I dropped to my bed, drenching the poor sheets and holding my sobs in.
Onyx wolf? That was the problem all along? If he wanted to be so mad about things that couldn't be helped, then maybe he should be mad about being an obnoxious Alpha.
"Ani," Pa called from outside my door. "Say the word if you want me in there with you."
I brushed the tears with my sleeves and said nothing.
Pa sighed. "Alright then, I'm leaving. If you need me, I'll be at the Arena."
Nothing hurt greater than when the two people you felt could understand you treated your situation like it was no big deal.
You'd think I'd have learned my lesson? Think I'd understand the "Stay away from me and the Packhouse"? Ha! Try again.
One more wicked week had gone by, my eyes still looked like they'd been dipped in dye, Ma continued to feed me but said nothing of my pain, and Pa, well, Pa tried his best.
He just told me I'd been banned from the Arena and the market by 'Alpha Lar.'
"But why?" I demanded.
Mum looked at me from behind Pa as she straightened his vest. I ignored her, focusing on Father, who suddenly seemed twenty years older.
He then said in the gentlest way possible, "King Lar refuses to run into you anywhere."
None of this was making sense.
"He's not even King," I flung my hand in a fit. "Why does he have so much power?"
"Technically, he's an Alpha," my father continued, smiling at Ma as she buckled his ash robe. "Two days after he came back from the academy, his father stepped down. Today is the coronation."
Coronation? I looked back at the window; that had to be the reason the street was bustling with people. I turned to my parents, brows in a squint. "And no one deemed it fit to tell me?"
Like always, they had no words for me. And hours later, I was staring into the dark night at the carnival beneath my window and listening to the chants.
"Požehnaj nového kráľa, bohyňa Frigg."
In a moment of spite, I wished they all froze in their thousands in the night's chill. The housekeeper was behind me; I could sense the disdain in her eyes about having to watch a grown woman.
I didn't understand Mum's reason behind a sitter. Did they really think after all Lar said to me, I'd be risking my life just to see his stupid coronation?
But immediately the old lady left to get a glass of milk, I understood that was my parents' mindset, and they were right.
In a flash, I was jumping out of my window, barefoot meeting the ice beneath, sending jolts of pain through me.
I swallowed my pain, and soon enough, I was among the chanting people, snaking through bodies and screaming apologies for shoving and disrupting displays.
Even though I tried to stay hidden, I still stood out. My cloth was a brown, shapeless drab gown I had pulled out of forgotten piles of dresses for no reason other than to see Ma's disapproval.
When I finally reached the front of the crowd, the sight took my breath away. The dais was grand, adorned with rich fabrics and carvings. Torches gave light, shielding the dancing women and chanting men.
Aroma of stew and roasted boar owned the air but the sight and scent weren't what made me stop. It was the memory… Ingrid's memory.
I had never been in the courthouse, so as I stood there, the childish fear that just like Ingrid, I'd walk in and never get out clawed at me.
I shook my head off the thought, clutching my drab gown. I had a rule to break. It would be my little secret.
Soon, I was with another group of women, a scarf covering my face, as they sang and danced through the entrance of the courthouse, heavily guided by soldiers.
As soon as I entered, I separated from the women, finding my place among the audience, whose eyes were stuck to the podium where their new Alpha King stood.
And there, I understood what Ma said about Lar not being sixteen anymore.
His expression was cold, detached, but there was a hardness in his eyes that made my chest tighten.
Lar was clad in a black and gold robe, a crown on his head, and a fireplace behind him, making the jewel on his head glint.
Before him was the Priestess, handing him the sword of Freya, and when he grabbed hold of the hilt, she picked up a tray of incense and began to circle him.
The chants among the soldiers began, banging their swords against their shields, and the more their chants and roars grew louder, the more Lar's eyes darkened.
I wasn't sure I wanted to be here anymore.
Lar raised his hand, and silence fell over the assembly. He stepped down from the podium, his eyes scanning the people's heads.
"Tonight," his voice boomed, "we honor the legacy of my father and welcome a new era. Together, we will forge a path of strength and unity, protecting our people and our lands from threat—WHATEVER IT TAKES!"
"WHATEVER IT TAKES!" Even Pa joined in this, with Ma staring at him with adoration.
"Soldiers!"
It seemed more like a cry of war than a coronation. I shrunk towards the wall. It was enough defying of rules for today. I needed to get back home before someone saw me.
As the music came on, I tightened my scarf around myself.
But then, everything froze, slowly coming to a standstill. Only the puzzled, then terrified murmurs of the people continued as they hastily cleared a path to Lar.
I could hear the chuckle, drawing nearer with the sound of boots, and for a while, it seemed like they all held their breath.
I rushed forward, craning my neck and practically shoving people away to get a clear view.
"King Lar," the strange voice sent a ripple through my spine. "Tell me, who doesn't invite a close friend to his coronation?"
"Vidar," Lar snarled.
Vidar… Alpha King Vidar?! I could see him too. Those broad shoulders refusing to leave my memory, the bold posture, and most of all, that amused, condescending tilt of his head.
His eyes were as dark as the abyss, his shadow casting darkness over the hall.
The light shaped the chiseled features of his face, accentuating the sharpness of his jaw and the cruel curve of his lips as his scarf hung around his neck this time.
Vidar, Alpha King of the Northern Wolves, stood before Lar, his presence alone demanding silence and submission from the crowd.
"King Lar," Vidar repeated, his voice held sarcasm. "I had hoped your coronation would be more… festive."
But to my surprise, Lar began to descend, and at the bottom, he stopped, staring down at the dark Alpha and his troops. "Is there something about the Skollfrost you can't resist?"
"There's something I can think of." Vidar's smile widened, exposing teeth that gleamed like a wolf's under the moonlight. "Where's she?"
My brows knit.
Lar's face hardened, his jaws tightening. "I tend to assume the women in Norrgard are enough to satisfy you."
"I did too, believe that," Vidar's gaze flickered over the audie
nce, then came to a stop where I was shrouded. "Until I heard about the Gamma's daughter."
My blood ran cold.