

But I had made a decision. Whatever was going on with my wolves? It ended today.