Chapter 3: A Cold Shoulder

Naomi POV

Who did Cyran Sinsworth, dishonored son of the pack, think he was, spurning her after he’d thrown himself at her?

Her wolf growled that he was just full of stubborn male pride.

She told Hera to go take a bath because CYRAN had made the first move.

Hera huffed that Cyran probably didn’t want to get kicked out of the pack for his behavior if Naomi complained because his position was not exactly safe.

But she’d been enjoying his advances! She would have let him …

Her messy dark hair fell in her face and she brushed it aside, then combed it with her fingers while ducking into an empty bedroom to compose herself and tidy her appearance.

She should handle all this better. Before she decided to follow the Dark Goddess, she followed her mother Cortona’s path as a huntress, working with her mother and learning the ways of stalking prey. An enraged hippogriff had nearly pecked her to death when she accidentally bumped it. Hippogriffs reacted horribly to insults or perceived insults.

She sat on the bed and noticed yet another bedspread made by Auntie Rose and sold by her sister Karaleah and brother-in-law Dantos. Family connections bound her like ropes, and the mate pull was like a cord between her and Cyran.

How could she face him again?

But at least she could yell at him, unlike anyone else in the pack.

Honestly, maybe it was better that Cyran pushed her away. The two traitors to the pack getting cozy. That kind of reputation was the last thing either of them needed. Keep her head down, be quiet, and work hard. 

And yet she trembled because he might turn dark again after her rejection. He had his sister and brother-in-law, and he had Wise Woman Tulaska for support in the Evenhide Pack. But he undoubtedly wouldn’t be welcome in much of the territory. Besides, he needed someone who truly understood.

In the gleaming bathroom, she washed her face and combed her hair, wishing she could just rinse off her past misdeeds. After a bit, she went and peeked out into the corridor and noticed Cyran and Luna Garnet gliding past, both beautiful and honey-colored. Both looked put together. Cyran had combed his hair and restored order to it with a quick trim.

Patient from years of hunting, Naomi waited several seconds, then tailed them.

Don’t intrude, but do seize the right moment.

They headed to the elevator and Naomi hung back, curious to see what Cyran thought of the feat of orc and shifter ingenuity. His eyes bulged and he exclaimed for several minutes, his mind fired up by the design and the mechanics. Garnet pressed the button and the doors opened. Brother and sister disappeared into the box and the doors closed.

This time, Naomi decided to take the stairs. Her heart fluttered with each step, but thank goodness she descended the stairs alone. On the next floor, she met up with two of the house staff. The one was the manservant she’d seen before, who nodded in a friendly way, and the other was a young maid who stared at her coldly and turned away.

The contempt was hard to stomach, but Naomi held her head high and walked behind them. The young maid carried on in a loud voice.

“Look at this stairway. I swear we cleaned it just yesterday, but it’s FILTHY. It’s completely dirty. And there are all kinds of cracks. It’s a disgrace to this house.”

Naomi’s face went pale. The stairs had been oiled with lemon oil and they gleamed. Not a speck of dirt. Scuff marks maybe, but no cracks. She knew what the woman meant.

The male servant either didn’t realize or pretended ignorance. “Why, we cleaned it from top to bottom. It’s perfect.”

“Hmph! I say it’s filthy.”

Naomi continued down the stairs behind them, with the woman keeping up a scorching verbal barrage that made the stairs seem endless. “You just can’t let the riffraff go anywhere in this house. Rogues. Strays. The packless. Sooner or later, they just make everything ugly and dirty … OW! You stepped on my foot.”

The manservant hissed, “I’ve listened to enough of that this morning. One more word and you can go complain somewhere else, anywhere else, to anyone else. I have work to do and I can’t do it with you going on and on like this.”

“WELL! I just thought given what they did–”

The manservant reached the ground floor and marched off without another word. The young maid looked around her and her cold blue eyes met Naomi’s. She hissed, “You’re not wanted here. Not in the house, not in the pack. LEAVE.”

Full of pride and arrogance, she, too, marched away.

Although Naomi felt like throwing up, she continued on shaky legs and stumbled, missing the bottom two steps. The world tilted crazily and two pairs of arms caught her before she cracked her head open on the floor.

“Are you alright?” Luna Garnet’s voice reached her.

“Yes, Luna.”

Cyran’s voice warmed her from head to toe. “That’s quite a spill.”

“Not my first fall from grace,” she mumbled. “The elevator would have been better.”

“It is a marvel,” Luna Garnet murmured, helping her along the corridor. “Do you need to sit down? CYRAN? Where are you going? We should take Miss Tenebruso to the kitchen.”

Lifting her head, Naomi stared after Cyran. His back spoke volumes. Indignation built inside her and she called out, “Why are you acting this way?”

Luna Garnet sighed, holding her with care and treating her with kindness. Naomi had admired Garnet from the time they were both pups. Landon and Flavia Sinsworth had raised Garnet well. And before Hades stole Cyran’s mind and heart, they raised Cyran well. The siblings were fine examples of Crimsontails–bold, fierce, sophisticated, intelligent, loyal, and passionate. She would say the same about Alpha Jiro.

Remembering his manners, Cyran stiffened, then spun around and raced back to her, careful not to touch her, but looking sincerely into her eyes with his golden ones.

“I’m sorry, Na–Miss Tenebruso. It’s just–”

“Just what?”

“I’m supposed to have an audience with Alpha Jiro this morning.”

OH. “He asked you to?”

Cyran lifted his head. “I volunteered. I figured I'd get the most difficult part over with.”

Naomi’s eyes softened. “He … he’s been kind and forgiving and gracious to me. And to any of the ex-cult members we recovered.”

Cyran looked hopeful. “There are more?”

“Oh yes. Skye and Carnelian Redwood, that mated pair … we got them three days ago and the witches, Wise Woman Roslynn, and Healer Kellam are working on them.”

Cyran breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Thank the Moon Goddess.”

“They’ll have to make amends and perform community service, just as I will,” Naomi informed him. “I haven’t worked out what my community service will be …”

Especially since her family had an empty seat at the table with Auntie Rose still enslaved. She needed to serve her family above all. She had no talent for weaving, but maybe she could work in the weaving shop without pay. But even that didn’t seem sufficient.

Cyran said softly, “Maybe we can figure it out together.”

Naomi looked at him hopefully. “That would be good. You and I, and maybe our Luna and Wise Woman Tulaska, are the only ones in the pack who really understand what it was like with Hades.”

Cyran shivered. “Thank the Moon Goddess for that! Naomi … about before …”

“Don’t worry about that right now.” Especially since Luna Garnet’s eyes were entirely too perceptive. “Good luck with the Alpha.”

He reached up as if to touch her, but let his hand fall in the next breath. “Thank you.”

Luna Garnet’s eyes never left her face. As the deceased Alpha’s daughter, Garnet had always impressed Naomi, even though she never really knew what Garnet was capable of because she always stood in Cyran’s shadow. But as the pack Luna and a witch in her own right, she had proven to be an unstoppable force for good and a magnetic presence.

“Your words are very kind, Naomi,” Luna Garnet said, raising her voice so it could be heard at least down the corridor. “You’ve behaved with more grace and dignity, considering, than some people who boast that they’ve never done anything wrong in their life. And I think Alpha Jiro will agree.”

Fenrir’s guts, had Luna Garnet witnessed her humiliation? The woman probably didn’t miss anything.

Cyran growled. “WHO DARES–”

Naomi interrupted him. “Thank you, Luna. You know … Sarina offered me some breakfast earlier this morning when I first came to the house.”

“If Sarina disrespected you, then I’m a dragon,” Cyran muttered. “But she probably knows who did.”

“She’s ALWAYS been very kind,” Naomi said. “I think I might go see if she still has some of her famous bread left.”

Cyran groaned. “Don’t say ‘bread,’ please. The witches seem to have banned it.”

“HUSH. You whine like a pup,” Luna Garnet chided.

Naomi stared at Cyran and saw a hunger in his eyes. It wasn’t hunger for bread, as her maddening wolf informed her. Despite his seeming rejection, he was drawn to her.

“I should go,” she said, and marched off with the dignity and grace Luna Garnet had complimented.

* * * * *

Garnet POV

If Naomi the huntress was not Garnet’s brother’s fated mate, Garnet would give away her share of the Cresta and Sinsworth family fortunes.

She’d been willing to give away all of her family’s gold to save Cyran before he went rogue. Fortunately, cooler heads such as Wise Woman Roslynn and the ever-faithful Beta Barrett stopped her, which was good, because her money went farther when she used it to help the pack rebuild, including spending it on the feast to celebrate Jiro as the new Alpha and the war against Hades that, in a strange way, helped her brother more than anything … especially since Naomi Tenebruso saw Hades for the horror he was after he nearly killed Cyran.

Garnet still ended up investing large sums of money in Cyran’s care thus far, matched by her mate Jiro’s own generous contributions. She knew Jiro well enough to know that his generosity was largely if not entirely because of his love for her. His Cresta family, most of the Sinsworths, and the two packs were his entire focus. He might respect Cyran turning against Hades and saving his life, but he helped Cyran because of Garnet.

While she thought all this, she took Cyran by the arm and walked with him to the Great Hall. “What did she mean about ‘earlier’?”

“Never mind, Sister.”

He didn’t actually say those words, but his grunt spoke volumes.

Garnet patted his arm. “Something, maybe, to make the weeks ahead a little more bearable.”

Another grunt answered her.

“I hope you’re more eloquent than this with Jiro,” she said as she spotted Barrett Malone standing outside the door to the Great Hall. “He’s waiting for you.”