Page 46 of My Solemn Vow
Fuck.I pause outside the conference room. A thick wooden door separates me from the group of men waiting for this delivery.No, I’m only protective of her because she’s mine. I’m only thinking of her this way because she’s mine.
My inner beast decides to chime in.Wolves protect what’s theirs.
Exactly. It’s nothing.I’m in lust with Antonella. It’s a normal biological function.
My father and his second, Gregorio D’Medici and his consigliere, and the arbiter will be there to take custody of the sheet.
If the men who had set the terms of the truce weren’t already dead, I’d dig them up and kill them again for making me do this. Truce be damned. She shouldn’t have to suffer this for their disgusting traditionalistic ideals.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to walk through the busy lobby. I’m certain I don’t look entirely human, my eyes unmistakably the color of a wolf. It takes me a full minute of focusing on the door’s wood-grain pattern to force myself back to the controlled state that is me pretending to be human.
The room is dead silent when I come in. Apparently they gave up pretending to be able to engage in conversation. Unceremoniously, I toss the white fabric down on the conference room table.
My father doesn’t give any emotion away as he draws a single shallow breath. My uncle, however, wrinkles his nose at the smell before schooling his features back into a careful mask of indifference. The scents of sex and blood on the sheet are strong. The arbiter nods once. There isn’t enough blood that he’s triggered by the scent. But a vampire will always know.
The two humans in the room can’t seem to smell it, and thatirks me.How the fuck have we had to compete with them all these years? We should have been able to easily wipe them from the earth.
Gregorio D’Medici doesn’t take the wadded-up fabric as proof. He greedily grabs the mass and pulls it across the table with a scowl.
My father slides back from the table and the mess, shaking his head with the same disgust I’m hiding. It’s not that we’re prudish. Wolves, as a culture, are open about sex and relationships. And it’s obvious, given Kerrianne’s resemblance to me, that I’ve most certainly had sex before. But physically inspecting the sheets is vile. I don’t blame Dad for moving away from it.
“Are you fuckin’ serious?” I snap in Gregorio D’Medici’s direction but then force myself back to being human again.Get a fuckin’ grip. I look to the arbiter and try again. It still comes with a growl, but the words are more human. “Is this necessary?”
“Call it...” Gregorio D’Medici looks at me, and his eyes are wild, like an animal before it attacks. “Morbid curiosity. I wouldn’t want you to have a less-than-perfect bride.”
The sick fuck cares that his niece was or was not a virgin?I can’t believe my ears.Puritanical fuckin’ bullshit. Sex isn’t only for reproduction. And sex isn’t only dick in...Holly would be proud of me wanting to go Woman’s Studies 101 on his ass, but I don’t have the crayons or patience to explain this to him.
He straightens the fabric across the table and pulls out a magnifying glass to inspect the blood. There isn’t a lot of it there. Antonella bled only slightly.It should be enough. Blood is blood.
“How do we know you didn’t cut her for this?” Gregorio D’Medici looks to the arbiter.
The arbiter, clearly sick of his shit, glares at him before snidely remarking, “Yes, because obviously, Valor cut Antonella with a knife and then rubbed one out onto the sheets? It seems awfully extreme when the easiest answer is tofuck. They’re adults and knew what a marriage would entail.” At last, he decrees, “The truce is valid and binding. Violence between the families is strictly prohibited. Breaking the truce is grounds for annihilation at the hand of the arbiters.”
I’ve never heard what would happen if the truce were called. I honestly have no idea what arbiters do beyond the legal definition and, well, be vampires. Their immortality makes them perfect candidates to keep the families’ feud’s negotiations true to the original intent. The feud began over a century ago, and while I’m not sure why the fighting started, I can name enough grievances in my lifetime to know that us coming together is a big deal. But more so now... My curiosity is piqued by them openly mentioning annihilation in front of the — human — D’Medicis, who, as far as I know, are ignorant about things that go bump in the night... But maybe the D’Medicis assume it’s a figure of speech. Or, have I misjudged, and they’ve known we’re wolves this whole time?
I don’t ask, not here and now, because standing here in this room with the disgusting pig, Gregorio D’Medici, is a ninth circle of hell I had no intention of ever visiting.
Dad stands and walks toward me. Neil follows him, and when they pass me, I turn to follow Neil. We head straight out the hotel entrance and step to the side, waiting for the valet to bring his SUV around.
“Valor.” My father gives in to the stifled grin.
It’s the same attempt at a disciplining smile when Kerrianne misbehaves. He can’t handle being the disciplinarian for his children or grandchild, especially when he’s amused by what’s happened.
The man is a seasoned alpha, all but convicted murderer, and made my childhood a living hell, but that grin makes me wonder how the pieces of him can seamlessly fit together.
God grant me the patience.We lock eyes.
He pulls me in for a hug and claps me on the back. “I told you so.”
Our conversation from this morning, almost twelve hours ago, has been in the back of my brain, taunting me.You will like her.
I hug him back as his SUV pulls up and wait for him to get inside.
But Dad reaches in and turns back to me with shopping bags. “Your mother thought that perhaps wedding clothes wouldn’t be fun to come home in tomorrow.”
Keeping her naked in bed forever? Not a problem.My wolf supplies his ideal outcome.
With a single head bob, I accept because I sure as fuck hadn’t thought of that when I cut her dress from her body. Though, the wolf has a point. “Thank you.”
