57
Tony
The fury was roiling in me, but I couldn’t shift. The silver still pulsing through my body kept it at bay.
“You can’t—”
I turned to look at our beta. “Stay.”
I turned to look at the rest of the room. “The rest of you. Leave.”
They each looked confused. I let out a growl that had them quickly leaving quickly. I turned back to Dagon and Lucy. I didn’t spare her more than a glance as the sight of her over there eating so calmly only made me more furious.
She was our mate. How could she do this to us?
“Before we start,” Dagon said. “You’ll each need to swear an oath—”
“I’m not swearing anything,” Matt growled. “You’re overstepping your rights. You’re just a liaison. You don’t have any authority over what we do within our own Pack.”
Dagon smiled. “Should I take that as a refusal to enter into a Liaison Call?”
Matt growled, “You—”
“Matt,” I cut in, glaring at Dagon. “Stop. Swear the oath so we can get this over with. If the Council can use this against us, they will.”
But Lucy is our mate. They don’t have the right!
And that’s where all those hours of skipping your lessons have come back to bite you. I clenched my jaw. We have no idea what Lucy told him. He knows we bought her from an auction. It doesn’t matter that we saved her from a worse fate, just that we’ve broken the law… And apparently, she has a problem with it.
That woman has poisoned her against us.
It will be fine. The punishment is little more than a fine since she’s eighteen. We’ll get this over with and get back to ensuring that Lucy accepts her place with us.
Matt went still beside me before he growled. “Fine.”
Dagon slid the glass board to our side of the table. Our beta swore first. Then, Matt. Then, me. When I passed it back to him, a gleaming orb expanded from the tablet and filled the room.
Lucy glanced around with wide, curious eyes as she ate.
Dagon sat back. “Here are the stipulations of conduct between Alpha Tony and Alpha Matt of the Blue Moon Pack with Miss Lucy Graves.”
I frowned. Graves? It should be Chance.
Chance was the last name we used in the human world. I glanced at Lucy before returning my gaze to Matt.
“Miss Graves will be allowed access to a full supernatural education as provided and designated by the Supernatural Council. If she so chooses, she will be given a full human education fitting enough to prepare her for a GED examination and potentially attending human university if she chooses. In addition, she will be given an SCF discreet communication device to ensure ease of communication and access to Miss Graves to check up on her status….”
The more he spoke, the harder it was to hold back from growling. I felt Matt getting more and more tense beside me. Our beta said nothing, but when he reached the last bit, I fucking lost it.
“Furthermore, unless initiated and explicitly requested, agreed upon verbally, by Miss Graves, will not interact with the running of the pack, fulfilling any luna-related duties, or being sexually involved with either of you.”
The roar that shook the room echoed and shook the walls. I couldn’t be sure who it was as both of us jumped to our feet.
“You can’t tell us what to do with our mate!”
Lucy went pale. Dagon didn’t pause. He merely turned to Lucy. “Dr. Bluescale will be waiting just outside for you while I finish this if you wish to go.”
I pushed away from the chair, but a wall went up between me and the side of the table. I bounced back and growled, shoving at the wall.
Lucy set her fork down, pushed back from the table, and scurried out of the room.
“Lucy! Come back! Lucy!” I growled, putting every bit of compulsion I could manage into my voice. “Stop!”
She walked out of the room and out of sight, and everything in me was frozen in shock.
She didn’t… even hesitate, Matt said. Tony, what… What does that mean?
I was shaken. I stumbled back into my seat and sank into my seat, unable to understand what had just happened. How could any wolf, let alone a female wolf, not just resist my command but seem to blatantly ignore it?
I don’t know, Matt.
I didn’t listen to much else that Dagon had to say. The oath would force me and Matt to adhere to the demands he was putting forth on her behalf. Being dictated to irritated me so much I could barely speak, but when Dagon finally left, it was just me, Matt, and our beta there. He looked uncomfortable.
Matt was antsy, and I didn’t move from my seat.
“She’s our mate,” Matt growled, huffing. His eyes filled with tears. “You felt it, Tony. I felt it. We’re not crazy.”
I rubbed my head and poured myself a glass of wine. I gestured to our beta.
“Sit. We need to talk.”
He sank into a chair, staring at the table. His jaw was clenched so tight that I could see the muscle straining in his cheek.
“What is it?” I asked as I took a drink.
“I’m just… I’ve never had to swear an oath like that.”
I set my jaw. “It’s why I only had the three of us do it. It’s taxing.”
And it completely undermined an alpha’s authority in the pack. If one of us ordered something to be done, even with our alpha compulsion, it could be overridden if they thought the order went against the oath.
“What would you have me do, alpha?”
I looked at Matt, who looked distressed. I could feel his desire to go find Lucy and demand answers.
“For now…” I set my jaw. “We comply.”
Later that evening, I went upstairs to find the workers working on the luna’s chambers. The doorways were mostly done. All that was missing was a bit of paint. I eyed the two doors. Matt came up behind me.
“Where is she?” Matt asked.
“I don’t know… I assume with the doctor.”
I turned away and headed down the stairs. I did my best to try to keep calm as I reached the doors of Yvonne’s chambers. I took a deep breath and knocked.
A few moments later, Dagon answered it. I grit my teeth and glared at him.
“I’m here to speak to Lucy.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “I’ll ask her if she wants to speak to you.”
I swallowed another growl. “If she’s here as a refugee, as you said, then I have the right to tell her about what arrangements I’m allowing her.”
He chuckled. “So that’s how you’re going to play it?”
He shrugged and closed the door in my face. It took every bit of restraint in me not to put my fist through the door. The gash in my side throbbed like a warning.
Then, the door opened. Dagon stepped aside and led us into the main area of the doctor’s chambers. Lucy was sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands and a blanket around her. On the table was a stack of books I recognized from the Supernatural Academy.
“We have those books here in the library already,” I said. “You didn’t need to bring her copies.”
“It seems like you need the books more than she does if you’ve already forgotten that she has to have the most up-to-date version to be in compliance with the current Council’s standards,” Dagon said. “You said you were here to inform Miss Graves of her arrangements?”
I glared at her and turned to Lucy. She didn’t look at me. Her hands clenched around the cup.
“The luna’s chambers will be where you’re staying. They’ll be complete by tomorrow. You’ll be eating meals with Matt and I, and… to comply with the Council’s requirements for socialization, you’ll be attending the human events we will be attending over the next few weeks.”
She lifted her head and swallowed. “I don’t want to stay in the luna’s chamber. I’m not luna.”
I clenched my hand. “There are no other rooms I’m opening for you.”
“You can have my guest room,” Yvonne said, looking at her nails. “If that’s comfortable for you, Lucy. There’s a desk and everything. And you can, of course, eat with me whenever you like.”
I glared at her.
Lucy nodded. “That would be great.”
Before I could speak, my phone chimed. I pulled it out and opened the email. I turned.
“I’ll deal with the rest of this later,” I growled and left, dialing the number of my contact with the Supernatural Council. I got to a room down the hall.
She answered quickly. “I thought you’d want to know as soon as possible.”
“How long do we have?”
“The date isn’t set yet, but… no more than a month, I’d wager. I’ll give you more details as it gets closer.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up and rested my head back against the wall with a deep sigh.
What’s wrong? I thought you were coming back with—
Dad is getting out… in a month at most.
A moment passed before Matt replied.
Fuck.
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