Chapter 232: Run Along, Alpha King
Guinevere had a dead man’s spare son planted in her path with a memory hole big enough to park a conspiracy inside and still have room for the cover-up.
When it came to Stonehowl, she knew a few things for certain and the rest of it was pure fucking guesswork.
FIRST:
In the throne room, Corvex Stonehowl had said he was going to take her for his son. She was gagged, chained, and passed out mid-journey.
SECOND:
The next thing she remembered was coming to in a brown-decorated man-cave that several grown men called home, one of them being Kael, who against all odds ended up not being the villain of the story.
THIRD:
One of the brown-room men informed her that Corvex Stonehowl was dead and Tharos had taken over for his father. Which meant the stretch between her abduction and waking up had contained at least one major event involving Corvex.
That was the full inventory. Shitty inventory, but it was hers.
DOMINO 33: YOU SHOULD SEE THE OTHER GUY
GREYHALL CROSSING - COUNCIL CHAMBER - 7:58 PM
The buzzing and movement died instantly and the crowd backed off, creating a perfect fifteen-foot no-man’s-land between them.
RULE 27: Eye contact is a game of patience before dominance. A man with nothing to hide doesn’t glare like a pissed-off guard dog or avert eye contact like a scared little bitch.
Tharos Stonehowl was a perfect copy of his father, including the exact same sneering face that scared her more than she cared to admit. The last time she saw that face, she was in chains.
She kept her expression calm and didn’t flinch because this was data and nothing more. He was a piece on a chessboard and this was her chance to study before he made his move.
RULE 28: Eyes drop first, mouth opens first. Every goddamn time. Shut the fuck up and wait. The next words out of their mouth are always a confession.
Five seconds.
Ten.
He broke eye contact first, and right on cue he started talking. "You look like hell. Bruised face. Split lip. Beaten. I’m surprised you don’t have a limp too."
Guinevere blinked. THAT was what he’d led with. That. What in the shitshow.
"You should see the other guy," she replied.
A few snickers broke the tension. She wasn’t trying to be funny, but she’d take the goddamn win.
Without another word, she pivoted and continued walking towards her seat. Her six men stayed behind her, probably making sure she got parked before peeling off to the stands, which she appreciated.
Just as the crowd finished parting, Tharos slid right back in front of her, blocking the path a second time for no good reason.
"Every Alpha here has buried their father. I haven’t. Your father made sure we never got his body. And now he sends YOU instead of showing his face because he’s too much of a coward to sit across from the son of the man he double-crossed. And he doesn’t want to risk his actual heir. No one would suspect you."
Fifteen feet away, Alpha Duskwin stood from his chair. "Tharos, sit the fuck down. You’re embarrassing yourself."
One anonymous whistle came from the back of the room. Tharos’s neck swiveled. Every man in that section was suddenly fascinated by the ceiling.
"Shut your mouth, Duskwin," he snapped, moving his eyes back to Guinevere. "For the men in this room who don’t know Renwick Lunaris, let me break it down. He approached my father with a deal. Looked him in the eye and shook his hand. Then he double crossed my father. This woman standing right here was in on it the whole time."
Alpha Duskwin didn’t flinch. "Tharos, you’re yelling at a girl about a bad deal that may or may not be real in a room full of Alphas. You have feelings. We get it."
A vein pulsed hard in Tharos’s forehead while his neck went crimson. He looked furious and about half a second from lighting himself on fire out of pure rage.
"You’re his friend, Duskwin," he clipped. "Your opinion is worthless. She’s a con job. She walks in looking helpless. Renwick gets off the hook. That’s the play. I can smell a setup from across the room. He even put her in a warrior outfit so the bruises would look earned. But not too earned. No blade. So she can’t defend herself."
Guinevere’s jaw dropped in genuine surprise. The composure she’d faked for the last minute cracked for a solid second before she recovered.
"Correction," she said, voice steady. "Your father chained three hundred women, children, and elders in silver. He killed our guards and put their heads on spikes, then painted our walls with their blood. And he smiled while doing it. He then strangled our Luna, my father’s wife."
Tharos laughed, and it was an ugly, cold sound that belonged in a dark alley, not a council chamber.
"Right. So let me guess, this is where you stepped forward," he said.
"Yes," Guinevere replied. "Your father was claiming she was retribution. I stepped forward and volunteered to take her spot. And I was prepared to die that day. But instead of killing me, your father chose to abduct me. He made his choices and I made mine."
"You volunteered." Tharos repeated it like it was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. "A hidden princess crown jewel just walks up to an Alpha and says ’take me instead.’ Because that’s not suspicious at all."
"Yes," she said, voice not wavering. "I stepped forward because that was the only card I could play. I played it and I would do it again. And any Alpha willing to chain children in silver or murder a woman in cold blood is no Alpha I would ever respect."
The silence was so thick you could hear the torches burning.
She turned away from him, completely over this.
"Oh we’re done?" he called. "YOU decided we’re done? That’s cute. That’s really cute. That mouth would have gotten you hanged in my territory. You don’t get to disrespect me and walk. You are a princess. I am an Alpha King."
She stopped, but did not turn.
"Any man who has to say ’I am an Alpha King’ is no Alpha King. You want my respect? Try earning it."