“Thank you.” She filled out the form but then froze as Thinus threw out his aura. It rushed out like a thick blanket of power, and I watched as everyone dropped to their knees. Even Toya was trembling, holding on by a thread.
I turned around, and I felt the room shift. Thinus was staring at me with sweat beading on his brow. His eyes were shifted to his wolf, a dark chocolate brown, average for a wolf—just like him. I walked closer, and his eyes widened. “Oh Thinus, you have to try harder than that.” The smile that broke across my lips was pure Nix, full of her hatred of power, abuse, and killing intent.
Everyone froze. The entire room held their breath as heavy footsteps clipped through the crowd. I felt both my wolves perk up as Rowan made it through the crowd of women. I closed my eyes, reining in my anger and shifting my fangs away, doing my best to settle my insides before he came over to me. “Hello, my king.” I turned and looked up at him. His eyes zeroed in on the blood on my face, and I watched his eyes flash to his wolf’s.
“Hello, rabbit,” his words were a soft whisper that I barely caught. I felt heat crawl up my neck again. “Hello, Alpha Amy.” This time, his words were loud enough for everyone to hear. “Do you mind explaining why you’re using your aura on the three in front of you?”
“My king!” Thinus cried out. “This bitch is—”
I growled, and a surprising number of others did, too. “My king, if you would allow me to say something?” A woman called from the side of the room. I turned to find the very first woman from earlier walking over. Rowan looked at me, raising his eyebrow, and I gave a tiny nod. He turned to the woman and nodded. “I came here to apply for,” she stumbled.
“For the position of queen,” Rowan finished for her, and she smiled and nodded.
“Yes, as everyone else here.” Rowan nodded. “I came here with very little hope, but Amy here is doing everything she can to let anyone apply.”
Rowan nodded. “Anyone is allowed to apply.” He looked at me in confusion. “I announced anyone could apply.”
“You did, my king. But Amy here had this table yesterday, but I missed it. So I tried to do it last night at home. I did the application that Amy has here, but the page took me to another where they asked me more questions and then rejected my application altogether. I screenshotted it.” She handed her phone to the king, and his growl shook the room.
“'I’m sorry,’” he read out loud. “'But your application was denied, as you do not have the qualifications to even be considered for the position.' Are you fucking serious?” He whirled to face the trio on the ground. “On what fucking ground do you have the authority to go against my words?”
“My king…”
“Enough.” He handed back her phone and then turned to me. “What happened?”
“Rowan,” Nadine started, but his snarl stopped her. “The three of you will shut the fuck up until I ask you a question.” Everyone in the room felt the command, and the trio were effectively muzzled. “Now Amy, please explain how we got here.” I nodded and then briefly explained the entire interaction, but Rowan interrupted her. “You crushed Nina’s hand?”
“Yeah.” I cut a look at her. “It should be healed by now. But I will warn you right now, Nina. If you push me anymore, I’ll crush it and then hold it in place while you heal, so your hand becomes useless.” Her whimper was answer enough. “Thinus then used his aura on this room, trying to get me to bend the knee and close down the application table. He didn’t like that my applications were going to your email, so he couldn’t reject any of these women. Nina even tried to stop me from applying myself.” I watched his eyes darken. “Then I reminded Thinus that he swore an oath that he was ignoring and abusing his position in the council to threaten lower-ranked wolves. Nadine here found it particularly funny that I said he wasn’t allowed to do this.” I waved a hand at the trio. “So, I released my aura to hammer home they had no power here.”
“Amy.” I turned back to Toya, who had a wide smile on her face. “You forgot when Thinus called your mother a whore and said your father was lucky he was dead.” She offered that little tidbit, and I felt my fangs descend again, fur rippling down my arms.
“Oh yes, there is that.” I closed my eyes and pulled my power back in, inch by inch, then I waited for the trio to stand, still unable to speak. I stalked closer. “There is the fact that this family thinks it smart to throw my father’s death in my face, over and over, and now to go as far as calling my innocent mother a whore.” I snapped my fangs at them. Nix was holding on by the skin of her teeth. She wanted to kill them—all three. She had put up with them long enough, and this time, I agreed. I could feel Megan’s agreement, too. “My patience is gone, and my wolf is tired of pretending to be nice. The next time you bring my parents into this conversation, I will call for a Cath Báis.”