20. Claiming the Enemy

Paul - His villa
Thump! Thump! My heart beating is the only thing I hear as I stare at Laura. As she closes her eyes in acceptance of her fate, a tear falls, crawling down her cheek. Unfortunately, it can’t wash away what she is and what she has done.
Ion Corvin's voice fades in the distance. His comments will not change anything. While he was the Alpha of the Muntenia pack, my father was particularly concerned about wolves dying from an unknown strain of rabies. During my rule, I had to put down two of my own. If Laura is responsible for these deaths, most of my kind will want her dead. Oh, la naiba! I should wish her dead as well.
I’m mad, yes, but at myself. She looks so small, standing there and awaiting her fate. All my instincts shout at me to wrap my arms around her and hold her close. I want to make sure she doesn't suffer. Why am I thinking of her well-being when she’s the enemy?
It's difficult for me not to go on a rampage. Looking down, I take long breaths in an attempt to relax. My hand snatches a drawer handle from under the desk, pulling it apart. Smashing objects allows me to focus my rage on smaller, replaceable things. The accord cannot be replaced.
The situation is dire, and I need to make a decision immediately. Whatever the strigois claim, I know Laura isn't out to kill me. Otherwise, she wouldn't have saved my life that night when we met. Even if everything else is true, I still owe her my life. Can I rescue her along with the peace between factions? Is it okay to put a woman who misled me ahead of my own kind?
A chair creaks, relieved from the pressure of holding a man’s weight. Slow footsteps approach, and Laura gasps. I push my chair and stand up, looking at the hand Ion Corvin has placed on her wrist.
My ears are buzzing with a quick pulse. I snarl with my teeth closed. "Did you hear me say you could have her?"
"My request was merely a courtesy to your status, Dragon," Ion Corvin mocks me. He drops the act, revealing his true colors for the first time. "The Council has full authority over strigois. Not even you have anything to say about how we do things. The accord – your accord –clearly states –"
“I claim her as mine!”
I yank her hand from his grasp and place myself between them. My eyes meet his, showing him that I mean it.
He tilts his head, attempting to comprehend the ramifications. "A strange request from a wolf to a strigoi."
“Not at all.” I raise my chin, loving how I dominate him with my height. “The accord declares that the bond between a wolf and his mate is unbreakable and above any other laws. I claim Laura as my mate.”
A surge of despair ignites in my chest along with my wolf’s howl. ‘No! We must find a wolf mate. Maybe even find our fated mate.’
‘I don’t believe in fairytales and fate,’ I reply to my wolf while holding the strigoi’s gaze. ‘La naiba! You know very well that I don’t want any woman or a relationship. They only divert your attention from what is truly important.’
‘Keep lying to yourself, human!’
I don't respond this time. For my mother, traditional family life was not enough. Women are like that. She favored expensive holidays and the bottomless coffers of affluent men over my father and me.
The divorce was messy, not because of petty squabbles, but because that’s just how divorces are. A judge cut everything right down the middle, including me, if they would have wanted me. But alas, neither of them did. They sold the house, split the money, and left me in the care of my pack.
My father quit as Alpha and went into the mountains to howl his sorrow at the moon. Before he left, he gave me a piece of advice. "Do not trust women. They will only divert your attention from what is truly important."
Like any other adolescent, I rejected his advice. I adored Lexa, but she desired to be the Alpha of the Moldova pack rather than my mate. I took my father's advice to heart when she abandoned me. I've built an empire to attract only women like my mother because I know they won't be of interest to me.
As a result of my experiences, I won't question my father's advice anymore. No more heartache or drama. I'm not the same kind of wolf as my father. Fewer things disrupt my life nowadays, mainly because grief strengthened me.
The strigoi breaks eye contact and steps back. "If you do this, the Council will be the last of your worries." Ion Corvin smiles for the first time, which creeps me out. "The Dragon taking a strigoi as his mate will outrage the entire supernatural world. Your wolves will feel betrayed–"
"I'll handle my wolves! This union only strengthens our agreement. Everyone will see that I am ready to embrace both sides, light and dark." I grin. "I'm quite aware of what I'm doing here." I take a peek around at his guards. "You and your escort are free to depart. Our meeting has ended."
He delivers a mocking humph and motions for his men to follow him. When the door shuts behind him, I realize I have been holding Laura's hand all along. I turn around and gaze at her.
She looks at the floor, not saying a single word. She seemed very eager to talk when she wasn’t supposed to. And now the cat bites her tongue?
The soft sunlight seeping through the closed curtains transforms Laura’s copper hair into a fiery mass of red shades. Her lashes cast a shadow on the few freckles that pepper her cheeks and nose.
I cup her face with both hands and force her to look me in the eyes. I'm not going to back down because they gleam so beautifully in the faint light. She's not going to get away that easy.
I force my voice to come out spiked with a hate I don’t really feel. “Now tell me. What do you have to say in your defense?”