Who Would Do Such a Thing?

*Hezzlie*

It’s dark when my eyes flutter open. I feel Rowan’s arm draped over me and breathe a sigh of relief. The last thing I remember before I fell to the ground was using my powers to toss some attacking wolves aside so that none of our people got hurt.

At least, that was the plan. I have no idea what happened after I lost consciousness.

I don’t think I’ve moved enough to disturb my fiance if he’s asleep, but he must sense that my eyes have opened because he sits up. “Hezzlie?”

“Yeah,” I whisper, my voice dry and strained. “Is everything okay?”

“For the most part,” he tells me. “We lost a couple of warriors out along the border, but everyone at the party is okay. Just a few wounded that James has patched up.”

That makes me feel slightly better, though I hate that anyone got killed. I guess that’s the way of it now. Going to war always means casualties. I turn toward Rowan and see his eyes practically glowing in the darkness. Lifting a hand, I graze it over his cheek. “I’m sorry I passed out again.”

“No need to be sorry,” he assures me. “You were incredible. If you hadn’t stepped in, we probably would’ve had a lot more people wounded–or worse. They didn’t care if they were attacking warriors or maids. They went after everyone. Bastards.”

“That sounds like my father’s men all right,” I mumble. We readjust so that I’m snuggled up next to his chest. “I can’t believe it was a coincidence that he just happened to attack on the night we were celebrating our engagement.” It all seems very lucky to me.

“This wasn’t a full fledged attack,” Rowan explains, his fingers playing over the skin between the hem of my shirt and the shorts I’m wearing. I’m hoping it was my mother who dressed me in what feels like a pajama set. “He was just feeling us out. He had to have known we were distracted.”

“How could he possibly have known that, though?” I admit, what Rowan is saying seems likely. But it doesn’t make any sense.

Rowan shakes his head. “I can’t imagine anyone within the castle tipping him off. Unless… how much do you know about Tony?”

“Tony?” I repeat. “I don’t even know if I saw him at the party. Was he there?”

“I don’t know,” Rowan admits. “I was too busy looking at you.”

I can’t help the soft smile that tugs at the corner of my mouth. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense that he would help Aiden and I escape and then contact someone inside of the castle back home to let Solomon know we were busy.”

“You’re right, it doesn’t make sense,” Rowan agrees. “But in my experience, sometimes it’s the things that make the least amount of sense that are true. Maybe your father got to him after he arrived here. He could’ve promised him he could come home, maybe a lot of money or something, if he would help him.”

“I guess.” It is plausible. I can’t think of anyone else who would have any sort of motivation whatsoever to reach out to Solomon. My brother certainly wouldn’t, and Abby seemed to be doing much better at the party. I saw her with Dean, and they seemed happy. I need to speak to her about it. Then, I’d know for sure. 

“Tony could use the mind-link,” Rowan continues. “He wouldn’t have to call anyone.”

“Do you think someone within the mansion would actually make a telephone call to my father’s castle?” That seems preposterous to me. I can’t imagine why anyone who is part of Rowan’s pack would want to tip off my horrible father about our engagement party.

“I can’t think of anyone,” he admits. “As far as I know, everyone is totally loyal to me and the pack. But I plan on checking the phone records tomorrow. If a phone call was made from here on a landline, I’ll know for sure.”

“Well, they’d have to be really stupid to use a landline to call someone in my father’s pack,” I say. “What if they used a cell phone?”

“Unless it was connected to the Wi-Fi then I probably won’t be able to trace it,” he admits. “Only a few people in the mansion have cell phones, though. We try to keep them limited because they easily become a distraction, and for the most part, the people who live and work here don’t need them. They can mind-link anyone within our pack they want to speak to. Most of the people who live here don’t even know anyone outside of the pack, except for the few people who have moved away.”

“Like Cory,” I mutter. I look up at Rowan. “There’s no way Natalie is involved in this, right?”

“I don’t think so,” he says. “Cory and his family didn’t leave out of animosity. He isn’t in your father’s territory, so I doubt they had anything to do with it.”

“At this point, it’s hard to trust anyone though, huh? I mean, it wouldn’t even necessarily have to have been someone in the mansion. Couldn’t a villager have found out about the celebration–through one of the guards or just wandering by and seeing all of the lights or something? I know there are fences between our territory and Solomon’s but there aren’t any barriers directly around the entire mansion, are there?”

“There are some,” he tells me. “But, yes, there are ways to get into the yard if you’re already in our territory without it being too difficult. It’s hard to imagine anyone who witnessed what those bastards did to our family could want to help them, but as you alluded to, it’s hard to trust anyone.”

I take a deep breath and rest my head against his shoulder. His chiseled chest doesn’t make a very soft pillow, but his embrace is warm and comforting. I just want to go back to sleep and not worry about any of this, but it’s hard to rest when I know there’s a traitor amongst us.

Rowan kisses the top of my head. “You’re still exhausted, Hezzlie. You should go back to sleep. We’ll do what we can to figure out who did this in the morning.”

Knowing he’s right, I ignore the tingles being this close to him send shooting through my body and close my eyes again. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find some evidence tomorrow that points us in the right direction. I don’t want to believe Tony or anyone else is capable of stabbing us in the back like this, but it seems pretty clear that someone did. And since Rowan has literally been stabbed in the front before, he probably doesn’t take kindly to any kind of stabbing at all.

Eventually, I drift off to sleep and dream of what Rowan and I were in the middle of doing before we got word about the attack. Whoever did this should be punished just for interrupting that moment. 

In my dream, it is beautiful.