Page 5 of Faerie Marked

Bless me? No,damnme. I glanced up at all of them through dark lashes damper than they had moments ago.

“I can’t believe it,” Dawn said with a pout, having cut through the crowd to stand at my side once Jason left it. She took my hands in hers. “Did you know your uncle was going to spring this news on you?”

My jaw clenched. “No, I didn’t,” I said, trying to calm my breathing. “I had no clue. He took me completely by surprise.”

“I just can’t believe it,” she repeated. “You and Kendrick Grimaldi. He’s drop dead gorgeous! You are one of the luckiest people I know.” Dawn shook her head. And if I didn’t know any better, I thought I detected a hint of jealousy in her tone.

I huffed. “You can’t be serious right now—” But I stopped myself from going further.

No one would understand my reservations. Fated mates were few and far between. To the rest of them, yes, I was fortunate, blessed, not only because I’d found mine—supposedly—but because he turned out to be a handsome, powerful wolf. A leader in our community.

Deadly and violent.

It wasn’t until much later, after the party ended and the guests had gone back to their own homes, that my uncle stumbled into the kitchen, with the sounds of the cleaning crew winding down behind him. I’d been waiting for him. I knew where he kept the good scotch, and it wasn’t in his office.

“We need to talk,” I said the moment I had his attention. Then I slammed the bottle he wanted down with enough reverberation to have his eyes widening at the sound.

His brows narrowed. Sometime during the evening he’d undone his tie and left it loose around his neck. “I wondered where you’d been hiding,” he told me. “I hadn’t seen a hint of you since my speech.”

“Yes, yourspeech. We have a few things to talk about.”

But William was already walking toward me, his hand outstretched for the bottle and frowning at me as though I’d run away and ruined his night on purpose. Only one of those things was true.

I slid the bottle away and he growled, flinging off his outer jacket before tossing it onto one of the stools lining the massive kitchen island. “You know I don’t approve of you touching this stuff,” he warned.

It was all I could do to keep from collapsing.Be strong.Say what you need to say. I’d never spoken up to Uncle William before. Then again, I’d never had any reason to question him.

Things had changed.

“If you think you can so nonchalantly sell me off to the highest bidder without asking me first, then with all due respect, you’ve got another think coming.” Bracing my arms on the granite countertop, I shook my head, ignoring my nerves. “What were you thinking, announcing an engagement in front of everyone? Why didn’t you come to me first?”

William’s brown eyes narrowed. “I’m thinking about how you are my ward, and eighteen or not, this is not your decision to make. You have a fated mate, Tavi. The pack elders divined the match. The divinationmeanssomething, despite your feelings. It’s a gift.”

I went hot and cold at the same time. My finger tapped against the booze bottle. “A fated mate. I’m calling bullshit, Uncle Will. I don’t think Kendrick Grimaldi and I are fated at all. We don’t even know each other. I think you auctioned me off like cattle behind closed doors so you can gain control of the Grimaldi holdings and land. Pack elders? No way.”

The moment I said it, I knew I should have approached this with a little more finesse.

No reaction or hint of alarm showed on his face. He cocked his head. “Is that what you think I did, Tavi?” Then suddenly Uncle Will’s fist slammed down on the countertop. “Answer me!”

Wow, he was pissed.

But I would not be cowed. “Yes! It’s exactly what I think!”

His unrelenting steel and grit had helped both me and the pack survive—thrive—until this point. He alone maintained our status and had brought the Alderidge wolves to new heights, especially after the problems with the Fae. With my mother’s people.

“Do you have a problem with your fate?” he asked icily.

My jaw seized from clenching it too hard.

William shifted, blinking, and grabbed the scotch from between my hands, knowing I wasn’t foolish enough to face him if it came to a fight. “You should be pleased with the match, Tavi, considering your tainted bloodline and the nasty influence from your mother’s side. Not everyone is as gifted as you are. Kendrick Grimaldi is certainly one of the most eligible alphas around, with great wealth and power. This match between you two will strengthen the relationship between our packs. You’re marked for greatness. It is destiny. It isfate.” He stressed the word. “And therefore, it is out of my control. I want you to remember before you sling accusations at me.”

I couldn’t take any more of his cool indifference. Not when inside I wanted to rage. I drowned out the urge to scream at him by storming off and slamming the kitchen door behind me hard enough to rattle the dishes. Heels and fancy dress and all, I ran. Out the front door and down the street. Into the darkness.

Nothing about the night had ever scared me. Not when I knew I could handle whatever threat came my way through strength and wits.

I could handle anything except what my uncle asked of me.Demandedof me. I swallowed the urge to give in to tears. They were there, ready to come flooding out.

The park up ahead, a community green space where the rich moms took their toddlers in our exclusive community, had become my escape. The lateness of the cool evening meant the area was empty. Thank God.

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