The Bind

He Knows

THE BALCONY

CLAIRE POV

The relief of cool wind washing over fevered skin was sinfully good.

Berat had put me through my paces with ever increasingly difficult moves across the floor until the world was a blur. Only movement and music existed. My body became a physical representation of the sound and for a few minutes all was right with the world.

I checked in with Xavier, this was the kind of thing he would enjoy sharing. He was anxious, but as usual I received nothing substantial in return.

I sighed with a small, private huff of breath indistinguishable from any other. It may look like a party but that did not mean I could allow my face to display a billboard of emotion. Did I even have a mate anymore? I mean, I could have two, but here I was alone and breathless.

There it was. All the reasons why dancing had felt so good came thundering back in. So now I felt both physically and mentally run over by turkish horses. Turkish horses were known for a pedigree though, so there was that.

The balcony bubbled out in a half oval shape, lined with a marble balustrade preventing tipsy statuesque women from toppling overboard and falling to the city below.

The view stretched out overlooking the city and disappearing into the horizon, where stars in the sky seemed to reflect the glittering lights below. It was an unbelievably clear night, with just enough of a breeze to provide relief without being blusteringly catastrophic to delicate fashion choices.

I took a moment to enjoy that tickle of a breeze caressing the flushed parts of my body.

My eyes wandered over the dance floor from my position outside. At least my pack was having fun. I had bought ten tickets for them. Yesterday had been spent in a mock olympic games to discern who got the remaining tickets after Michael and Seline. I hadn't been invited.

The games had involved; dance offs, combat, political trivia and an eating contest. Which was how nine year old Denvy had scored a ticket. Denvy was single handedly discovering every safety hazard the town had and I was looking forward to seeing what havoc he could wreck at a ball.

The winners were out on the dance floor now, showing off moves from the dance lessons I had so cruelly foisted upon them. With the exception of Denvy, who was talking to Herman in broken German and pilfering as many horderves as his sticky little fingers could hold. Herman looked impressed, though whether it was at the language skills or at the sheer volume of food disappearing into the pint sized black hole I would never know.

I linked the scene to his mother Janette. She sent back a laugh and a mental shrug saying Your problem tonight before shutting me back out. Her feet had been up and a large glass of Otto's 'gin' swirled in front of her, ever so slightly out of focus.

The pack all wore white to represent the White Wolf pack, which they had officially renamed themselves outside of my knowledge. They were fiercely proud of their success, and the status my power gave them, but still cut me out. Accepting me wholeheartedly meant betraying the wolf that had brought them together in the first place.

Proud and ostracised made for a strange cocktail that I wasn't quite sure how to swallow. Just because I understood it didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"You are certainly making waves tonight Claire. Congratulations." Ben joined me in the breeze, watching the dance floor. "That said, you don't exactly make it easy for yourself." Ben had the way of inspiring confidence whilst calling me out in the way that good advisors do.