The burly man barked out a laugh. “A little?”
“Louis,” Rune growled, his voice low and threatening. “Enough.”
Even though my eyes widened at the sound of his voice, it did something to my insides that I’d never felt before. I wasn’t a virginal bride, but I’d definitely never felt heat likethatbefore. I blinked absolutely mortified with my internal musings. This guy was not my type and even if he was, he was rude and didn’t even want me here. An arranged marriage would mean nothing. But at least if we had to consummate it, I would be more than willing to participate it seemed…Ugh.
I hated myself.
I squared my shoulders, ignoring the way my heart was pounding. “Look, I don’t know what you all were expecting, but I didn’t exactly volunteer for this. So maybe cut me a little slack?”
Adelle’s lips twitched like she was fighting a smile, and even Rune’s expression softened—though only slightly.
“Fine,” Rune said, his tone clipped. “But if you want us to take you seriously, you’ll have to stop throwing household items at people.”
“It was an accident,” I muttered as I crossed my arms. “And for the record, I wasn’t aiming at anyone.”
Adelle chuckled. “She’s got spirit. I’ll give her that.”
Louis didn’t look convinced, but he kept his mouth shut this time, which felt like a small victory.
“Now that we’ve established Maple’s, ah, unique presence,” Babette said suddenly from the back of the room, her tone biting, “perhaps we should get to the reason she’s here?”
Rune nodded, his expression hardening. “Agreed. Maple, you might not know this yet, but the reason you’re here is?—”
“Wait,” I interrupted and held up a hand. “Before you launch into some ominous explanation about how I’m the key to saving the world or whatever, can someone at least explain what this war is about? Because I’ve heard exactly nothing about it and I feel like I’m missing some important context here.”
For a moment, the room was silent. Then Adelle sighed. “Fair enough. Let’s start with the basics.” She gestured for me to sit, and I hesitated before perching on the edge of a nearby chair, still acutely aware of my pajamas while everyone else was in what seemed to be formal attire. Adelle leaned against the table, her silver braids catching the light as she spoke.
“The Supernatural world has always co-existed with other races, with very little to no issues until a few years ago. Our witches started going missing and then before we knew it, our magic started acting funny.” Adelle’s shoulders slumped. “I wish we could tell you what the problem is but at this moment, we don’t know. The wolves are growing in rapid numbers, our witch population is dwindling, and the wolves are kidnapping the rest of us.”
“Kidnapping? Has this been brought to the Supernatural Council?” I asked boldly.
Adelle nodded as her eyes skipped over to Rune who now positioned himself in the corner. “The leader of the wolves hasn’t been seen in ten years and every missive for comment gets returned.”
“I mean not to state the obvious but has anyone thought to visit the wolves then?”
“They’re nomadic and don’t exactly have an address on file,” Rune snorted with a roll of his eyes, as if this was obvious. And maybe to anyone else it was, but not to me. I hadn’t had a formal witch education and that meant there were many key details about the other supernatural races that I knew nothing about.
Louis’ chair creaked as he leaned back in it. “We have tried everything. They just keep disappearing.”
I stared at them all with a look of boredom and confusion. “And I’m supposed to help how?”
Rune gritted his teeth. “That’s the secret my father went to the grave with.”
I pressed my lips together. “So this means the marriage contract doesn’t matter…”
Rune’s light eyes jumped to me. “You’re the last person I want to marry, but it was my father’s dying wish. He said it was our only hope for our people.”
Well, so much for getting out of this unfortunate arrangement.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence, everyone seemingly lost in their own thoughts. I, however, was still grappling with the horrifying realization that my fate was sealed by some dead guy’s last wish. Great.
“So, just to recap,” I said, breaking the quiet, “you have no idea why your magic is glitching, wolves are snatching witches left and right, and your solution to all of this is…me?”
Adelle’s lips twitched, and she gave a small shrug. “The ancestors have their reasons.”
“The ancestors,” I muttered, leaning back in the chair. “Of course. Let me guess, they also suggested the marriage thing?”
“No,” Rune interjected, his voice sharp. “That was entirely my father’s idea.”
