Chapter 3

Marian spun around, bumping into some people and narrowly missing others, laughter and giggles sounding off everywhere.

This was the one time pack members, mated or not, could try being naughty – whether to tease their mates, push lovers’ buttons, or simply take a chance on a love interest.

Cheating was not allowed during the spin, but some tried anyway and were pulled out by designated guardians, who were the only ones on the hall floor not blindfolded.

The sound of the music increased, the spinning continued and with a resounding clang, right at midnight, the music stopped.

Everyone pulled off their blindfolds and eye masks and looked up as one to see who was under a mistletoe and who was closest.

Growls, groans, and snickering, filled the hall as wolves saw where they were and who they were privileged to kiss first thing on Christmas morning.

Marian looked up and glanced around with a small smile on her face.

She was under a mistletoe and that meant one thing – someone was going to be really embarrassed, real soon, for getting a kiss from the deposed princess.

There were people nearby, Roxanne, the golden-haired she-wolf, Juniper, the hybrid wolf, and…her smile froze on her lips as her eyes fell on the wolf behind her.

Wolf...?

Can he be called a wolf...? Marian mused as Dinka whined quietly in their mind space, backing away in her mind, with disdain.

Right behind Marian, the closest person to her, the one she would have to kiss, was the pack outcast; the largest, fattest, weakest pack member; an unranked pack member with no scent and no known wolf within – Reyland Garrant, Alpha Dax’s biological son.

He smiled shyly at Marian, backing away as he flushed deep red.

Reyland was tall, the tallest pack member, but he was also overweight, ungainly, and without any wolf traits to boast of.

He never went out on hunts and never trained or fought with the pack members.

He was the weakest of the pack. At best, due to his size, he may be stronger than some omegas, but even a handful of them were stronger than him.

He was an embarrassment to the pack, a shame no one spoke of, about, or against, and he should have been an embarrassment to his family, but his father kept him close.

He glanced around sheepishly, nervously searching for someone, seeming lost at sea.

Marian pulled back slightly, mirroring Dinka, but as she watched his eyes and his increasingly sweaty brow, she recalled how she had felt at the New Year’s feast not eleven months ago, when all eyes had been on her as Dorien rejected her in front of the pack.

In this same, damn hall, she mused.

Marian recalled how her chest had tightened and the world had spun.

Her hands tightened into fists.

What’s the big deal?

It’s just a kiss.

Before Reyland could turn away, Marian grabbed his soft cheeks and stood on her toes, pulling his head down to kiss him and get it over with.

Who cares who it is? She mused as she pulled Reyland’s round face to hers.

Her eyes were closed, but her ears were not.

The silence in the room was deafening.

Alpha Dax had stood up. Marian heard his chair scrape back, and she felt the pack stiffen as they sensed their leader’s unease.

They could all feel his apprehension as his heart pounded in his chest – the ousted princess, his enemy, was standing before the entire pack, and their guests, with her hands on his son; his firstborn.

Marian felt Dax’s sky-blue eyes on her from across the hall, but she was not concerned about him.

Reyland grabbed her arm to pull away, to stop her but, she was an alpha she-wolf and he was wolfless, with the added bonus of being unusually weak; he had no chance.

She kissed him fully on the lips.

She had intended to kiss his forehead or cheek, but with all the attention and unnecessary silent commotion, she was moved to do something more worthy of their eyes and the whispers that had slowly started up in the mind link.

She could feel them, their words, but she had blocked them all out of her head from the moment she had stepped into their territory, less than eight hours ago.

Her lips met his and Reyland gasped.

Marian, driven by the desire to cause a stir, to let Dorien know that she was not some sad she-wolf who would mope around because of him, to let her father know that she was still his daughter and would not allow Alpha Dax to make her, or him, feel small, licked the inside base of Reyland’s parted lips.

His hand tightened on her arm and she nearly winced. She opened her eyes, surprised by the force he had used, and was stunned by the wide grey eyes looking back at her.

Grey with yellow flecks.

Were his eyes ever such a color? She pondered, staring back into his eyes.

She had never really related with Reyland; she couldn’t even say that she knew him.

When she was growing up, he was an unknown son of her father’s friend, almost a secret child. Rarely seen anywhere, and only for short periods of time.

It was only when his father had risen to Alpha that people started to see him more often.

The pack was familiar with Alpha Dax’s other two sons and they knew his adopted son extremely well. Dorien had been popular since he was a pup, but this one had basically been hidden until his father’s strength could be used to shield him.

Marian stepped closer to the weak giant, her eyes on his, as she licked the inside of his upper lip.

His eyes shut tightly and Marian kissed him, her tongue pushing through his gritted teeth.

A loud noise filled her head, and it was not the collective gasp of the pack or the deep growl from Alpha Dax’s chest.

It was the blood that was rushing to her head.

She pulled Reyland closer and moved her hand to the back of his neck, pressing him down.

There was a loud roar beside her and she was flung backward, away from the sweet taste she was devouring.

She landed on all fours, opening her eyes which were nearly black thanks to her wolf, Dinka, pushing forward.

“You dare! You slave mutt!” Alpha Dax spat.

Marian did not look at her Alpha, she stared at his son, Reyland, who was down on one knee, his mouth was covered with a cloth that his father had placed there before spinning around on Marian.

She could see the blood pooling on the red cloth, she could smell it.

The smell filled the room but no one was reacting to it.

Am I the only one that can smell this? She wondered as Dinka pushed forward and she pulled her wolf back, confused and curious about what was happening in front of her.