Chapter 16: A Broken Promise

[Dove]
So my husband left me in the middle of the dance floor.

I know men are creatures of few words but this is too much. Moving away from the dance floor, I contemplated whether to throw Cole over a cliff or remove Beef Wellington from our meals.

Megan came into my view. She was staring at something - or someone - and her face was clearly upset. Following her line of gaze, I saw Jude in a dark corner, hugging and kissing another woman.

My eyes swung back to Megan and she turned and ran. I followed her.

I found her outside the village, sobbing quietly. Despite her effortless threats, I stayed with her. We chatted for a long while on the scratchy grass in the comfort of the glowing round moon above the stretch of distant mountains as waves of the night cool breeze flooded through us.

I thanked her suggestion of playing a fast song after two slow ones to keep the celebratory mood; she confessed that she was using Cole to get back at me because she thought that Jude liked me.

“No, he doesn’t!” I exclaimed back.

With enlarged eyes, she said, “How would you know?”

“He helped me, you know, work things out with Cole.”

At this point, I was missing the giant and wondered where he went. I was still mad at him for leaving me without a word - and I told Megan.

“Jude’s the same,” Megan whispered helplessly.

We decided to join forces and shake these men up. I will share what I learned about Jude from our conversations; Megan will tell me stories about Cole. It was a special moment for me as I have always wanted a sister.

When Megan left, I returned to the mansion. Cole's room was dark; he was still out.

The garden air turned chilly. I folded my arms, stared at his black windows, and frowned.

His behaviour today was erratic. One moment he was all gentle and nice, the next moment he flipped into an asshole. Hands slapped across my mouth. Oh Goddess, I had been swearing a lot lately.


******


[Cole]
Cole was facing two battles. One from the outside.

One from home.

Dove was becoming more irresistible and he had been lost in the whirlwind of mate-nonsense until she mentioned his scent. Her words slapped him awake. He is clear-headed now.

Cole clenched his hand and gritted his teeth - he would not mark Dove. He will not take a mate. He will fight that damn deity till the end. Nothing will change his mind - not the elders or Dove or her tantalizing fragrance.

“So the elders were quiet throughout the meeting?”

Cole lifted his gaze and Jude was rubbing his chin, thinking.

“Did you manage to speak to Elder Jave?” Jude asked again.

Owin nodded. “But he didn’t know what the rumor was about.”

Jude bobbed his head as he leaned against his seat. “Sounds like something is brewing.”

Cole studied his Beta and said, “You mean a battle?” Jude nodded and Cole explained to the confused Owin, “Things were as quiet before the Night Whispers Pack and the Silver Claw Pack battled.”

Owin smacked his hands in revelation and exclaimed, “And between the Red Night Pack and the Blue Howlers Pack too. I get it.”

Cole turned to Jude.

“The calmest sea is the deadliest. We could even be the target. We need to increase our training.”

Knowing that Cole was referring to the new warriors, Jude nodded solemnly and said, “I’ll form a core team; the strongest five to start training with the elders.”

He was going to kill two birds with one stone, Cole thought and returned him an approving nod. Putting the five cubs with the elders would speed up their training and then motivate the others, boosting their fighting spirit.

Cole turned to Owin and gave him the task to get to the bottom of the rumor. The Gamma accepted with his usual smile.

“I’ll check with Megan on our resources. We start planning now,” Cole announced and his trusted warriors agreed immediately. The pack nearly starved in the last battle; they wouldn’t let it happen again.

The meeting ended swiftly. As his Beta and Gamma strolled out in a heated discussion about the best sparring partner among the new fighters, Cole saw Patrick outside his study and invited him in.

Patrick dashed in with a nervous eye and reported in a low dreaded voice, “Cole, I think we have an intruder.”

Cole snarled, “Who is it?” How did that son of a witch get in? The guards were at their posts and the security was in place as always.

“Did we catch him?”

Patrick shook his head and said, “We only found footprints.”

“Where?”

“At the hedges,” Patrick answered truthfully and rattled on, “I saw them this morning. They had faded but I could tell that they were footprints. They went through the hedges. No one here would go beyond the hedges; it’s forbidden. So it must have been an intruder.”

Cole tried to hide his surprise.

"We will investigate it," Cole assured the elder and then asked casually, "Have you told anyone about this?"

Patrick shook his head.

"No Cole. I thought we shouldn't alarm the pack until we are sure what's going on."

"I agree with you," Cole returned a smile and Patrick's eyes brightened with pride.

As he walked Patrick to the door, Cole reminded, "Don't tell anyone about this, Patrick."

"I won't, Cole, I trust you to take care of it. If it was one of our cubs, make sure that poor thing learns its lesson. That place is forbidden for a reason - it’s dangerous," Patrick said like a naggy loving father.

Cole closed the door, dragged his feet to his seat and plonked onto it with a heavy sigh. His second battle would be a tough one.

He knew the footprints were Dove’s. He had followed her that night when she first went into the cave.

He couldn’t help it - it’s the Alpha’s job to know everything about his pack and the village. When she approached him about the deity, he noticed her good intentions and decided to keep her rule-breaking trip a secret. Then she promised to drop the ‘Goddess’ talk and he was moved by it.

But she went to the cave again.

Cole turned to the window with a narrowed gaze and growled at the invisible moon, “Your trick has failed us again.”