Our Betrayal

Honour chuckled, and without thinking, I swung my right elbow back, wiggling my body with the strike to give it extra power. I felt my elbow connect with his collarbone, and he sent out a muffled grunt, making me grin.

He deserved it, and it was not anything more than I’d do with Mack when he was out of line.

A blur of brown hair flew into my face, and I came face-to-face with Bravo once again.

“Don’t hit my brother,” he snapped.

Sucking in a sharp breath, I tried to swallow as my retort caught in my

throat. The other three spoke all at once.

“Ease up, Bravo.”

“I’m fine,” Honour said.

“Give the cub a break,” Moral spoke from the driver’s seat. 

“She’s just asserting dominance.”

Kelly tended to get out “Seriously, Bravo..”

And then I missed it. “Will you get the hell out of my face unless you wish to lose one of those pretty green eyes!”

I planted my hands on his chest, splayed out fingers over rock-hard muscle, and then pushed him against the door with a snarl. Climbing onto my knees, I leaned forward—into his personal space.

 “The next time you decide to play alpha, remember which clan you belong to—and which one you don’t.”

 I shoved him one more time and added, “I don’t answer to you, so stop with the pissing match.”

My heart thrummed with adrenaline as my actions caught up to my consciousness.

Not smart, Fia. Bravo’s expression was pure murder. His eyes gleamed orange, and I could sense how close his wolf was. A pelt of black fur swam down his arm before disappearing beneath his skin.

Forcing a tight smile, I smoothed his shirt. “Uh, so yeah, this car is small, and that … might’ve been a little more than necessary.”

I yanked my hands back, realizing that I was practically feeling him up.

With my cheeks burning, I took my seat and fastened my belt.

The other three men all stared at me.

Closing my eyes to them, I tamped down the urge to run—not that there was anywhere to go.

“Maybe we should … uh … start over,” Moral said.

 "I am Moral, from Uktena Clan.”

I blinked my eyes open.

Before I could ask, he pointed to the guy riding shotgun. “Here is my brother Kelly.” 

Then he pointed to the dude on my left. “And Honour.”

Yeah, I had caught the names before, but I’d play along for nicety's sake.

I turned to Bravo. “Is your name Bravo?”

 Unsurprisingly, he curled his lip in a non-answer, so I glanced back to Honour. “Is it?”

Because if their mom named three of them after virtues and one after a vice—

“His name is Bravery, but…” Moral faced forward and put the car in gear before merging back onto the road.

Shaking my head, I snorted and then muttered, “But clearly, Bravo suits him better.”

Moral and Honour chuckled, and Kelly grunted, but it was not lost on me that none of them bothered to contradict me.

I continued playing nice. “I’m Fia.”

They all just nodded but stayed silent.

Awesome.

The next hour crawled.

The strain between me and three of the Virtue brothers waned—a little.

At least enough for me to ask a few questions and listen in on their good-natured teasing. The other one, Bravo, just sat next to me like a tightly coiled snake ready to strike. I learned they had been raised on the island and pried for more info.

“Do all three clans live on the island or just Uktena?” I asked. 

The magic lands were as big as the United States and host to all types of shifters and mages. But Alpha Islet, where the school was, held the royal heirs of each line while they went through school. Yet, I wondered where the rest of the packs resided. I heard that the Uktena Pack held over a thousand wolves.

Could they all live on one island? If so, how big was it?

Kelly flattened his lips and shook his head. “Seriously, you don’t know this?”

“All of the wolf packs live on Alpha Islet—except those from Orbit Clan and the rogues,” Moral interjected before his brother and I could start a fight.

I knew my father’s pack had been excommunicated for some reason, but I did not know whether our pack lived in the magic lands or on actual Alpha Islet before being kicked out and forced to live among humans.

“Do any other shifters live there?” I heard they all did a long time ago.

“Alpha Islet is for only werewolves,” Kelly growled.

I frowned. “Yeah?”

From what my father was able to tell me, I had learned the island, in the past, was for all royals whose magic allowed them to shapeshift. Not just werewolves.

“When did that happen again? That it became werewolves only?” I asked, pressing my luck.

“Do you always talk this much?” Bravo growled, plugging his ears.

I ignored the idiot on my right, but when no one answered my previous question, I decided to try another vein.

“So, can you tell me anything about what happens at the school?” I tried to shift the conversation to different waters.

“Alpha Academy is guarded by high mage magic,” Honour said.

“And that magic binds you so you can’t reveal what happens while you’re there,” Moral said, wagging his brows at me in the rearview mirror.

“It’s very secretive.”

“I knew about the binding.” Everyone did, but I was wishing maybe these dudes could give me a tiny breadcrumb.

“If you knew, then why are you asking?” Kelly groaned from the front seat.

Ugh, these douchebags were rude!

The hulking mass on my right shifted, and the seat dipped, making me bump him.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

Sorry not sorry, jerk. Tugging at the frayed hem of my cutoffs, I tried to pinpoint why I was feeling so irritated. Being a dominant female close to such dominant males from a rival clan … it had my wolf so riled I felt like crawling out of my skin.

I was done playing nice. New goal: ask as many annoying questions as possible, and see how long it would take to set Bravo off again.

“My cousin did not get four Uktena Clan escorts. What gives?” Last year when Henry left, they had sent one skinny dude to pick him up. Was I seen as that much of a danger? Because if so, that was badass.

Bravo whispered under his breath, unintelligible except for the profanity and the undercut strike punctuating his belief.

Moral, the peacemaker, shook his head and howled, “Bravo, Rein it in.”

Kelly abruptly turned in his seat to face me, meeting my eyes with his green stare, identical to Bravo’s. 

“We are not the usual heir collection team. We got a summons to go pick up the heir from Orbit Clan today, and we follow orders without question, understand?”

Huh. Why would someone from the academy want the A-team to pick me up?

“Sure, I understand English just fine. Thanks for asking.” I dismissed his huff and laid on another question. 

“Who sent the Invitation?”

That adage about curiosity killing the cat had no bearing on wolves. I was as interested as they came and not afraid of death.

Bravo yanked his ears. “Holy mage, woman, do you ever stop talking?”

What a baby! The last time I had covered my ears like that was when I was four. Maybe he had issues; like eating paint chips as a kid or was not loved by his mother enough. Whatever it was, it was not my problem. With the sweetest smile I could muster, I pried one of his meaty fists away from his head.

“Nope.” I popped the “p” and let go of his hand. 

Every single wolf in the car grinned, well, almost everyone.

“I like her,” Moral declared.

Kelly spoke up from the front seat, “Well, don’t. She is not in our pack.”

I crossed my arms, discreetly grateful for the reminder. I could not let my guard down. 

“Damn straight and I will never forget Uktena’s betrayal.”

All four of their eyebrows furrowed. “OUR betrayal?”

Bravo grinned for the first time, and holy-mage of everything beautiful, he just got hotter.

Bastard.

“She is been lied to.” Bravo nodded his head, and his voice held a bit of pity.