The Scarred Prince (The Wolf's Pet Book One) (4 page)

“Maybe next year,” I said.

“But it’s the ceremony this year!” Ana sighed. I hugged her tightly, but I couldn’t help think that everyone, no matter who, cared more about Blaise and the stupid alpha ceremony than me. I left Ana with a promise that I would steal her some of the candies from the dessert table for tomorrow.

Back at the house, Dee helped me get ready for the feast. My gown lay on the bed. It was made out of the softest green silk I’d ever touched, and Dee had sewn in gold lace to edge the hem. I really did look like a princess in it. But before I dressed, I had to tame my frizzed-up hair.

“They always talk about
becoming a woman
, whatever the heck that means,” I said. “Blaise doesn’t ever get pressured about becoming a man and starting a family.”

“They’re just worried about you,” Dee said. She pulled my hair back, braiding it on the side with her deft fingers. A strand caught in the braid and yanked at my scalp. I winced but didn’t say anything. Hopefully my hair wouldn’t look like a giant cheese puff like it sometimes did.

“Well, they can cut it out. I’m fine.”

“I’m sure you are. But you are growing up. It’s time to start being responsible,” Dee said.

“Responsible for what?”

“Your family,” she said, moving around to the other side and starting the second braid. “Your relationships. Part of getting older is deciding what you should be responsible for, and stepping up.”

“Blaise is the one with responsibilities. He’s going to be a terrible alpha.”

“Then it’s a good thing you’ll be around to help out.” Dee said.

“I don’t want to help out. If I’m going to do everything for him, I might as well just be alpha. It’s not fair.”

“Nothing is very fair, Kinaya.” She paused, and I smelled a hint of disappointment. “But we have it better than most.”

I felt ashamed of myself. My fingers clenched together in my lap.

“Yes, Dee,” I said.

She smiled at me in the mirror, and I smiled back weakly. Dee had tamed my hair into something that didn’t look like I had stuck my finger into a light socket. It was sleek, two braids running across the crown of my head. The rest of my hair was pulled back with a clip that Dee lent me. It was made out of mahogany, a shade darker red than my hair, and it was carved with an ornate design.

“It’s alright. You know that you need to be responsible. You’re already way ahead of Blaise in that regard,” she whispered, winking.

Yes, that was true. I was a thousand times more responsible than Blaise was. So what if he was alpha in name? I could be better than him. I had an inkling of hope that I’d be able to keep myself from dwelling too much on Blaise tonight. I didn’t need to focus on him. I would focus on myself.

By the time I pulled on my dress, I was feeling much better. Better, and nervous.

“Are you ready to go?”

“You bet,” I said. My stomach flip-flopped with anxiety as I finished touching up my makeup. I looked older. Maybe not old enough to lead the pack, but much older than I felt. Inside, I was nervous as hell.

We walked on the trail through the forest to the longhouse. The sun was beginning to set and I hadn’t brought a jacket. Dee wrapped her arm around my shoulder and squeezed.

“Almost there,” she said. The trail had never taken so long to walk before.

“It’s my birthday,” I whispered. Up ahead, I could see the longhouse glowing from the inside. The candles flickered through the windowpanes. And the scent…

Everybody inside was happy. A warm feeling of joy and contentment spread from the longhouse. It was so vivid that it seemed more than just a smell to me. It was like an aura. And I belonged in there.

At the doorway, I took a deep breath. Dee was looking back toward the trail.

“Are you worried about Blaise?” I asked. “He’ll come.”

“No, it’s not that,” Dee said. Her eyes were troubled. I didn’t know why. The only smells around were good smells.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” she said, turning back with a broad smile on her face. “A silly feeling, that’s all. You go have fun! I’m going back to the house and make sure your brother comes along.”

“Okay,” I said.

When I entered the longhouse, heads turned to look at me, like a wave of people recognizing me for the first time. I could hear gasps of astonishment. I couldn’t help the grin sliding over my face. This was my birthday feast, and I would enjoy it.

I made my way across the dance floor to the head table. My mom and dad were already sitting at the chairs on the raised stage, and I stepped up to sit beside them.

“You look absolutely radiant,” Mom said.

“Even I can tell that,” Damien said. “The scents of some of these boys when you walked in! I might have to fight them off for you, Kinaya.”

I reached over and squeezed his arm, and he patted me on the hand. My heart swelled. This was a wonderful feast. A perfect birthday. At least…

“Happy birthday!”

Cheers rose from the front of the longhouse. I could feel my grin disappearing as Blaise came tumbling in through the door with Erroll, his hair all mussed up from sparring. He hadn’t even bothered to comb it! I frowned as he strode boldly across the floor and plunked himself down next to me. He reached across my plate for the dinner rolls.

“Manners, Blaise,” I said coldly.

“Aw, come on, sis. Happy birthday!” He hugged me roughly as he leaned even farther over to get the butter. “When I’m alpha, I won’t care about silly rules like that.”

“Right,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Hey, where’s the cider? I’m allowed to drink that now, right, Dad?”

“I’m sure it’ll be the first time you taste it,” my dad said sarcastically. “Don’t get too soused, Blaise. Three cups at most. Your mother and I aren’t going to drag your body home at the end of the night.”

“Want any, sis? Oh wait, I forgot. You don’t
ever
want to get drunk. That’s fine. Just fine.”

“You know what?” I said. “It is fine. And I’ll remind you of that fact when you’re retching up your pancakes tomorrow morning because you’re hung over.”

“Children,” my mom said warningly.

“I didn’t do it!” Blaise got up from his chair. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave you alone for the rest of the night. Hey, your boyfriend is coming,” he said, nudging me.

I looked up sharply. Will was strolling over to the head table, a nervous look on his face.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I hissed at Blaise. But Blaise was already jumping down from the raised stage, leaving me at the head table with no excuse and nowhere to go.

Will was dressed in an overly large suit. Probably his dad’s. The sleeves hung down to the knuckles of his fingers, and he seemed lost in the huge jacket. I sighed as he dropped in front of me with an exaggerated bow.

“Happy birthday, Kinaya. Care to dance?” Will asked.

I pinched a smile and held out my hand. If I was anything, I wasn’t rude.

Chapter Six

As Will led me to the dance floor, I started feeling a bit better. The music was a fun, upbeat song, and I didn’t have to slow dance with him at all. He had practiced his steps a lot, and I was actually the one who stepped on his toes once or twice. I apologized, but he only beamed at me. He was so focused on the dance that he didn’t even talk to me, so it wasn’t as awkward as I imagined. Heck, by the time the musicians stopped, I was actually beginning to enjoy myself.

“Let me get you a drink,” Will said. He came back with a mug of cider. I darted a glance over to my parents. Like she could read my mind, my mom glanced over at me and winked. I smiled. Okay. Blaise wasn’t the only one who could have fun at our birthday feast. I sipped at the cider. It was hot, with mulled spices, and it stung only a little as it went down my throat. After a few sips, I felt a pleasant warm feeling in my stomach. I gazed over the crowd in the longhouse. Plenty of people were dancing now, and I could barely see my parents behind the head table. Everything felt right. More than right. It felt wonderful.

Turning back, I was surprised to see Erroll standing next to me.

“Dance?” he asked, holding out his hand.

At first I narrowed my eyes. Was this one of Erroll and Blaise’s tricks? But I put down my mug on the side table and let him lead me out to the dance floor anyway.

The musicians dropped into a slower rhythm. The sound of the violin stretched out, singing through the bright longhouse. Erroll put his arms around me and swayed slowly.

“If you put a kick me sign on my back,” I whispered, “I’ll kill you and Blaise both.”

“Me?” Erroll looked sincerely shocked. “I would never.”

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.

“Okay, maybe I would. But that was seventh grade.” Erroll grinned. “Don’t judge me forever for one mistake.”

“One mistake? How about the time you put a frog down the front of my shirt? Or the time you and Blaise and Francis convinced me that mud pies were actually delicious if you said magic words while you made them?”

Erroll burst out laughing.

“I remember that,” he said. “Who knew that such a stupid little kid could become a beautiful woman?”

His arms pulled me closer, and I could feel his broad chest radiating warmth. For a moment, my voice caught in my throat.

Me? Beautiful?
I clamped my lips shut and let him lead, trying desperately not to step on his toes. I didn’t know if this was another prank he was playing, but it didn’t seem like it.

Erroll was already chatting away about something else, and I lost myself in the conversation about when we were children. I didn’t know if he was flirting with me just because it was my birthday, or because I was the alpha’s daughter, or what. I guess it didn’t matter. I was enjoying myself. Once, I looked over and saw Marianne in the corner giving us the stink eye.

Urg. Relationships were so
hard
. I wanted to tell her that he had asked me to dance, but I don’t know if that would only make things worse. I knew that Granny Dee wanted me to reach out to other people, but it seemed like I always made the wrong move.

Whatever. I decided I didn’t care. I was enjoying myself. Weirdly enough, I was enjoying dancing with Erroll. I thought about the pack. Maybe I could make my own way here, somehow. The scent of Erroll filled my nose, and I leaned against him.

A strange scent came to my nose.

“Do you smell that?”

“Smell what?”

“Did you douse me with some kind of hormone perfume?” I said, frowning as I pushed myself away from him. Erroll stopped dancing.

“Seriously, Kinaya, I don’t smell anything.”

I sniffed again. I couldn’t recognize the scent. No, it wasn’t coming from inside. It was a strange wolf, someone not from our pack. It made my nostrils twitch.

“What’s the matter?”

I twisted my head to see my parents at the great table. My mom had a strange look on her face and she was whispering to my dad. He nodded, a frown creasing his forehead.

“Something’s not right,” I said. Erroll let go of my hand, and I made my way towards the head table. I could smell the strange scent, and also the scent of my parents—something strong. Fear. My mother reached out and took my hand as I slid into the chair next to her.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Kinaya—”

The door burst open. Everybody turned as the wind howled through the doorway. The music stopped.

There was a man standing in the doorway. Filling the doorway. He was cloaked in black robes, a black scarf covering his hair.

“Where is the alpha of this pack?”

I glanced over and saw Blaise at the buffet, his eyes paralyzed with fear. He didn’t step forward. Instead, my dad stood up behind the great table. He raised his hands, palms up, in the pack greeting of welcome.

This man wasn’t welcome. He shouldn’t have been welcome. Nobody at the feast knew him. His strange scent spelled nothing but worry. And yet my father stood, a great honor to a guest, and waited with arms outstretched.

“Come forward,” Damien said. His voice boomed across the longhouse.

The man strode deliberately up to the table. His long black robes flowed as he moved, the end of his black scarf trailing behind him. He was tall, and even with the table up on the raised stage, he seemed to tower over us. The two security guards stepped forward quickly from behind the great table, their hands at their wolf bone knives.

It was the first time I could remember feeling like my dad’s guards were not strong enough. I was afraid.

The man’s eyes were a fierce blue. He glowered at my dad, and I realized the benefit Dad had in being blind. My dad couldn’t see the glare that the wolf was giving him; couldn’t be cowered by his size or demeanor. He could tell only what he smelled: that this man was dangerous. Past that, he was not afraid. Even blindness can be an advantage.

“What is your business here?” my dad asked.

“I am a messenger.”

His voice was hard and low. His words had a strange accent to them, and the ends of the words were clipped off. His tone, too, was anything but reverent. As though he was not used to speaking to an alpha. Every wolf in the pack gave my dad respect, but this man… I didn’t think he respected anyone.

“What message do you bear?”

“To ask for your surrender.”

The crowd burst into animated whispers. One woman sat down, her hand pressed to her forehead, as though about to faint. Another woman cried out in fear. The swirl of scents had turned in an instant. The warmth of the room had changed to a cold fear. I could smell them all twisting through the air. The fear of the unknown. A murmur of disquiet rose from the crowd.

Then Dad held up one hand and the room went quiet.

“Usually a pack must be fighting with someone before they’re asked to surrender,” he said. “We are not at war.”

“If you do not surrender, you will be. The Scarred Prince is coming.”

The fear turned to terror. In my pounding heart, though, there was an edge of curiosity.
The Scarred Prince?
I’d thought he was a myth, nothing more. But my Dad spoke to the messenger as though he was real.