Chapter 4 : Desperate times

MAXINE. I scoff at the Ambassador, but something about her gaze throws me off. It’s not just about her being a Werewolf. It’s the sense of compassion coming from her. “Let me out,” I repeat, but this time, my voice has lost all its venom. “You made a mistake—” “Not quite,” she says, her voice as calm as ever. “What do you remember from last night, Miss Kane?” I don’t want to answer, but saying something would be better than dealing with the silence all around me. I swallow hard. “I went to a party with my friend, and we were attacked on the way home. Attacked by your kind.” “I understand.” She starts to pace back and forth in front of the glass wall, her eyes fixed on me. “Is there anything else you might want to share? Something important that happened?” The memory from last night is still fresh, but I doubt it’s safe to tell her anything. Her gaze is making me feel like I’m being run through a scan, but I think fast. “That’s it. I got out of the car to try and call for help and it attacked me. Next thing I know, I’m here.” Ambassador Finnegan stops. “So you don’t remember being bitten at all?” I stop. I don’t know what to say. I mean, I remember perfectly. The sensation of the Werewolf’s teeth sinking into my neck, the heat rushing into my bloodstream… all of it. I just felt like if I didn’t acknowledge it, maybe it might turn out to be a lie or a hallucination. “Your silence tells me everything I need to know, and I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but….” She takes a deep breath and puts a hand on the glass. “You have been infected with lycanthropy.” “Lycanthropy?” I ask. “Is that what I’m here for? You’re giving me a cure?” “No,” she says simply. “Please, let me explain. Werewolves are lycanthropes. They are creatures with this kind of genetic makeup. When they bite someone who does not have the same genetic code, the condition gets transferred. This is one way for the Werewolf race to multiply, aside from procreation.” “I don’t understand.” My words are barely audible, even to my own ears. The only thing I can hear is my own desperation. “I’m being cured. Everything should be fine—” “There is no cure, Miss Kane,” the Ambassador interjects, her eyes flashing with sympathy once again. “You are now a Werewolf.” Tears spring into my eyes. The anger is still there, but it feels so subdued with disbelief and despair that the only thing I can do is step away from the glass. “That is not true. You’re lying. You’re making things up—” “There is a mirror in the corner, if you wish to see.” I whip around and find a simple handheld mirror on the nightstand next to the glass of water. I snatch it, holding it to my face almost rabidly in an effort to prove her wrong. I expected to see my blue eyes staring back at me, but I was wrong. The eyes that I see in the mirror are not my own. They’re now gold, like hers. Like every other Werewolf. I’m one of them now. “NO!” I scream, throwing the mirror at the glass wall, spraying bits of jagged shards everywhere as the mirror breaks into a million pieces. “You’re lying!” I ram into the wall, hoping to break it and get out of here, but as soon as I collide against the solid surface, she motions some men into action. They’re all wearing black, with guns and other strange weapons strapped at their hips. They open a door in the corner and rush towards me with handcuffs at the ready. The material in the handcuffs makes my skin sting. It’s silver. Silver is hurting me now…. “Let me go!” I yell, but the men successfully restrain me. One of them kneels by my feet and clamps a tracking device around my ankles. And with that, they all leave. Ambassador Finnegan only steps closer to the glass. “Your guardian is waiting for you outside the facility. You will be escorted to your home, and you will be watched at all times. You have one week to gather your things and say your final goodbyes. And after that, we will be taking you to the Unclaimed Camp.” * * * AJAX. “So, what exactly happened?” Father leans forward, his gaze piercing through me from across his mahogany table. Suddenly, his study feels much too cluttered and cramped, even though it’s enough to house a dozen Werewolves at their full size. His gaze alone is enough to tell me that I'm doomed. The party that I have thrown for my birthday has been busted, all because a girl was attacked by something not far from the mansion. I don’t even know why that had to be my fault. She probably got attacked by another Human, which is something that happens a lot more than my people think, even my family. “You know what happened,” I tell him, but I lower my head anyway. “You approved my party. You agreed that I needed a big celebration because I just came of age. I held the party in our summer home in Kansas and the Humans didn't know. Everything went fine.” “Except for the attack, of course,” he puts in. I clench my jaw. Don’t get me wrong: being the second son of Alpha Rex, the leader of the powerful Cavaliere Pack, has its perks and I barely even complain. I mean, my father basically rules over everything. The Humans may still have a president, and my father is in the same standing as him. It hasn’t been bad at all, to be connected to someone that big. But it’s moments like this when I remember just how difficult it is to be his son, even though I will never be a direct heir. It always feels like he’s disappointed in me, no matter what I do. I don’t understand why. I’m just the second son. The only contribution I’m supposed to make is to find a respectable mate and step aside for my brother Draco as he takes the title. I know I am capable of more and I try to show him that, but every time I do, he seems uninterested. And when I try to meet the only thing that is expected of me, he seems displeased. Disgusted, even. “No one from my party attacked that Human girl,” I reply, trying to keep myself calm. “With all due respect, Father, I have no clue why you insist it has something to do with me. The reports said she crashed her car out of the highway and that’s where she got into trouble. It didn’t happen anywhere near me—” “And yet your party is somehow involved,” Father interjects, this time getting to his feet. He looms over me as he holds himself to his full height. “What you read is the reports from Humans, not the reports from our kin. Are you not interested in what they have to say?” My pulse starts to race. My hands begin to shake, so much so that I have to clamp them on my lap to prevent myself from looking like a fool. “Of course.” Father doesn’t say anything more. He just takes a folder from the stack of papers he has on his desk and slides it over to me. I open it, and the first thing that meets me is a picture of a girl. A familiar-looking girl. The Human girl who crashed my party. All heat drains from my face, but I just blink rapidly and flick to the next page. There are no articles, but there is a report that says, “The car in the crash site matches the car that was seen leaving the Cavaliere home. Two females were in the car, Maxine Kane and Livia Rhodes.” No. This can’t be happening…. I can feel Father’s eyes on me. I look up and meet them, even though I want nothing more but to leave. “I have never seen any of these women before.” There’s a pause in the air. A certain kind of tension. He takes the folder back and files it. “If you’re going to lie to me, Ajax, you should at least try to make it believable.” My heart sinks. “I’m sorry, Father. Believe me, I don’t know either of them and they just showed up. The only girl I saw was the one in the picture, the one with blue eyes—” “And she is the one who got attacked and turned into a Werewolf,” he cuts me off. When I just stare at him wide-eyed, he scowls. “Yes, it's most likely that the one who attacked her is a Rogue, and you know very well that those pests are already tarnishing our reputation. The Humans are restless. The girl saw you and the others at that party. What would her fellow Humans think about a group of young Werewolves partying in a city that's supposed to be Werewold-free?” "But it was your idea to hold that party there," I defend myself. "I would have been okay with it being in California...." I trail off when he glares at me. I'm an idiot. He's been planning to expand our borders to the Midwest. I know that he's pushing for coexistence and not segregation like what we have now. The Human officials allowed us to have a summer home in Kansas to test this out. But tragedy struck, and now I'm involved. "You will cost me my throne," Father says slowly, his jaw set. "My neck is on the chopping block, Ajax. You need to make this right." “And I will, Father.” I rise from my seat too. “I promise, I will make this right.” “Good.” Father crosses his arms. “Because if you don’t, you will be disowned and banished.”