Chapter 5

She stood with her chin high. "What are you all kneeling for? What's so special about Elara Whitmore?"

Vivienne looked at me, mouth curving. "I underestimated you."

"Yesterday you were crying and playing the victim. Today you've already locked yourself into Ravencroft Manor."

"That two-faced routine — I didn't expect a well-bred Pack girl to pull it off so well."

I said nothing.

Cain spoke, and his voice was a tone I'd never heard before. "Vivienne. Shut up."

Vivienne went still.

She turned to look at Cain. "What did you say?"

Cain was staring at her. His eyes were red. "I said shut up. And get on your knees."

Vivienne's face went red. "You're asking me to kneel? To her?"

"I'm your Pack sister. Elara turned around and Bonded with the Alpha King. You want me to kneel to her?"

Cain practically shouted it. "Kneel."

Vivienne flinched. Her face shifted from disbelief to something raw.

"Cain, you're yelling at me for her?"

"Who am I? I'm your Pack sister. Elara just Bonded with the Alpha King and you want me to kneel to her?"

Cain stopped looking at Vivienne and turned to face me.

His eyes were red. There was something on his face I'd never seen before.

His voice shook. "Elara, I was wrong."

I looked at his face and said nothing.

He took another step toward me and reached out. I moved back before he could touch me.

"I know I was wrong."

Cain's voice went rough. "I shouldn't have let Vivienne shave your head. I shouldn't have said those things. I shouldn't have—"

He said, "But Elara, Vivienne saved my life."

"At the borderlands, when I was nearly gone, Vivienne pulled me out of a field of bodies. She wanted to test your Pack awareness. I went along with it because I—"

Cain couldn't finish.

The warriors still kneeling on the floor moved in to help.

"Elara, Vivienne saved the Alpha's life. He owed her. He didn't know how to say no to her."

"Elara, the Alpha does love you. He just didn't know how to handle Vivienne."

"Elara, you two have been together since you were children. You can't just—"

Cain spoke again, and there was a plea in it. "Elara, you can hit me. You can scream at me. Just don't leave."

He looked at me.

"I'm asking you. Please don't leave."

I reached into my sleeve and took out a small box. I opened it and dropped the Moon Root pouch on the floor.

It landed at Cain's feet.

I looked him in the eyes. "Then why did you do this to me?"

Cain stared down at the pouch. He had nothing to say.

"The day before you came to my room, I was going to tell you I wanted to end the Mate Claim."

"But you didn't let me finish. You just tied that pouch to my bedpost and told me the Moon Root would help me sleep. Then you left."

I paused. "I took it as a gift. Even if the Claim was over, we'd grown up together. I never imagined you'd use it against me."

Cain's face went white.

I kept going. "And I never imagined you'd stand there and let someone shave every last hair from my head."

I reached up and pulled the hairpiece off my head.

I set it on the wooden table without looking at anyone, and let them see my bare scalp.

The room went silent. The warriors kneeling on the floor didn't dare raise their eyes.

"You all laughed hard enough when it happened. Why won't you look now?"

I looked at Cain. "Do you find it attractive on a woman?"

Cain couldn't say a word.

I said, "When Vivienne pretended she was going to cut her own hair, you said to me — what belongs to a person's body isn't theirs to give away. You said don't push her."

I almost smiled. "Cain. Did that rule not apply to me?"

Cain finally spoke. His voice was quiet.

"Elara, I — I didn't mean it like that. I just—"

I cut him off. "Just what?"

Cain had nothing.

I looked at the warriors still kneeling. Then I looked at Vivienne standing off to the side.

"You brought all these warriors into the Capital without the Alpha King's authorization. Cain, do you know what that charge is?"

I bent down and picked up the Moon Root pouch from the floor. I held it in my open palm.

"This pouch will speak for me. Any Pack Healer can tell by the root how long ago it was cut."

I looked at him.

"Cain, you can start preparing your explanation for the Alpha King Council — why you never received the dispatch about the Bond reassignment, and why you abandoned your post and returned without authorization."

Cain's composure finally broke.

He stepped toward me, his voice shaking.

"Elara, you can't do this. Everything I did was for you."

I said nothing.

His eyes burned. "I rode a thousand miles to get back here. For you."

"I wanted to make it back before the Bonding Ceremony. I wanted to escort you through the gates myself. I was afraid you'd been waiting at the Manor and getting anxious—"

I finished it for him. "So you rushed back and shaved my head clean."

Cain choked on that.

I went on. "And tumbled into bed with Vivienne."

Cain's face had gone the color of a bruise.

I almost laughed. "Cain, can you even say that with a straight face?"

He kept trying. "Elara, I did everything for you — if I didn't care, why would I ride a thousand miles? The borderlands to the Capital, pushing hard, the brothers nearly rode two horses to death—"

A voice came from behind the tall partition in the back of the room. "That's enough."

Everyone froze.