Chapter 8: Not With My Daughter

Cyran POV

He didn’t know Cortona and Ervin Tenebruso well, but Cortona had Naomi’s rounded figure and intelligent violet eyes. The way she stood, so proud and tall, feet apart, gave her an air of dignity. Ervin Tenebruso was muscular, with curly black hair and a thick mustache, and he looked incredibly robust for the teacher to the pack’s schoolchildren.

Ervin stood and glared at Cyran until he got to his feet, with Naomi leaping up.

“You have some nerve being near my daughter,” Ervin said heatedly in his deep voice.

Cortona’s voice was hard. “Naomi, what are you doing with him?”

Naomi looked like a little girl. “Mama, we work together–”

“Oh, Naomi. You’ve been hurt.” Cortona put her arms around her daughter. “You should rest at home.”

“I’m fine, Mama.” Naomi’s eyes filled with violet flame. “And you see, Cyran and I have some investigating to do, prisoners to interview, that sort of thing.”

“Nonsense. You’ve just been attacked,” Naomi’s mother said in a soothing way. “Why don’t we go home and you can rest?”

“I’m fine. Truly.”

But Naomi looked from Cyran to her mother, hesitating,

Cyran cleared his throat. “Mr. and Mrs. Tenebruso, may I offer my–”

Another woman, a few years older than Naomi and with her eyes but with close-cropped black hair, looked at Cyran as she might look at a rotting pile of rubbish. “Haven’t you offered us enough? Pain, misery, heartache? Tell them! Tell them about your mother!”

These last remarks were directed at a lean, wiry man, who also glared at Cyran and said, “Rose DeFeo. My mother. Lured away from us!”

Cyran took everything on the chin. He had to, with these good folks.

Rose DeFeo. A matronly shifter lady with a loving family, Moon Goddess knew why she’d been attracted to Hades’ dark rituals. Naomi had suggested she knew someone else in her family who was interested in unleashing “their true wolf power.” What a laugh. And Rose had not escaped the cult, but he and Naomi had. That plump, pleasant weaver was still enslaved.

The DeFeos ran a weavers’ shop in the city. After Rose joined the cult, her brother-in-law and sister must have taken over the business, with the heartache of missing Rose on top of that burden.

Once again, Cyran had to ask himself silently: what had he ever thought Hades had to offer him that was worth all of this pain?

He began, “I know that nothing I can say will make a difference …”

“No.” Naomi’s sister got in his face. “Nothing will. And nothing you can do. Except to stay away from my family!”

He fumbled for something to say. “I know that Mrs. DeFeo did beautiful weaving.”

Naomi’s sister spluttered. “Weaving! Is that all you have to say?”

Dantos DeFeo put an arm around her. “Karaleah, don’t let him get to you.”

Cyran winced. He wanted to crawl into a hole, the hole he kept digging. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop it!” Naomi clenched her fists. “Just stop it, all of you, and let the man talk.”

Cyran raised his voice. “I’m sorry, but I feel the mate pull toward your daughter. I think I always did.”

Cortona Tenebruso scoffed. “Hah! Mate pull, indeed. You can find some other wretched girl.”

“More lies,” her sister Karaleah sneered.

“Right! You are never, ever to get near Naomi again,” Ervin ordered

“But he’s changed,” Naomi protested. “The Wildefell Witch Circle and two Wise Women and the Mystics of Merkur all said so.”

“I don’t care if the Moon Goddess herself comes down and says so,” Ervin growled, raising a fist in Cyran’s face.

Healer Kellam marched in, taking control. “I won’t have my patients disturbed. If you want to fight with each other, the training area is down the hall.”

Ervin and Cyran glared at each other, nose to nose.

* * * * *

Garnet POV

Jiro paced furiously outside the Healing Wing, his eyes blazing red and his teeth sharp. Garnet gave him space to storm about and let his anger loose. Nothing infuriated him more than people stupidly taking matters into their own hands or defying his orders. He didn’t rage often, but when he did, everyone in the manor stopped what they were doing to watch. And his temper never scorched innocent bystanders. At most, he would be less polite than usual.

Garnet shared that tendency. Her own temper didn’t come out often either, mostly because she didn’t enjoy being angry. But she felt that fury now, not just because of the bond but in her own heart.

“What part of ‘they aren’t to be touched’ was unclear? Do I have to write it in big letters on the pavement in the town square?”

His musical voice hit harsh notes as he paced, his hands tightly clasped behind his back as if he were restraining himself.

He continued ranting and raving. “Do they think by attacking Cyran, who has already suffered enough, and Naomi, whose only crime was following the mate pull, that they make things better?”

Garnet winced in sympathy. “They’re not thinking at all–”

“Well, THEY have that luxury. Except they don’t. Not when the Alpha gives a direct order. It’s not as if the order is in any way unjust, is it?”

“Not to me, but I’m hardly neutral.”

He glared at her over his shoulder. “You didn’t excuse his crimes even after we knew about Hades.”

“I still don’t,” she said honestly. “Why do you think I encouraged you to work with him? It had to be you and not me … I love him, but he needs to be held responsible and I’m not the one to do it.”

His jaw jutted out. “And they STILL accused me of giving him special treatment.”

“Don’t grind your teeth like that, you’ll have a headache.”

He grouched, “I already do, ever since this morning. I’ve got a beauty of a headache.”

Strong words for her mate. He wasn’t one to complain a lot about doing his duty.

She sighed, accepting that Jiro wasn’t thrilled about working with Cyran. Family was everything to him, and even if Cyran was family now, he’d still hurt everyone else among the Crestas and Sinsworths. And now, the Tenebrusos–she’d seen the storm approaching the Healing Wing and probably blowing through Healer Kellam’s domain. They had not one but two family members who fell prey to Hades’ evil, and with Hades on the run, Cyran would face the lightning and thunder. However, she had every confidence that the healer, who looked more like a wrestler, could tame the nasty weather.

And Naomi Tenebruso had a backbone. She’d seen firsthand how Hades’ mind control had warped Cyran and everyone. Yes, she and Cyran acted the way you’d expect fated mates to act. They needed to be near each other and to seek each other out even when it didn’t make sense. Their body language. Even the way that Cyran seemed to doubt the bond and pull back. But Naomi’s determination didn’t just come from the bond. Garnet saw the strength in her eyes.

Jiro was still ranting. “... and these attackers are not going to see the light of day anytime soon. The only reason I’m not exiling them is because Hades would snatch them up. Am I wrong about any of that? Garnet? Are you listening to me?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

“Smart. Very smart. But I asked you a question.”

“You asked for reassurance. I think you know that you’re doing the right thing. We can’t just let people attack Cyran and the others when we promised to protect them. Our word is everything.”

His eyes shifted back to turquoise, and his pacing slowed. “Thank you.”

“I second that,” said Willow, guarding the Healing Wing. Although still a proud Evenhide warrior, she’d followed Jiro to his new position as part of his personal security when he became Crimsontail Alpha . “An Alpha’s and Luna’s word needs to be as solid as stone, otherwise the pack loses confidence.”

“Thank you, Willow,” Garnet said with a warm smile.

“BUT things change,” Willow added, bending like the tree she was named after. “You did the right thing by exiling Naomi Tenebruso and the others. But now it’s different.”

Her scowl said that she wouldn’t have been as merciful either way.

“Again, thank you, Willow,” Garnet said.

Jiro calmed down. “Yes. Always good to hear another voice of reason. So, what would you do about the people who attacked Cyran and Naomi?”

Garnet’s eyebrows shot up to hear him refer to Naomi by her first name. He always called her “Miss Tenebruso.” He saw what Garnet saw. “Yes, tell us.”

Willow folded her arms. “If we can’t exile them, which would just give Hades more soldiers, I suggest having them break rocks. Every rock in the territory, for a start.”

Garnet grinned. Willow did tend to think in black and white most of the time. To her, law and order were everything. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

“The same goes for anyone else who gets it in their head to harm people under my protection,” Jiro said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re Crimsontail, Evenhide, or from any other pack. I’m going to hold a council meeting this afternoon, open to the public, and lay down the law.”

“With compassion,” Garnet added. “Ask them what they would do if they were the ones who needed forgiveness. Because it could be any of us.”

Jiro put an arm around her and the warmth of his touch instantly soothed her. “I’ll let you deliver that message. You do it better than I do.”

Healer Kellam’s raised voice could be heard through the door to the Healing Wing. Garnet grimaced. “I think we’d better practice now on the Tenebrusos.”

* * * * *

Naomi POV

Although a teacher, Ervin Tenebruso could rumble with the best of them. Naomi had seen her father sparring with other shifters, and he’d taught her and her sister Karaleah to fight and defend themselves. Karaleah would rather avoid a fight, and so would Naomi, but Ervin still insisted they learn the basics to protect themselves.

Eye to eye, nose to nose, her father and her potential mate confronted each other, and Karaleah shouted, “Remember, Dad, go for the weak spot!”

“NOT IN MY HEALING WING, YOU DON’T!”

Healer Kellam shoved them both backward, as far away from each other as he could.

“All I wanted to do was make sure Naomi was safe,” Cyran protested.

“Oh, I see you’re a court jester now,” jeered Ervin.

“She WAS safe,” her mother Cortona shouted, her head up. She topped Cyran by at least a foot and looked down on him like she would a small animal. “She was happy!”

He put up his hands in surrender. “I know what I’ve done. But I also know that I feel the mate pull.”

“LEAVE.” Cortona trembled, her copper skin tinged red with rage. “No more talk from you about the mate pull. You are never to see or speak to my daughter again, or even utter her name. But you don’t seem to think other people’s wishes matter much. I should–”

Alpha Jiro’s calm voice made everyone freeze in place. “You should respect Healer Kellam and the Healing Wing, and respect the wishes of your Alpha and Luna.”

Naomi pivoted with relief to see Alpha Jiro with Luna Garnet, who hung back slightly.

Alpha Jiro continued. “My mate just fired someone on our staff who was deliberately rude to your daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Tenebruso. Emotions may be running high, but Crimsontails are better than this. We have to be.”

Cyran shook his head. “It would be best for everyone if I just disappeared!”

With that, he marched out the door, leaving Naomi staring after him, her heart breaking.