Chronicles of The Crescent Court

7

The ride was silent besides the high-pitched ringing suddenly erupting between my ears, nearly distorting my vision as my eyes watered from the foreign pressure.

I sat deathly still, my body forced into a protective paralysis as sensations of burning needles seemed to prick beneath my skin. I felt pain, physical not even the worst of it.

Lilly...

My heart clenched in terror and sorrow at the vision-like image of crying doe eyes being blinded by smoke before it clouded my own mind.

I hardly knew the babe and yet my heart bled with grief in ways I had never known. Why care of the sins of her parents? Why care of anger, bitterness or revenge?

These thoughts and feelings seemed to pour in and consume me alone while the beast ahead of me merely looked indifferent at the pillage he had commanded.

"Eden?"

My tearful eyes met with the cruel boredom of his glancing me over.

"Eden, those people deserved to die." He sighed before returning his gaze to the window, trees now rushing past in a blur of green.

Maybe I'd heard him wrong, I shook my head, "What?"

For some reason he seemed to be the one frustrated and disturbed. His brows furrowed in stress and he refused to look at me again, eyes glued to the outside world though he seemed to have no issues killing parts of it.

"You're going to tell me you've known those people all your life? That my senses were mistaken when I smelled their sweat and filth all throughout that hovel and yours was out of place?"

The sadness that was truly overwhelming, to my own confusion, snapped like a string at his words. My heart began to hammer against my chest from fear rather than guilt or shame.

"In fact, I'm certain you've only just arrived in this area. I've never encountered a scent such as yours. So please," he continued, "do not insult me and spare me the false grief."

"I see. Decency is hard enough to find in the world, I should've expected it even more so in wolves." I muttered.

I'd hardly realized the bitter words had left my lips before a fist all but impaled the spot of carriage seating beside me, the wood cracking loudly inches away my ear.

My body had already been rigid but now, even the air in my lungs ceased at the quickness of his violence.
His amber in his eyes seemed to glow slightly with a pulsing energy I wanted anywhere but near me.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't." He warned darkly, removing his hand and easing back slightly into his seat.
"Those peasants lied to The Court the moment they hid that child and for that there were consequences. Similar to how those who raised you lied when allowing you to believe that disrespect from a human is tolerated."

He gestured to the damaged seat, "Let this break your illusion. As beastly as I am, Vampires will not be as lenient. Least of all my lord."

"Your lord?"

As far as I'd known, werewolves didn't abide by the same systems of vampires or even fae. Their system consisted of alphas, possibly elders but never lords.

Taking in his striking appearance once again, I guess one could say the beast did seem a bit...refined, especially for what the witches had described. From his speech to the way his larger frame sat upright, restricted beneath the layers of fine fabric as he dusted the wooden pulp from his unbruised knuckles, annoyance clear on his face.