Golden Destiny

Chapter 13. Turning Tides

I thought about it and she was right. When Alexei first arrived, other than the usual female admiration that was obvious, there was a reverence that swept through the crowd that morning. Wolves all around us couldn't help but look to where Alexei was, an unconscious respect for a wolf who they knew, instinctively, was more than what they were.

I also remembered that I didn't feel the same, and that I even felt a hint of awe towards him, not counting the fact that I found him just really attractive.

Once the crowd seemed to shrug off this indescribable charged silence, Tawny and her cohorts made their way towards us. Amazingly, only Tawny seemed to have the usual sneer on her otherwise pretty face. Her friends, I observed, looked like they wanted to be anywhere but there.

She held out a thin, hot pink-tipped finger at me and said, "Listen here, you mutt, Adam is mine. Lay off of him."

I looked at Harper who was turning red from the laughter she was so obviously trying to hold in.

"Excuse me?"

"I know all about that little talk you had last week. So you've gone so low as to beg him to take you back when you well know that we're just biding our time before our Mating Ceremony? That's disgusting, even for you—"

I cut her off before she go on with her rant by stepping closer to her, not being able to stop some of the natural dominance that ran in my blood escape. She felt it and her eyes grew wide.

"Let me make it clear for you and every wolf here. I didn't ask to speak to Adam, I didn't even want to share breathing space with him. He was the one who asked to talk to me. He told me he had some things to say, which, judging from your stance, I could tell he hasn't told you about. You call me disgusting? I wasn't the one who shoved my tongue in the mouth of a wolf who had found his mate, knowing full well that she was contributing to an act that went against the wishes of the Goddess herself. I wasn't the wolf who showed up at the Severance Ceremony to stand witness to an act that broke the bond that the Goddess had seen fit to weave."

Tawny was silent, and every wolf who could hear my lowered voice sent her furtive looks. In the rare cases that a Severance Ceremony was held, the chosen mate of either destined mates didn't attend, much less be a witness, as it was considered to be the ultimate act of insult not only to the other party, but to the Goddess herself.

I continued, stepping even closer to her, so close I could see the surprise and fear in her eyes.

"That being said, the bond between us has been broken. I have nothing to do with Adam anymore, and even if I was given a choice of being with him or spending all of eternity alone, I choose solitude. So Tawny, again, just so we're clear, you can have him."

With that, I turned from her and walked away, Harper letting out a small giggle as we went to the first class of the day.

———0———

During lunch, as Harper and I were sitting down, I saw from the corner of my eye, something red flying toward me. Before Harper or I could do anything about it, Adam, surprisingly, held out his hand and caught what appeared to be a full soda can. It wouldn't have done much damage but it still would have hurt, and would probably would have burst and doused me with its contents.

Adam, can in hand, stalked over to the far table where his jock friends were sitting and slammed the can down in front of one of the human boys. He didn't say anything, just held the boy's gaze until the latter looked down, beet red, perhaps rethinking his actions and also confused with why their chosen leader had seemingly changed colors with respect to how I was treated.