1.
The sun warms her fur despite the cold of the snow beneath her. A small house rests a few feet from the frozen lake to her left. The sun is setting off to her right and the chill in the air is growing less tolerable by the minute. A month ago, she would've been fine to sleep in the forest at night, even in the middle of winter. Now, she's already shivering.
A woman with cinnamon hair steps out onto the little house's patio and waves her arms. Henley lets out a deep sigh, the noise foreign to wolf lungs. She slowly stands on shaky legs. Walking is easier in her furry form because if she crashes, the ground is a hell of a lot closer. Her legs carry her to the porch slower than a damn turtle. She shifts back to her skin after reaching the patio and silently accepts the woman's help into the sleeves of a puffy robe. "How are you feeling?" The woman's brow furrows.
"Fine." She gives her a tight smile, only because it'll up her chances of not being smothered.
The woman presses her fingers to her neck and lifts the watch on her wrist. "Too fast." She clucks, removing her fingers and slipping her arm over Henley's shoulder so she can walk. "You need to mate with Ezra and let him heal you." She says nothing. Her response will contain more cuss words than she deserves. "But you're still not going to do it, are you?" She prods, helping lower her into the room's rocking chair that smells like her.
"Nope." Her arms wrap around her stomach. "Thanks for the suggestion though." She gives her another tight smile.
"Henley..." she sits on the edge of the couch.
"Yes, Marie?"
"Grandma." She corrects. "You have to mate with him."
"I don't have to do anything."
"If you want to survive, you do." Marie counters.
"I won't give my body and soul to someone I don't love." Her eyes catch on a photo above the fireplace. It's a big photo of Marie, her mate Randall and a teenage version of her mom. "You loved Randall." She reminds her.
Randall, her grandfather, died not long after her mother went off the grid because of her secret pregnancy. She was her last living relative, which is why Marie took work off for the entire month she's been back in Ruby City. The woman is determined to keep her alive and as a trained nurse, she's more equipped than most people. If she were dying of a normal disease, she definitely would be dragged through the recovery. Unfortunately, her disease isn't normal. Hell, it's not even a disease. She's taken permanent damage from holding all those packs before she left New York, damage so bad that only a ruby wolf can heal... after she mates with him, that is. Ruby wolves have all sorts of weird going on after mating.
"I did." She leans over and catches her hand. "But you could love Ezra, if you gave him a chance. He's a good man and-"
"And I already have a mate." Henley cuts her off. "He may have abandoned me, but he's still mine." Her eyes fall to the ring on her left hand. She and Roman had never gotten around to filling out a marriage license to make things official the human way, but she still considers them permanent. After she got over the initial fact that he actually dumped her in Ruby City like yesterday's poisonous trash, she talked Marie into taking her to the city's jewelry store and she bought herself a ring like the damn independent dying woman she is. She bought it with Roman's credit card, but only because she doesn't have her own with her. She'll sure as hell be paying him back if she ever sees him again. But the ring is a simple band with a single tear-drop shaped diamond and she's completely obsessed with it. Hell, she even got Roman one too. Not a diamond one, obviously, but a thick ring made of metal and wood. She's worn it on the middle finger of her right hand since it arrived and although it's huge enough to slide off her sickly fingers, she hasn't let go of it for a second.
"The New York Alpha isn't your mate." Marie says.
"In every way that counts, he is."
"He left you, Henley." Her voice rises. "He wants you to be with Ezra."
She narrows her eyes at her. "He would never want me to be with anyone else." Her body is falling apart and her spirit is going with it, sadness replacing pretty much every other feeling. But she hasn't questioned her mind in years and isn't starting now.
Marie's lips press together. "The New York Alpha doesn't want you to die." She stands. "Ezra will be here soon. I'll get you some hot cocoa and leave you two to talk."
"Yay."
Marie tuts her like she's Henley's mother as she heads for the kitchen. The front door swings open and and a tall, swimmer-shaped man comes strolling in. The messy, hot pink hair on his head is spiked up in its usual artsy style and as always, he's completely naked. "Hey, sexy." Ezra walks right over to her.
"How many times have I asked you to put pants on your tiny dick, pinky?" She drawls. She would've snarled and tried to look scary, but she's about two-weeks past having the energy to scare anyone. She probably just sounds tired.
"We both know this is the biggest cock you've ever seen." He gestures to his junk.
"Keep telling yourself that." She accepts the hot cocoa from Marie when she comes back with two cups, always getting one for Ezra too. Because he's the prince of the pack and everyone absolutely adores his obnoxious ass. Everyone other than her, obviously.
"I heard the New York Alpha has already chosen a new mate. One of his she-wolves.... I believe her name is Lilac?" He lifts a brow at her.
She's on her feet in an instant, too furious with Ezra to notice the way her body sways, too damn weak to hold her up for much longer. "Watch your mouth." She dares him to argue again.
"I'm too busy watching yours." He says again.
She swings her fist into his face and immediately regrets it. As her fingers collide with his face, her weak-ass bones break on impact. A scream tears from her throat and the world goes black for a minute. Everything comes back into focus and she's on her knees, Ezra's arms around her, holding her up as he licks her fingers. She can feel the bones knitting back into place quickly. "Get the fuck away from me." She speaks through a clenched jaw. "Don't touch me."
"Let me heal you." He keeps licking her fingers. She knows his statement isn't just about her hand, it's about the rest of her. She's pretty damn weak, but not too weak to protect herself. She grabs a hardback book off the coffee table beside her with her good hand and turns it sideways, smacking him in the face with it hard enough she hopes something breaks. He grunts at the impact but doesn't release her fingers, so she smacks him again. He catches it that time before she can break his face. "No, Henley. You like this face." He says, finally letting go of her fingers.
She ducks away, stumbling over her own ankles. She wants to scream. There's not much she hates more than not being able to protect herself, but being told what she likes and doesn't like ranks up there too. It's time to break out the big guns. Really, there's only one gun. Her dad. "If you touch me again, I'll call Hansen." She warns. "He may want us to mate, but if I tell him you're attempting to force yourself on me, he's going to have problems with it."
"You wouldn't." Ezra sneers.
"Try me."
"Are you really going to let me find another woman to heal these wounds?" His cocky smirk is the opposite of attractive as he gestures to the bruise on his face. "Because the ladies are lining up. Maybe seeing me with another girl will finally push you into getting naked with me and-"
"That's never going to happen." She interrupts him. "I have a mate, one who would never threaten to cheat on me to get what he wants."
"If he loves you so much, why did he abandon you?" Ezra stands, stepping closer. He's trying to intimidate her, to scare her into giving into him or make her sad about Roman.
Some shit like that, but she's not a weepy girl or one easily manipulated. All it does is piss her off. "He didn't abandon me. He went back to New York, taking care of his damn pack." She says, though it's a lie. Maybe it's true, but she has absolutely no idea. The last time she saw Roman was right before he dragged her into a plane with Hansen and flew her to Ruby City. Marie told her he hadn't left her side for days while she was unconscious. He waited while Sylvie took every one of her people she added to her pack from her, then ran a background check on Marie to make sure she's trustworthy. After he knew she was safe, he left. The only thing she had when she woke up was one of his credit cards and a sheet of paper that said, 'Do whatever it takes to stay alive. I loved every damn minute you were mine.' He didn't even sign the thing, but her eyes burn a bit every time she reads it. He said goodbye, left her with Marie and someone took her phone too, so she has no way to contact him or anyone else she loves. Maybe she should hate him for it. Hell, the fact that she doesn't probably makes her a complete fool. But she understands him too well to hate him for making the same choice she would've made in this situation. If she can either watch him die or shove him into someone else's arms, she would choose the latter too, then leave like the devil himself was chasing her. The world needs Roman too much to let him go.
"We're going to a party tonight." Ezra tells her.
"Maybe you're going to a party tonight, but I'm sitting on my ass watching Grey's Anatomy again."
"Sylvie agreed to let you have your phone back if you'll go."
She stares at him. Getting her phone back is a game changer. She searched the house for it from top to bottom before she tried to escape and didn't find it. So either it's well hidden, or Sylvie and Hansen have it.
"Swear it?"
He doesn't seem like he's lying, but you never know with a real asshole like him. "Scout's honor."
"Fine." She's desperate to talk to Jamie and London and Arla. And Roman, but she's not getting her hopes up yet. He hasn't ghosted so they can do the long-distance thing.
"Great. Your dress is in our closet." He smirks, heading off to the house's one bedroom, still butt-naked.
"I'll go get the dress." Marie says quickly. Henley flashes her a grateful half smile and she returns the expression, diving into the ruby asshole's room. Both of them are living with Ezra so they've gotten friendly. In an entirely non sexual way, despite how that last sentence sounds. She returns with a garment bag and helps Henley to the bathroom.
\When she unzips it, her eyes narrow at the white silk inside. There's only one reason a woman wears a fancy white dress. "Mating celebrations are held after a couple becomes mates."
"Usually." Marie gives her a tight smile.
"You knew about this?" The woman says nothing. "At least when I die, I'll be free of all the lying and manipulation." She mutters, tugging the tie on her robe off. She slides out of it as Marie pulls the white dress from the bag.
"You're not going to die." Marie's voice sounds clipped. "I won't lose my husband, daughter and granddaughter before I go." She doesn't argue, because that would be rude and the woman doesn't deserve her rudeness. But if her options are betraying her mate, the man who saved her and protected her and loved her more than any person deserved, by giving her body to an asshole of a stranger and death, she'll choose the latter. Marie zips the back of the silky dress. It clings to every inch of her malnourished skin, the string-thin straps and open back only serving to make her look even less healthy somehow. Funny enough, it's exactly the type of dress she would've chosen for her real mating celebration if Arla hadn't buttoned her into that hooker-bride contraption she wore. Simple, classy and sexy all at once. But now that she's dying, it just makes her look like a zombie bride. The shimmering silk and ultra-bright pinkish red of her hair emphasizes the lack of color in her cheeks. "Let's put the hair up." Marie suggests gently.
"The hair stays down. Everyone needs to see that she's definitely a ruby wolf." Ezra says from outside the door. She jumps at his voice and scowls, hating that he snuck up on her. Her senses have gone to shift with the rest of her strength.
Ezra and Sylvie already traipsed her around the pack the first few days she was in the city, so if anyone still doubts her hair color, they can go to hell. Her eyes meet Marie's in the mirror and she sees the hesitance in them. "I'm thinking we do two braids and wrap them around my head like a crown. My sister-in-law wore something like that once and it was gorgeous." She drops the sister-in-law thing just to bother Ezra.
Marie's eyes close for a long minute when he growls outside her door. "You don't have a sister-in-law."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She calls back.
His footsteps as he walks away have to be the most satisfying sound on the damn planet.
"I haven't French-braided since Hazel was young." Marie admits.
"That's alright, let's just throw it up in a high ponytail." She has an ulterior motive for getting her hair up off her neck. She hopes that if Hansen can see how thin and lifeless she looks, maybe he'll take pity on her and save her from Ezra. It's not likely considering mating with him is her only option if she wants to stay alive, but it's pretty much her last shot at having a peaceful death. Marie begins to coax her dry, limp hair into a ponytail. When she pulls her hair off her shoulder, she gasps. "What?" She bends her head awkwardly, trying to see what scared her. They've already had a conversation about the tattoo, so that can't be it.
"You let Ezra bite you." She whispers, her eyes glued to the crook of her granddaughter's neck. Marie's eyes light up with excitement and she hits her with questions. "When? I must've been sleeping. You could've asked me to leave, I'd be happy to-"
The door slams in and Marie jumps from the swinging wood slab. "Move." The ruby snarls at her grandmother.
"Don't talk to her like that." She steps between her and Ezra, though her legs wobble and she has to grab the countertop to stay upright. Ezra's eyes land on the marks on her neck, the orbs shifting to wolf form almost immediately. "Roman and I traded bites. It's a cute little thing regular werewolves do to mark each other as taken. And I am taken." She lays it on thick and flashes her glittering ring at him.
"It's not a cute little thing. It's the way a ruby wolf connects their soul to one of their enforcers, allowing them a touch of power." He snarls. "Biting is the first part of the ruby mating process too. You've sullied your soul with-"
"With my mate?" She interrupts him again.
"That's why you still smell like him. I knew it wasn't in my head."
Her eyebrows lift and she sniffs herself. She would know if she smelled like Roman, the man's scent is her favorite smell in the world. Though she can't smell anything, she chalks it up to dying. "Cool." She shrugs. grabbing the hair-tie off the counter since Marie seems good and spooked, just holding her hair off her neck with her hands.
"That's not cool, Henley. Ezra has the right to kill the New York Alpha for biting you." Marie presses. Neither of them call him by his name, they're trying to distance her from him by calling him by his title. As if that would work, she's been calling him her Alpha for ages.
She snorts. "Good luck with that. Roman's a lot bigger than you and he hasn't spent his life being worshipped by everyone in the pack." Despite her words, she really hopes Ezra won't challenge Roman. Roman will probably win, but she hates the idea of him fighting for his life again because of her.
"I'll remove your connection." Ezra says, his teeth sharpening and growing as they shift.
"You bite me right now and any chance you have to convince me to mate with you disappears." She snaps back, holding an arm out to keep him away.
"Hansen warned that he'll throw you in the basement if you do anything without her permission." Marie reminds him, stepping beside her. "Leave me to get her ready."
He steps toward her. His nose is still busted from earlier, but she grabs the curling iron off the counter and swings it at him. If she can't protect herself with her own arms and legs, she'll use what she can find. He dodges the hot tool, barely avoiding getting his bare-chest singed. She wishes he's slower. "You were meant to be mine." He snarls her way.
"I'm the only one who chooses who I give myself to." She swings the tool again. "I'm going to your damn mating party for my phone and that's it. I'm not yours, I'll never be yours. So, back the hell off." She stabs with the curling iron and he finally steps out of the room far enough that she can swing the door shut. The lock is busted in, so it won't do much good, but it still makes her feel better just to have a divider between them.
"You're not really going to let yourself die." Marie doesn't quite look like she believes her own words.
"Arla wouldn't let me go to a party without eyeliner and mascara on." She gently sets the iron down, avoiding the woman's question. "I don't think we have a foundation the color of 'pale death', but a little blush can help too."
Marie slowly opens a makeup bag on the counter. "Amy had someone drop this off while you were napping." She says, her voice quieter. "Joel is worried the women in the pack won't approve of you if you don't look strong."
She lifts a brow. Amy is her grandmother on Hansen's side and she met her once, for about a minute when her mate dragged her in to meet her. Joel, her grandpa, is actually kind of hilarious. He stops by to watch a movie with her in the morning and the way he ignores whatever is on the screen tells her it's just his excuse to talk to her. Strangely enough, she doesn't mind. Especially when he brings her news about the New York Pack, which is every time. He's her only connection to the people she loves. Well, most of them. The one person he's said he's straight up not going to talk about is Roman. He's never pushed her to mate with Ezra, but it's clear she's going to have to do it. "Why do I care if they approve of me?"
"Because the pack's women will make your life hell if they think you aren't worthy of Ezra. A lot of them already blame you for the loss of the women who died in the trials before." She shrugs.
"Before what?" She checks. "And wait, what the hell are the trials?"
"Before we knew you existed. The trials are the way a normal werewolf becomes a ruby."
Her eyes widen. "That's a thing?" She demands. "How? Why? What does it take?"
"Slow down." Marie's lips tilt up. "The trials are a month-long series of tests that turn a normal werewolf into a ruby and anyone can go through them. But no one has ever passed the trials when there are already two ruby wolves in a generation and if you don't pass, you die."
"So, their people died in the trials and they blame me because I didn't know I was a ruby?" She goes back to the part of the conversation that led to this, since this apparently isn't a way she can be with Roman.
"Really, they should be blaming Hazel." Marie sighs. Her eyes fill with sadness at the mention of her daughter. "But you're the closest thing they have, so yes. They blame you."
"Cool." She sighs, grabbing the eyeliner off the counter and leans closer to the mirror to swipe it on. Her hands are shaky, so it doesn't look awesome, but it's better than nothing. She puts on a little of the blush and mascara, then calls it good.
Ezra waits just outside the bathroom, leaned up against the wall in a tuxedo. The outfit brings back flashes of memory. "You like the way I look in this." He purrs.
Her nose wrinkles. "No."
"I can smell your desire." He pauses. "What were you thinking about?" He prods.
"Roman talked me into having sex in an elevator during our mating celebration." She shrugs.
"Henley." Marie protests.
Ezra growls. "Continue." He commands.
Her eyebrows lift. "That's what I was thinking about. Elevator orgasms. Roman's dick. His ass. His muscles in his tuxedo." She pauses for the dramatic effect. His smile is on the tip of her tongue, but she doesn't this conversation to lead into the serious area. "That's why we'll never be mates. Roman has my heart, mind and body. I'm his, even if I can't give him my soul." She steps past Ezra. "I'm not wearing shoes to your party. My feet have to be on the ground so I have a better chance at staying balanced."
He doesn't respond, grabbing her arm and drags her out to the garage too quickly for her to keep up with him. She's not strong enough to yank herself away, so as they go, she calls a goodbye to Marie, telling her she'll see her that night.
