Chapter 4

Layla's POV

Kian's snarl still hung heavily in the air as he crouched at Chelsea's side.

I hadn't moved an inch, but Freja was done with this show of disrespect.

She surged up furiously and just for a second, I lost my grip on her.

"She wants to cry? Fine. I'll give her something to cry about." Freja snarled as she threw her aura out directly towards her.

My heart sank as the aura rippled outwards in a heavy, suffocating wave. I had never let it free before, not here. I knew exactly how strong Freja was, but no one here did. This wasn't even at her full strength, but it was more than enough to incapacitate every wolf close enough.

Chelsea's head jerked up like a puppet as the force of Freja's anger slammed into her chest. She scrambled back on her hands, sobbing for real this time as her heels skidded over wet stone.

Freja laughed manically as I pulled her back in and I knew I was pretty much screwed from this point on.

I watched silently as Chelsea shrieked loudly as her foot caught the fountain's rim. Then she toppled in, her arms whirling at her side like a cartoon character as she tried to get her balance. The water exploded upwards and came down just as hard, all over a furious looking Kian.

"There. Now they both have something to be upset about." Freja sniffed, pleased with herself and privately, I agreed with her.

I wasn't, however, expecting the chorus of gasps that suddenly hit from every angle and when I turned my head, I saw them all.

Gravehide wolves spread along the edge of the drive, as well as a pair of guards near the gate, two elders' wives in shawls on the side path, and a junior beta that I'd sparred with last winter had his hand clamped over his mouth.

There was even a cluster of young omegas stood near the hedge, wide-eyed and whispering behind their hands. They'd all been drawn by the noise and they'd all seen at least a part of it.

All of them would start building whatever story they liked best to satisfy their urge for gossip.

Chelsea thrashed in the fountain, her soaked dress dragging at her legs. She grabbed the stone rim and hauled herself up enough to cough and sob where everyone could hear her.

"She tried to drown me," she screamed, pointing at me with shaking fingers. "She hates me so much that she wants me dead."

Freja sniggered, puffing her chest proudly.

"If I wanted her dead, she would be dead." She smirked and pressed harder against my grip on her so that she could try to cause a little more misery for the woman who wanted to ruin our lives.

I pushed back, almost choking on the effort to hold her at bay. My chest hurt from the effort it was taking.

"Enough," Kian barked as he reached into the water, caught Chelsea by the arm and dragged her up. Water poured off her dress and ran down his sleeve and she collapsed against him with a whimper and clung to his shirt with both hands.

He turned to look at me then.

"You've gone too far this time Layla..."

I stared back incredulously.

"Too far?! Are you really buying into this pathetic little act?! She was already crumpling before I breathed anywhere near her! I didn't need to touch her, she can't even stand without leaning on you."

Chelsea burrowed closer to him, her voice small and raw.

"She hates me, Kian. She's jealous. She can't stand that you love me. She wants to humiliate me in front of everyone."

The crowd's noise rose with conversations about my jealousy as Kian stood in front of them and brushed wet hair off Chelsea's face with careful fingers.

He murmured something that I didn't catch and she gave a tiny nod, then a shudder, then another pitiful sound for the audience. Only after that did he lift his head toward me.

"Whatever this is," he said, calm and cold, "whatever you're trying to prove, it ends tonight. You won't pull this pack apart because you can't control yourself."

The verbal slap landed as he had intended but I didn't give him the satisfaction of flinching. I took a few deep breaths and kept my voice level.

"Fine," I said. "Stand with her and be by her side, but don't forget who saw what before you try to bury it."

For a heartbeat, doubt flickered in his eyes but it died quickly. His arm tightened around Chelsea like he'd made a promise to the crowd and he turned and guided her up the steps.

She leaned into him as though her bones had melted and at the top she looked back at me with a face built for pity. Wet hair stuck to her cheeks with trembling lips and eyes that shone like glass.

"I just wanted to fix this Layla...that's all." She said, her voice carrying despite the softness and the clear tremble in her words.

"LET ME FUCKING KILL THAT CONNIVING BITCH!" Freja roared as she threw herself at my control, but I held steady, feeling the fury in my blood and letting it fuel my own resolve.

The crowd split to let them through and I heard clearly the whispers that raced along the edges of the path, accompanied by the accusing stares of people that I had once called friends.

And as the doors closed behind Kian and Chelsea with a solid thud, the night suddenly went very quiet.

I stood on the steps with every stare feeling as though it was burning my skin but slowly and steadily, my heartbeat finally dropped out of my throat and settled to a place and beat that came naturally.

Freja paced in tight circles, angry and wanting more, but this time she listened when I pushed her back. I didn't trust my voice just yet and I didn't trust my hands.

No one came forward to speak to me or ask what had happened. I heard fragments of conversations float past me before dying away.

"She pushed her."

"I felt it. The pressure."

"She was on the ground before that."

"Did you see the fountain."

"She went in herself."

"Layla's temper."

"Chelsea's heart."

"Poor girl."

"Poor who."

I looked across the courtyard and let every face sear into my memory. I wanted to remember who watched and who whispered and who pretended to see nothing. I let the sting of betrayal do its work as I let it erase every ounce of love that I had ever held for this place.

Two steps down, a young omega with a tray hugged tightly to her chest, looked like she wanted to say something and didn't know if it would cost her job. I shook my head once to tell her to keep it and she nodded, tiny and grateful, before disappearing behind a column.

I took the last two steps down to the stones and I didn't bother to look back again. I walked to my car and opened the door and sat with my hands on the wheel until the shake in my fingers calmed enough to hold it properly.

He'd made his choice in public now, which made this next choice simple for me.

The rupture between me and the Whitecrown family wasn't just a rumor now. It wasn't a problem that I could fix in a hallway where no one else saw, now, it lived out here under the lamps where every mouth could feed it with stories that they created themselves.

Good.

I started the engine and Freja settled a fraction, listening. If they wanted me quiet, they should've thought about that before they tried to drown me in lies.

I pulled away from the steps and the guards at the gate didn't meet my eyes when I rolled past into the empty street beyond.

I drove slow enough to think. Not about him. Not about her. About what it meant for me now that his choice was public and what would come next when I picked mine out loud.

I didn't say anything to the quiet car. I didn't need to.

They'd wanted a show. They'd got the first act. But now?

"Now, it's our turn," Freja purred happily as we drove into the night.