It felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. The panic made it hard to breathe. My chest was so tight that it felt like an elephant was sitting on it. At least he was finally being upfront with me. “So, what’s next?”
“We’re all behind you, but I’ve a feelin’ that the Hoels will be a problem. That the coven will be a bigger problem. But we’re all behind you,” Donovan said. “Except Ferdinand. He’s been causing problems.”
“Ferdinand?”
“One of the Seven.”
I looked around the room. I’d made a really great first impression on the old man. His skin was so wrinkled that he looked a little like a Shar Pei. His eyes were bloodshot, giving him a sickened look. Whoever this guy was, he wasn’t doing well. Something was wrong with him.
“This is Muraco, another member of the council of Seven,” Mr. Dawson said with a small smile.
Oh, that was just fantastic. I’d flipped out in front of one of the guys who would be deciding my fate. I stared at him for a moment before looking back at Mr. Dawson. “What can I do?”
“What do you want?”
“To stay here. To be with Dastien. For everyone to leave me alone.”
I suddenly realized why Muraco being so visibly old was so shocking. I’d never seen an old-looking Were. They always seemed young despite whatever their ages were. But Muraco looked ancient, and his skin reeked of leather and tobacco.
He leaned forward over the table and it was like everyone paused as we waited to hear what he would say.
“No one with any amount of power will ever be left alone. You might’ve seen it before you moved this way. Humans were drawn to you. Maybe not in the way you would’ve hoped, but they didn’t leave you alone, did they? And the second Dastien saw you, he couldn’t leave you alone. You can’t walk into a room without everyone looking at you. It will always be that way. More so now that you’re both alpha and witch. You will be a magnet for all things. The sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.” Muraco coughed, hacking loudly. I found myself holding my breath, waiting for the noise to stop.
Sebastian handed him a glass of water. “Here you go, old friend.”
Muraco downed the water, and then cleared his throat. “But keeping you with your mate, that is something that we should be able to achieve.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Okay.” For whatever reason, I trusted him—maybe it was the age or the aura of wisdom around him. “Okay,” I said again, as I let his words sink in.
The book had been pretty clear about the rules. No exceptions. It contradicted what everyone else had said, but three of the Seven were saying that I was the exception to the inexcusable act: turning an innocent who hadn’t been approved by the pack. The abomination was punishable by death in all cases. Sometimes both people involved were killed, but the biter was always executed.
There was nothing worse than ignorance. I swore I’d read every book I could about the coven and the pack. I couldn’t be left in the dark anymore. Sure, for a while my ignorance had been pardonable. It’d been more than I could do to adjust to this new life. But that time had passed.
Dastien stood from the table, still holding the book I’d thrown at him.
I’m sorry, I said through our bond as he crossed the room to me.
No. I’m the one who’s sorry. I haven’t forgotten that this is all happening because of me.
“Is it really, though? Is it really all happening because of you? Or is it because of me?”
Muraco waved his hand through the air. “People do what they do. We’re all responsible for our own actions. Now, we should go over what you’re going to say tonight.”
“Okay.” I sat on the arm of the couch. “I was going to talk about what it was like to transition. The change and overwhelming emotions of the wolf. And about Dastien and our bond.” Dastien stood next to me, his hand in mine.
“You also might want to think up some counterarguments for anything Luciana could come up with,” Mr. Dawson said.
That seemed like a good idea. And I knew who I should call. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner. I blamed my procrastination. “I’m going to head out. Sorry for interrupting.” I headed out the door before anyone could stop me, but as soon as I stepped on the front stoop, Dastien had his hand on my arm.
“Where’re you going?”
If I was going to gain the confidence I needed to get this speech done, it wasn’t going to be in a room full of alphas. I needed to be somewhere that I felt safe. “I’m going to go talk to my dad.”