“Spent a little time with the Hidden?” Treno snarls. “You’re mated to their traitor leader and apparently his Altern. It sounds like you did a lot more than spend a little time,” he accuses, and all thoughts of being the voice of reason and understanding go flying right out the window.
“I was just as shocked by that as I was to find out I was mated to you,” I snap at him, jumping to my feet.
I feel light-headed and weak, but at least I’m up, so I shove that aside and embrace my frustration. I get that he’s hurt, but I didn’t do any of this out of malice. I deserve to feel bad about how it turned out, but I don’t deserve to be beaten over the head with it all. What the fuck else could I have done?
“I was dropped into the middle of a war, through no fault of my own, and forced to figure out how to survive. I didn’t know that being physical with anyone would result in a lifelong mating. It wasn’t in the welcome brochure that no one handed to me when I showed up in this fucking hell hole. In my world, sex doesn’t work that way. I had no idea that I could end up in a situation like this.”
Treno growls at me and gets to his own feet. He doesn’t look as shaky as I do, and that just pisses me off even more. Gone is the sweet and playful male, whose presence felt like cool water on a scorching day. In his place is a cold, hard warlord who apparently isn’t going to offer me the empathy I was trying to offer him.
“Well, if you didn’t know how things worked here, then you had no business rutting with anyone. Now you’ve tied me to my enemies, turned my brother against me, and ruined me in ways I don’t even know how to come back from!”
“I’ve ruined you?” I ask, taken aback. Shock and anger swirl in me, and I’m stunned by the selfishness radiating out of him. Does he even care what’s been done to me? “Fuck you, Altern of the Avowed,” I spit back at him, fed up and stepping into his space like I’ve forgotten that he’s a foot and a half taller than me and probably bench-presses my weight for a warm up. His eyes blaze even brighter with fury, but I continue.
“I didn’t pursue any of you. Each and every one of you knew I wasn’t from here and would have no idea how things worked. I didn’t see anyone explaining matings to me before they were coming inside of me. You aren’t the only injured party in this situation, Treno. I’ve been fucked literally and figuratively by each of you and what you kept from me.”
“You had no right,” he yells.
“Neither did you!” I snap back, matching his indignation glare for glare. “I’m tired of all you alpha meathead bitches always trying to keep me on my back foot. I’m sorry that I couldn’t tell you the truth about who found me first. Trust me, right now no one is sorrier than I am that we’re all mated and stuck with each other. But what the hell was I supposed to do? The Avowed would have killed me, just like the Hidden wanted to. I was stuck and just trying to get home. If all you selfish pricks had just let me be, none of us would be here right now. So blame each other, because I’m not here for it anymore.”
“My brother—”
“Attacked me, knowing we were bonded. He knew what would happen to you, and if you think otherwise, you’re delusional. Loa slit my throat with his blessing. So before you go off about him, you should check back into reality, because from where I was bleeding to death on the ground, Lazza seemed perfectly fine with you dying.”
I stomp away from him with every intention of storming the fuck out of here—the only problem is, I can’t find the fucking exit. I look around completely livid, and it seems the only way in or out of this cave is through the damn hole in the ceiling. Well, shit. I try to call my wings, but nothing happens. Maybe I’m too weak, or maybe something else is wrong with me. I don’t get any more time to think through that question though, because Treno closes the distance between us.
I square my shoulders, not even caring if he’s going to ring my neck like it looks like he wants to, because I’m going to scratch his eyes out, and then I’m going to wait for Ryn and Zeph to get their agro asses back here, and I’m going to do the same thing to them. Either that or I’m going to fall over from exhaustion. It’s sixes either way at this point.
Like a meteorite, Ryn drops to the ground right in front of me. It’s so unexpected that I scream and crouch down, covering my head with my hands like I’m expecting to be pummeled by more asshole gryphons falling from the sky.
“Get away from her,” Ryn barks, and I run my eyes over him, checking for injuries.
I stand up and look around, but there’s no sign of Zeph.
“Look whose master let him off the leash,” Treno mocks, his tone laced with a current of violence.
Ryn smiles, but there’s nothing kind or happy about it. “The Hidden don’t do that whole master thing. Only you and your brother still think you have the right to own other people.”
“The Avowed are not slaves,” Treno roars, stepping into Ryn’s space. “You’ve been there from the beginning. You of all people should understand that we protect each other through the Vow, nothing more.”
“Right. You only force your mark on people, whether they want it or not, and then control them when
