Royal Wolf Box Set by Haley Weir
Chapter Six
The next morning when Theo walked through the corridors of the castle, he was met by his sister, a guilty look on her face.
“Okay, don’t be mad at me,” she said.
Theo rolled his eyes at her.
“Ugh, that’s never a good start when you say that,” he said. “Honestly, I went through enough hell yesterday with dad and then with Marquette. I was hoping just for a peaceful day.”
“I know,” Holly said. “But I only told her to do it because you wouldn’t listen to her and you were being obstinate.”
“Told who? What did you tell someone?” he asked as he got ready to pinch Holly’s arm until she fessed-up about whatever she had done.
“Don’t get mad,” she said again. “But I overheard the conversation that you and Marquette had last night.”
“You what?” Theo’s voice was definitely starting to sound mad.
“I couldn’t help it. I was walking past her room on my way back, and I heard the two of you. You were an ass, by the way.”
“Then you heard what she said? About us?” Theo asked, ignoring his sister’s insult.
“Yes,” Holly answered. “And I believe her.”
“Good, then you can understand what a dangerous situation this is. And I was not being an ass. I am trying to protect everyone,” he said.
“From what?”
“From death, Holly. Jesus, how stupid can you be? If anyone finds out about us, we’ll be hunted. It puts everyone in danger, not just our family. It risks the packs in the forest and even Marquette. I know you aren’t old enough to remember what wolf hunters can do, but I am. And Marquette should be too. A wolf hunter killed her mother. I’m not about to let Marquette follow in her mother’s footsteps.”
“Okay, first of all,” Holly said indignantly, “don’t ever call me stupid again. Secondly, it’s you that’s being stupid. Marquette has been a friend of our family for years. She has grown up with us, and she has known and kept our secret this entire time. Do you really think that she would put our family at risk by telling anyone? You’re just afraid of your feelings for her. You’re trying to blame your own cowardice on some noble purpose when you’re just scared of the fact that you might be in love with a human.”
Theo grabbed his sister by the neck and pushed her up against the wall. He didn’t hurt her; he would never hurt her. But he was trying to exert a show of big-brotherly dominance. But even as he did it, he knew that his sister was right, and he did feel like an ass.
“What did you do?” he growled.
“I told Marquette to do the one thing that would finally get your attention and get you to pull your head out of your ass,” Holly said as she unclamped her brother’s hand from her throat. “Next time you do that, I’m going to bite a finger off.”
Holly and Theo both loved each other dearly, and neither would ever hurt the other. But that being said, they also didn’t hesitate to call each other out on their bullshit.
“I told her to make you jealous,” Holly said.
“You what? Why in the world would you tell her that?”
“Because I know you. You have feelings for her, Theo, whether you admit it or not. You won’t be able to stand seeing her with someone else.”
“Marquette isn’t going to listen to you,” he said as he took a step backward and started to calm down. “She’s too smart to do something as dumb as getting with another guy just to make me jealous.”
“Not if she feels as strongly about you as you do about her,” Holly said.
“That doesn’t even make any sense. If she had feelings for me, which I’m not even saying she does, the last thing she would do would be to make me jealous with someone else.”
“Not if she thought it was the only way to get your attention,” Holly smirked. “You can thank me for all of this later after it all works out. You may be mad now, but if I didn’t convince Marquette to do something that would trigger your impulsive emotions and get you to let down your guard with her, then you guys would never get together.”
Holly quickly started walking back down the hallway before her brother could get mad at her again, and Theo continued on toward the kitchen to get his morning coffee before heading out to the city to pick up his father’s weapons. He knew that his sister was only trying to help him and that she wanted to see him happy, but her methods were questionable in his mind. Still, he knew that Marquette had more common sense than to do something so foolish. Theo poured himself a flask of coffee and then left the castle to go out into the city of Grenvich.
When he got to the metalsmith, he was distracted before he even managed to speak to the metal worker. There, in the market, was Marquette. And this time, she wasn’t alone.