Biting my tongue, I sat there, not saying a word. I could make this rather ugly, really quickly, but it wasn’t worth it in the long run. I would still be stuck here. I just didn’t understand why he needed to act like such a donkey about some things. He wanted me here with him. James looked like he was debating whether to approach this gently or serve him what he deserved.
“William, that is hardly the way to speak to people.” Henry scolded him.
James looked at me, and then back at William before he crossed his arms, his whole demeanour changing. It gave me goosebumps.
“When we leave, you’re letting go of King Elias and his people. He will leave—--“
William trembled, and the growl that rumbled from his chest was terrifying. He yanked me against his chest, his arm locked around me, and I could feel each rumble from his chest. James crossed his arms and spoke.
“When did you feed him? How long has this blood bond been active? Why did you leave this out of the details you told me, Henry?”
“It wasn’t important—-“
“It is important. William is bonding with Elias.”
Pushed up against his chest, his heartbeat was pounding. It was loud and hard to ignore, no matter where I seemed to put my focus. Closing my eyes, I let myself focus on the sound alone, and everything seemed to drift out.
William startled me when he spoke.
“Touch, or even think about taking my war prize and I will treat you no differently than those who came before you, James. Whether or not you saved my life then.”
“Elias is not a war prize. He is a victim of—-“
“Victim!” William spit the word out, as if it was the worst thing to have graced his mouth.
“If you dislike me so much, why did you let me feed from you? You had to know something like this would happen. You seem to know everything else!” I hissed. Finally, unable to hold my tongue any longer, pushing out of his arms.
“Let you feed?” He spit out with such anger. He was quick to speak again.
“I didn’t let you feed. I tried to stop you from feeding on that woman in the middle of my dining hall, and you bit into me.” He snapped. That honestly sounded more like the truth than the events that happened. Even though I had pushed out of William’s arms, he was keeping me within reach of them.
Lowering my eyes, I looked at my hands. Emotions swirling inside me again, ones I would have been happy to let fester if not for the small reminder in my head that I was not the only one who could feel my emotions. My emotions were not private.
“How long will this last?” I said, my voice almost being swallowed up by the other conversations in the hall.
“For a week, a few, maybe a month. It’s different with everyone, but it’s important that you don’t feed from William again if—---” James was cut off, when William’s low growl became a snarl. One had all my nerves on higher alert than they were before.
“Stop interfering with my business.” William snapped.
“William, I highly suggest you lose that tone when you speak to my mate. Otherwise, we are going to settle this in ways I promise will hurt.” Henry said, his voice low but getting everyone’s attention.
I felt something flip inside of William, and I reached out for him, but he shoved me away and his eyes were bright yellow, darkening to black. James looked more frustrated than anything.
“Henry this isn’t—--”
“This is out of your hands now. I’m dealing with it.” Henry said, still gently speaking with his mate, James, despite the darkening of his own eyes.
Another large male was directing them out of the hall. My people looked and watched, but didn’t get out of their seats, and head outside after them, like the werewolves did. James sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Are you not going to make sure Henry is ok?”
“No. This is normal. Not the first time Henry had corrected William’s behaviour and it won’t be the last. All these wolves are only watching because Henry is going to hand William his ass, along with a few sore spots. Last time, he broke William’s shoulder. They will be back to normal in a few hours and—--”
Moving from the spot on the floor, I could hear growling, and this wasn’t like the growling before. This was more animal than human. I could smell the blood as they clashed. William darted at Henry and I yelled for him to stop. Really not sure why I did. But it was enough for William to look at me, and I watched Henry sink his teeth into William and he yelped. Both in wolf form. When Henry pulled away, his teeth were stained with William’s blood.
Worried about William and that bite, I shoved through the few werewolves and right into where they were fighting. Against what should have been my better judgement, when Henry got close to William again, I punched him in the snout. He reeled back, confused by the strike, his eyes narrowing on me, and he stepped close to William again.
“I will hit you again. You’ve hurt him enough. I will be the one who someone gets blamed for this, so enough—---”
William nipped the hand I had dangling by his face, and I turned around, nailing him in the end of the nose too. William shifted back. He was livid, too. Henry shifted back, and James brought him a blanket to cover up, one for William too. I took the blanket from James, closing the space between William and I.
“Here, cover up.”
“You punched me.” He snarled.
“Yes. I did.”
“What the hell is wrong with you!” He snarled.
He yanked the blanket from me so roughly I fell over into the snow. James helped me up, not without earning a growl from William. Henry then lectured me about werewolves and about how getting in the way like I did would only get me and the other person hurt worse.
Turning my attention back to William, I asked to see his wound, and he growled at me. He was still freely bleeding. I could smell the blood.
“You’re still bleeding, I can smell—-”
“Fucking leech.” He snarled.
Taking a deep breath, I turned on my heel and walked away. I was well aware of him screaming at me. But I didn’t care. The thought of running away was there, but I was too pissed off to do that.
Slamming the door on the cabin. I stomped to the fireplace, tossing a few of the logs beside it into the fire. Sitting down, I stared into the fire. William stomped into the cabin only a few minutes later, blanket gone, pants on his hips and a cloth pressed to his wound. The necklace hung around his neck still. I felt his eyes on me for a moment, but then he started hunting for something on the other side of the cabin.
“Can I help you—--”
“You can help by keeping your mouth shut.” He snapped again.
Standing up, I walked towards the door, but he blocked it.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Wherever you and your poor attitude are not. You are the one who insisted on fighting with him, not I. I don’t need your careless attitude because your ego is bruised.”
“Watch your mouth with me.” He growled.
“Why? Are you going to do what Henry did to you? Bruise my ego? News flash, you have already kicked me when I am down. You can’t keep kicking what’s already dead!”
“You’re not a victim here.” He snarled.
“If I am not, then neither are you, William. Your abuser is long dead. You want nothing more than to punish me when I was not involved. It’s not my name on your flesh, it’s not my hands that abused you, but it’s your hands that have hurt me. Your words hammer home how much you just want someone to blame for your pain and miserable behaviour.”
He stepped closer to me, his eyes that yellow again.
“Back up, William, or I will hit you again. I have had enough of you and your behaviour. I agreed to take on my father’s punishments. What I didn’t agree to is to be treated with less than basic rights and—--”
“You are my war prize, you belong to me—-”
I punched him in the nose again in a moment of pure anger at his words. When I realized what I did, I cursed and tried to apologize, but that ship had sailed and he was beyond livid.
“Go to my room and stay there. Before I snap your fucking neck.” He snarled.
I wanted to tell him no, and yell, but I could see the black swirling in his eyes and how strained he looked. Taking a deep breath, I turned around and started walking, stopping for a moment looking back at him.
“If this is what it’s like to be bound to you, I think I would rather it die out, then feed the bond.”
Closing the door behind me, I heard Henry and James’ voices not that long after, and William was still angry. I could hear it in his tone. When he spoke to them, though he was trying to reel it back in, you could hear it. I put the pillow on the bed over my ears and held it over my nose and mouth, too. It wouldn’t actually be enough to end it. Shame.
Sometime later, William woke me up and hauled me out of the bed. Opening the cabin door. He dropped me right into the cold snow and closed it behind him. Not saying a word the whole time. Confused, I sat there shivering for a moment before I tried to open the door and it wouldn’t open.
Standing up, I pushed on the door again. Same thing. It wouldn’t open. Stumbling through the snow, I made it to the dining hall. Inside, it was dark and slightly cold, but it was better than outside. I found the blanket that smelled like William and pulled it around me.
I could have easily run away, but I had nowhere to go.
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