My fingernails scraped along the label of the wine bottle in my hands when silence descended after what Edith revealed.
The smug look on her face was one that would be forever burned into my mind, as well as the coy, satisfied smile on her mouth.
Her mate sat beside her, fighting back a smile as well as he appeared to wait for a reaction from Vakkar.
I didn't dare look at him now.
Those who had prepared the dinner, had spoken plenty to each other about Alpha Vakkar throughout the time I had been with them in the kitchen.
Conversations of the many battles he had been in, and the countless number of people he had killed throughout those battles had occurred over and over again, until my ears began to ring and the fear which had been written on their faces also became etched onto mine.
And now, Edith had revealed to this man who my father was. And by the self-satisfied expression on her features, I had an inkling that Vakkar and my father had not been, to put lightly, friends.
When silence was all that was heard, and remained that way for several long seconds, I decided to take a quick look at Vakkar.
His once dark grey eyes were completely blackened, and his strong jaw was tight. There was a strange, eerie stillness to his large body, and he had yet to look away from Edith.
I could almost feel the nervousness of those who stood around me, observing and experiencing the tension present.
And as Vakkar continued to look at Edith, black eyes so cold and so harsh, the smug expression on her face began to rapidly fade away, until she looked at me.
"Rhyan East left her at the borders of our pack, bound to a tree with some rope," She continued, holding my eyes throughout it all. Her smile was wide now, mocking, wicked.
And then, she revealed something I had wondered frequently throughout my life, and I automatically felt my body lock tight with her words,
"He left a note in her pocket. It just had her age, and that he no longer wanted to take care of her. The man said we were free to do what we wanted with her, and then signed his name at the bottom. Just like that, he abandoned her."
Edith's upper lip curled. "He gave you away easily, didn't he, Leora?"
I could feel the side of my face begin to burn, and without looking at Vakkar, I knew he was now watching me. My fingernails scraped along the label again, tearing the damp paper.
When I swallowed, a rusty, acidic taste burned my throat. I said nothing, but absorbed her words.
It was a confirmation to what I'd suspected; my father had cared very little for me, and by signing his name on that note many years ago, and leaving me in a pack which had once been ravaged by his own army, he had known the likelihood of the difficult life I would lead once I was discovered by the pack warriors, and they realized our relation.
It had not mattered that I had never carried out the acts my father did. The fact that I was his daughter was motivation enough for Edith and Rothman to treat me the way they did.
"I asked you a question, slave." Edith cooed, no gentleness in her voice. The mocking smile was still on her red painted lips, and as irritation sparked in me, the next words sprung from my mouth before I could stop them,
"I believe your question was rhetorical."
The male lycan beside Vakkar chuckled gruffly, and Rothman's head swung my way at my words. He scowled when Edith's gaze went to him, evidently looking for him to reprimand me.
And he began to do just that, his face livid as his mouth opened, "Don't you dare spe-"
Vakkar's rasping voice easily overpowered Rothman's. "I would like some of the red wine."
I saw the way Rothman's mouth shut closed, confusing building on his face.
He looked between Vakkar and myself, his head swinging left and right as he did, and finally exchanged a bewildered look with his mate.
They had evidently been waiting for a reaction from Vakkar about what Edith had revealed, and guessing by the reaction he had given, it was not what they had expected.
At Vakkar's statement, I did not look at him, and just gripped the wine bottle tightly.
When I had walked into the room, heart beating wildly in my chest because I knew I was late to arrive, almost immediately I had caught the attention of Vakkar.
He had watched me, steadily, his face unreadable, but eyes nonetheless so very penetrating.
For several long seconds, I had locked eyes with his own, unable to move out of his line of sight.
It was as if an unseeable force had made me stay rigid where I stood, and I had felt the heat of Vakkar's possessive, and undeniably intense gaze as it had swept over me slowly.
And when his gaze had returned to my face, I had seen only a hint of a crack in his stern features.
The corners of his frowning mouth had softened, and his eyebrows had pulled together as he'd observed me before Edith had revealed to him about my father.
"Leora." Vakkar's voice pierced the air again, even though the volume of it was not loud. In the silence in the room however, it was clear, and I dragged my gaze to his face, battling back the ripples of fear that swept through me as I looked at the mountain of a man.
Even though he sat, I knew he was tall, and this only added to the wariness I felt towards him. His head moved to the side, head tilting just barely towards the empty wine glass resting before him on the table, his eyes still on me.
I nodded once, and began to cross the room, wine bottle in hand, avoiding eye contact with him when I came to stand by his side.
The warmth from him grazed my body, and I struggled to hide the trembling of my fingers as I uncorked the wine bottle and then tipped it down, pouring the red liquid into his glass, aware that he was watching me.
"And for me as well." The male lycan beside him clinked a glass down, and when I met his gaze, briefly, he sent me a quick wink and curved his lips in a ghost of a smile.
I nodded again, saying nothing, and poured wine into the glass, still focusing on keeping my hands steady.
So when Vakkar snarled loudly, his voice deep and startling, "What the fuck happened to your neck?" The wine bottle slipped from my hands and hit the corner of the table.
With ease Vakkar caught it before it could crash against the floor, and I gaped at him, my fingers still poised mid-air. Fury blazed in his eyes, which were locked upon the side of my neck, and his entire body appeared to be taut.
My voice was stuck painfully in my throat, and I stared wide-eyed at him, fear constricting my chest, but then Edith, perhaps unwisely, piped up,
"The girl didn't clean my floors properly, so she was punished."
Vakkar's eyes slowly moved to the Luna, and a blanket of tension swamped the room.
A force of energy exuded from Vakkar, one that was thick and angry, and when I attempted to step away from him, I felt his shoe hit into the back of my ankle.
I remained in place as Vakkar asked, a snarl still interlacing his voice, "In what way was she punished?"
Rothman glanced at his wife, confusion still written on his face, and Edith said, seemingly unaware of Vakkar's wrath, "Well, I think it was a sort of wire. A barbed one, right Leora?"
My fingers itched to touch the slowly healing skin. "Yes, ma'am." And this time, as I answered her, I managed to shift from where I stood between Vakkar and Abner, and took several steps backwards until my back hit the wall.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Vakkar shifting in the chair he sat upon. When my eyes dipped low, I saw the clenching of his fingers until they became fists before he uncoiled them.
"Do you punish all of your slaves by beating them with a barbed wire?" The male lycan beside Vakkar asked, his question directed at both Edith and Rothman.
"There are different methods we use." Rothman answered, and then, after looking at Vakkar again, he said, attempting to inject humor into his voice,
"Let us not waste our time speaking of that throughout this meal. Have you all heard of the new buildings that Alpha Jackman is planning to make for his pack?"
A discussion, one that was led and for the most part, carried by both Rothman and Edith was taken up, and as time passed, more lycans joined the room.
The Beta of this pack, Wilfred, was amongst those who joined, and soon enough, the room was filled with loud voices and at times, abrupt bursts of laughter.
Throughout it all, I realized that Vakkar, and the male who I discovered his name to be Abner, engaged little in conversations, but were observant. They also did not drink the wine I had poured for them.
At times, I would shift against the wall I leaned against when the feeling of a cramp would start to develop in my legs.
And, I discovered that with each small shift or movement I made, Vakkar's body would shift in the chair as well, or it would stiffen, with the muscles under his shirt tensing.
Strangely, it was as if he was aware of each small adjustment I made against the wall. Because of the position I was in, I was unable to see his face, and just saw his back.
"Some wine, girly." A command from Wilfred was barked across the room, directed towards me, and immediately I straightened. The wine bottle I had left on the table was now empty, and so, I made the short trip to get another from the counter.
I made my way to stand beside Wilfred's chair, and as he held out the wine glass, I began to pour the white wine into it, doing so quickly.
Wilfred had never been one to shy away from making sexual advances towards the slaves here in this pack, and I knew it would be a matter of time before he did so to me.
Just as I began to pull away, more lycans scattered around the table began to call for their glasses to either be filled, or re-filled. And that was what I did, moving rapidly throughout it all, making sure not to spill any under the watchful gaze of Edith.
More than once I had to pause to get another wine bottle, and by the time I was finished, the entire experience, which involved me ignoring and not acknowledging the whispered sexually charged words and aggression, left my body feeling like it was coiled tight.
"Ask your men to leave, Rothman." The command came from the once mostly silent Alpha, Vakkar, and I saw the surprise that swept across many faces in the room.
Rothman hesitated, clearly not used to being commanded by others, except perhaps his mate, but the severe look on Vakkar's face was one so aggressive that he did as told.
There were muttered protests that floated throughout the room as the male lycans left, and then, just as the last slipped out of the room, Vakkar issued another command, one that appeared to silently rile up Edith.
"The humans as well."
Rothman's surprised expression deepened, and his mouth opened, to perhaps disagree with Vakkar, but the massive male lycan leaned forward from where he sat, holding Rothman's gaze, a clear warning in the depth of his now dark grey eyes.
When Rothman gave a nod, one by one, the slaves quietly left, and I shuffled away from the wall to join them.
But then, Vakkar said, his deep voice a low rumble but nonetheless audible for all to hear. "Not you, Leora."
Edith scowled, and I remained standing, unsure of what to do, before I finally returned to stand by the wall.
This position in particular allowed me to see everyone's faces, and I saw the quick look Vakkar gave Abner, who nodded, almost discreetly so.
It was only when the last of them left that Vakkar straightened, the stiffness from his body fading away.
He appeared almost relaxed in that moment, but his eyes were cool as he looked at the Luna and Alpha. Abner was rubbing his fingers along the beard on his face, and like his Alpha, he too watched them with icy eyes.
"I am surprised neither of you have asked why Abner and myself decided to travel to your pack," Vakkar showed teeth and fangs, which I suppose was in an attempt to smile, but all it did was send a rippling feeling of fear down my spine as it looked quite like a snarl.
Vakkar looked steadily at Rothman. "Can you think of any reason as to why I might have came here, Rothman?"
Rothman sucked in a breath loudly, the sound of his inhalation so rough and drenched with his unease. "I...can't think of any reason."
Vakkar's eyes cut to Edith. "And you?"
The scowl on her mouth became more so. "No."
Vakkar looked between them once more, waiting it seemed, for either one of them to speak, but then he did himself. "There's been rumors circulating about you, Rothman, intending to seize control of my pack."
Rothman's body lurched back as he sat straight up in his chair, widened eyes on Vakkar, who kept on speaking, slowly and carefully, "And usually, when one seeks to gain control of another pack and what comes with that pack, the Alpha or Luna directs their warriors to invade it, and kill the Alpha that is there. But you are already aware of how that works, aren't you, Rothman?"
Rothman's lips became a thin line, and he paused before finally answering.
"Yes, I am aware of how that works."
Vakkar's eyes remained steady. "And you spoke to Josiah Rockman about doing just that to my pack, didn't you?"
Whilst Edith visibly paled, Rothman immediately began shaking his head, eyes still wide, words bursting from his mouth. "I have never heard of that man, and I have absolutely no intentions of wanting to seize your pack or kill you. Why would I invite you to my home if I wanted to do so?"
"Do not lie to me, Rothman." Vakkar's voice raised, slicing through the air like a whip, and Edith, oddly, remained silent.
Her head was bowed, face towards the plate of food resting on the dining table. Abner, seemed to have noticed her change in behavior, and asked,
"Are the rumours of your mate intending to send his warriors to my pack lies, Edith?"
For a moment, I thought she had not heard him.
But then, her head raised slowly, and even I was able to see the unease on her face, as well as the desperation and the guilt. "Yes. Those rumors hold no truth." It was a lie. I could hear it, and I knew that if I could, Vakkar and Abner could as well.
For a moment, nothing was said. A cold chill swept through the room, grazing my skin, and my arms raised to hug myself. I did not understand why I had been told to remain behind, and with the amount of heaviness in the air that was present, I desperately wanted to leave.
I was unprepared for when Vakkar stood, and almost choked on a swallow when he did. Back muscles rippled and pressed against the shirt he wore, as if he was resisting the pull of a shift. The height of him was staggering, and I pressed myself further into the wall.
"Perhaps we should discuss these rumors further tonight." Vakkar's tone betrayed it was not a suggestion. Rothman nodded, and Abner stood as well.
"Thank you for the dinner." Abner nodded his head towards the table, and I saw that neither of them had eaten the food, or even, from the looks of it, had picked at it.
My mouth salivated as I eyed the meat and creamy potatoes slathered with brown sauce. I pressed a hand against my stomach faintly when it made a small noise.
I had not eaten this morning or this afternoon, and it was almost saddening to see food go to waste.
"I will take Leora to my house." Vakkar said, and his eyes speared my own before lowering to my hand resting on my stomach.
Fear kicked me hard in my chest, and when he met my gaze, I shook my head, barely, before I could stop myself. Dark grey eyes simply narrowed.
"I need her back by tonight. There are still some duties she has to finish." Edith said, her voice strained, quiet. Her face was blanched, and her shoulders were hunched. This was such a strange thing to witness from her.
"You won't be getting her back tonight." Vakkar viciously dismissed Edith's words with a growl. Ice clawed up my throat, and heat travelled up against my skin as I maintained eye-contact with Vakkar.
And then, the intensity of Vakkar's gaze began to soften, just barely when he appeared to take in my clearly confused and terrified expression.
He finally looked away from me when Rothman spoke, desperation coating his voice,
"Vakkar, I understand that you came here to confront me about these rumors, but I need to assure you that they are just that. They are just...rumors. Nothing more."
Vakkar flashed his fangs in his direction.
"Like I said, Rothman. We will discuss more about that tonight." His eyes slid to an oval clock hanging against a wall and then returned back to Rothman.
"Abner and I will be back in an hour."