Riven hauled me off the stone floor by my bicep.
"Move, Voss!" he shouted over the ringing in my ears.
"I can run on my own!" I ripped my arm from his grip.
We scrambled to our feet. The banquet hall had become a war zone. Masked rogues poured through the shattered windows. Silver blades flashed in the dim light. My father was already fully shifted, his massive grey wolf tearing into an attacker's throat.
"Dad!" I screamed.
"He can handle himself!" Riven grabbed my waist and shoved me behind an overturned mahogany table. A silver dagger embedded itself into the wood right where my head had been a second prior.
"We need to fight!" I yelled, searching the debris for a weapon.
"You do not even have a wolf, Elowen! You will die out here!"
The words stung, sharp and cruel. He didn't wait for my response. He grabbed my wrist and dragged me toward the servant corridors. I stumbled over broken glass, my human lungs burning with every frantic step.
We sprinted down the east hallway. Behind us, the sounds of snarling wolves and shattering stone echoed off the vaulted ceilings.
Riven stopped abruptly. He yanked open a heavy wooden door, shoved me inside a narrow supply closet, and followed right behind me. The door clicked shut, plunging us into total darkness.
The space was no larger than a coffin. We stood chest to chest. The unnatural heat radiating between us flared into a scorching inferno.
"Step back," I ordered, flattening myself against the cold stone wall.
"There is nowhere to go," he whispered, his chest brushing mine as he breathed. "Stop fighting me for one second."
"You always do this. You always corner me."
"I just pulled you out from under a falling chandelier, and then saved you from a silver blade!"
"I am not talking about tonight!" I shoved my hands against his chest. His muscles were rigid, unyielding beneath his formal shirt. "I am talking about the last four years. Entering werewolf high school was supposed to be my fresh start. Instead, it felt like a cruel joke of fate. Because of you."
"Are we really doing this right now?" he asked, glancing toward the door. Shouts echoed down the hallway.
"Yes, we are doing this right now. You never leave me alone."
"I am keeping you alive."
"I do not need your protection! You ruined my history grade."
"You were failing. I rewrote the entire presentation on the Lycan Wars."
"Because you refused to let me speak!" I shot back, keeping my voice to a harsh whisper. "You stood at the front of the class and commanded the room like an arrogant tyrant."
"I got us an A."
"I didn't want your A. And the fall dance?" I challenged. "Did you have to ruin that too?"
"Did you want to go with that idiot from the River Pack?"
"That is none of your business. You told every guy in our pack to back off."
"You looked miserable in that dress. Standing in the corner. I did you a favor."
"A favor? You made me a pariah!" I hit his chest again, though he didn't budge an inch. "Every joint clan hunt. Every family banquet. I am always stuck with you. We are always bound together."
"You think I ask for these pairings?" Riven asked, his tone hardening.
"You never complain."
"Because one of us has to act like a future leader. The elders assign the groups, Elowen. Take it up with them."
I glared up at him. A sliver of moonlight bled through the crack under the door, catching the sharp angle of his jaw.
My mind betrayed me, flashing back to the joint hunt last autumn. Riven hadn't been arrogant that day. A massive wild boar had charged a terrified freshman. Riven threw himself in front of the kid, taking a brutal tusk to the ribs.
I remembered watching him bleed. I remembered watching him train for hours in the academy yard, sweat soaking his shirt, pushing his body past exhaustion to ensure he could protect the clan. He wasn't just a bully. He fought with honor. He protected the weak.
A strange flutter erupted in my stomach. A dangerous crack in my armor.
*No.*
I forced the feeling down violently. I squeezed my fists until my nails dug deep into my palms. *He humiliated you. He called you an Omega in front of everyone. He is the enemy.*
"Do not act noble now," I snapped. "I know who you really are."
"Do you?"
He leaned closer. The heat spiked violently, making my head spin. It felt like a fever burning under my skin, demanding something I refused to acknowledge.
"You push me away," Riven whispered. "You act cold. You oppose every word I say. Yet here we are. Alone. Again."
"By force," I hissed.
"Is it?" He tilted his head. "If you hate me so much, Elowen, why is your pulse racing?"
"I just ran for my life."
"It was racing before the attack." His thumb brushed my collarbone.
Fire shot through my veins at the contact. I slapped his hand away.
"Do not touch me."
"Your skin is burning. Just like mine."
"It means nothing."
"Liar."
Before I could hurl another insult at him, heavy footsteps thudded right outside our door.
We both stopped breathing.
A deep, unfamiliar voice rumbled through the wood. "Check the passages. Leave no survivors."
The brass handle rattled.
