50. Creating Rifts

“I would have loved to see you take another bite out of him, trinket,” Taos mused cheerily as he held aside the curtain of vines back into the tunnel for Sona to enter first. 
Edom had Shifted back into his base form, fully clothed thanks to the tunic he had on him, and walked behind Taos with a blazing torch to light the way. Its crackling and hissing echoed off the walls accompanied by the dancing shadows. “I would have loved if we weren’t in this fucking situation at all,” he grumbled. 
Sona’s lips quirked as she picked her way down the rocky path. “I wonder who caused it in the first place. And I did not plan on doing such a thing, Taos.”
The Alpha *hmph*ed in disappointment at her lack of enthusiasm for tearing apart extremities. “Healers! I’ll never understand your concept of fun.”
She rolled her eyes. “We have plenty of fun without shedding blood.”
“Is that so?” he purred, hand brushing her hip. “Tell me how I can pleasure you in every aspect, dear.”
Behind them, Edom’s noise of disgust made Sona shrink in embarrassment. 
She swatted Taos’ hand away, which made him make his own noise of protest. “Gamma Edom, I would appreciate your silence when I am speaking to my betrothed—your future Luna, whom you will answer to whether you like it or not.”
His tone was light but the warning was not. It was odd that a male many years younger was bossing around an older one. Sona was sure Edom, despite his loyalty to the Redbone family, had to hold a grudge over that. Though there was no grudge larger than the one he held for a Goldwater taking the throne.
*Future Luna*. It sent a shiver of adrenaline down Sona’s spine every time Taos brought it up—and he always brought it up on purpose. There really was no escaping it, was there? No escaping him.
“Wait.”
Taos’ hand closed around her arm, jerking her to a stop. She knew he didn’t mean to be rough as she spun around. But it alerted her attention to her own grave mistake. *Oh no. As if he couldn’t hate me more*.
“Did I just hear her say…*who caused it in the first place*?”
“Taos, it’s okay, it’s over now—”
  “It is anything but *okay*, trinket,” Taos growled, “because I would like to know the details of this *‘fucking situation*.’”
*I have to diffuse this*, Sona thought frantically. She grabbed Taos’ stupidly large muscled arm and tried to tug him away from Edom. Obviously she was no match for even that. “Never mind that! How did you find me?”
“Your scent.” His voice was deadpan. “I could follow it anywhere.”
That stunned her speechless for a moment. 
Edom’s voice was equally dark and flat. “I am preserving the remnants of a legacy, my Alpha. Keeping its past intact. I am acting on undying loyalty to the Redbone pack. Something you seemed to forget about the moment a large-breasted, outspoken bit—”
Taos swung an arm. Sona flinched at the sound of bone cracking—and spun toward the wall to avoid being splashed by the wave of water that came from Edom’s body crashing into it. 
“Finish that word!” roared Taos as Edom surfaced, spitting out the dirty water. “I fucking dare you to forget your own promise! Loyalty to our pack? My family’s legacy? As you stand there not regretting the pain you just put her through? She is to be my *wife*. Your *Luna*. How many times do I have to fucking repeat myself for it to get through your thick damned skull?”
The Alpha paused. Edom made no move to get out of the river or even speak. The two males just stared each other down. Sona decided it wasn’t a good idea to come between them, even when she itched to fix the Gamma’s jaw that was dislocated and needed to be put back in place.
She felt Taos’ anger like a heat wave roiling off his skin as he continued. “This is a yes or no question I am about to ask you, Gamma Edom Royan. Answer with any other words and I will generously give you the choice of two options: banishment or castration.”
Sona whirled on him. “Taos!” 
“Not now, dear,” he rumbled. He was so upset that he didn’t even acknowledge her tugging at his arm. “I am busy protecting my status as an Alpha—pulling rank on a misbehaving packmate.”
Edom, while equally furious, seemed otherwise unbothered. He slicked his hair out of his face and snorted. “Misbehaving. As if *I’m* the younger, less experienced male in a place of power. Please, my lord, ask your question.”
“Get out of there.”
“You put me here, Alpha.”
“Well get *the fuck out*.”
“Of course, Alpha.”
His condescending tone made Sona’s spine stiffen. Even the most simpleminded wolf knew to never disrespect an Alpha, especially to their face, lest they want to risk the cruelest of consequences. Sona had never seen Artem be disrespected and was never anger-prone; he was not the kind to punish. But Taos? What was he capable of? Would he really be so severe to enact either of those punishments to a werewolf who dedicated his entire life to protect and guide him? Could he be so heartless? 
All because of her. She was creating rifts in relationships left and right. None of it was intentional on her part; it was the last thing she ever wanted to do to anyone. First between Conri, then Arden, and now she was diving Taos and Edom. She knew so little about them by themselves, let alone what they meant to each other, but she did know that they *did* mean a great deal to one another.
*Everything’s so fucked up. How in the moon goddess’ heaven and hell can I fix any of it?*
*Perseverance*, Sona’s conscious told her derisively. *Patience. Time. What else?*
She rolled her eyes inwardly. Great, she just loved arguing with herself.
*I just have to prove myself worthy*.
Edom, sopping wet, climbed out and approached Taos, who opened his mouth and started to growl, but Sona stepped quickly between them to face the Gamma. Both males made noises of protest, Taos grabbing her arm, but she stood her ground and glared up into dark, angry gray eyes. 
“We’ve both gone through a lot of shit,” she said with as much conviction as she could muster. “Especially lately. But for *his* sake, we need to make this work. Starting with mutual apologies. And a promise on my part: I will do my best to—”
“Hold on, dear,” Taos interrupted loudly. “I have to ask my question first.”
“Taos—”
“Yes or no answer, Edom. Did you trade with Conri fucking Grayhide—did you sell Sona Mai in exchange for my father’s ashes?"