Chapter 7
Aquilla slammed the store room door and stormed back into the house. Anna glared at him from the couch. “Are you out of your mind?”
Aquilla turned away. “What’s the matter with you now?”
“Do you really think you can get away with this?” she asked. “Do you really think you can taunt the Ursidrean Alpha by holding Menlo for ransom?”
Aquilla scooped a handful of nuts off the counter and popped them into his mouth. “Donen is all bark and no bite. He won’t risk another war. He’ll turn over the man who killed my brother to keep the peace.”
“He won’t risk another war, but you will,” Anna countered. “You’re playing with all our lives, and for what? To pay back a vendetta decades old. You’re obsessed with the past.”
“They won’t get away with it,” he returned. “They’ve been waiting for a chance to attack us. I can sense the tension along the border. That’s an Alpha’s job.”
“So you decided to give them the excuse they need to attack us?” she asked. “You kidnapped one of their people from the border. You forced marched him halfway across our territory with no food or sleep. You beat him black and blue and kept him tied up and confined except to interrogate him and beat him some more. And now, to cap it all off, you want to hold him for ransom for a man who killed your brother in a war that you started. You’re out of your mind.”
He turned away. “You don’t know anything about it. You couldn’t understand. You’re not Avitras.”
Anna froze. Her anger evaporated. “You’re right. I’m not.”
Her words jolted Penelope Ann out of a trance. “He didn’t mean that, Anna. Don’t listen to him.”
Anna threw her sleeping roll down on the couch. “Maybe he didn’t mean it, but I did. If this is what it means to be Avitras, then I’m not Avitras. I never was, and I never will be.”
Penelope Ann took step toward her. “Anna.....”
Aquilla caught Penelope Ann and pulled her away. “Forget it. I’m tired and I’m going to bed. Come on.”
Penelope Ann tugged her arm out of his grasp. “I’ll be there in a minute. You go ahead.”
He disappeared into their bedroom. Anna straightened her sleeping roll on the couch and pretended not to notice Penelope Ann hovering behind her. She sat down on the blanket and kicked off her shoes.
Penelope Ann sat down next to her. “Don’t take his words to heart, Anna. You know you’re as much a part of this faction as anybody. You’re as Avitras as I am.”
“I’m not Avitras,” Anna told her. “I won’t be Avitras with him as Alpha. You should wonder at yourself, too. I thought you were better than that, Penelope Ann.”
Penelope Ann looked down at her hands. “I’ve never seen Aquilla like this. He’s always been strong and steady. That’s the man I fell in love with.”
Anna looked up at her. “Can’t you talk some sense into him? He won’t listen to anybody—not even Piwaka. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“He told me when we first met that he couldn’t forget the Ursidreans killed his brother,” Penelope Ann replied. “I didn’t know this burning hatred ate him up inside. He kept it hidden all this time.”
Anna touched her hand. “Talk to him. You’re the only one who can. Maybe if you tell him this isn’t the man you fell in love with, he’ll realize he’s crossed a line within himself. Maybe he’ll come back from the edge and realize he’s putting all our lives at risk.”
“You don’t understand,” Penelope Ann replied. “I love him. I’ve never loved anyone the way I love him. I could never do anything to cross him.”
“You can’t put your love for Aquilla ahead of what’s right,” Anna told her. “Would you risk sending your whole faction to war, just to satisfy Aquilla’s lust for revenge?”
Penelope Ann brushed a stray wisp of golden hair out of her eyes. “It isn’t as simple as that.”
Anna smacked her lips and went back to arranging her sleeping roll. “I’m tired of all the excuses. We both know this is wrong, and I won’t go along with it.”
She brushed an invisible speck off her sleeping roll and flipped back the top layer. Penelope Ann stared down at it. Anna forgot she’d hidden the egg shells there. She closed her eyes as tight as she could, but they didn’t go away. They were still there when she opened them.
“What’s this?” Penelope Ann asked.
Anna sighed. “They’re egg shells.”
Penelope Ann frowned. “Where did they come from?”
Anna squared her shoulders. “They came from the stream. They’re skidhopper eggs.”
“I can see that, but why are they in your sleeping roll?” Penelope Ann furrowed her brow. “You haven’t been sneaking eggs, have you? You know the Avitras don’t eat anything that came from animals.”
Anna smacked her lips. “How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not Avitras. I never will be. I would give anything for a cheese omelet right now. Don’t tell me you’re feeling your best on this diet of rabbit food.”
Penelope Ann’s eyes shot open. “How can you say that? The Avitras diet is the cleanest, most wholesome diet I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
Anna shot her a wry grin. “Come on, Penelope Ann. There’s no one here but you and me. You can tell me the truth. Don’t you dream at night about a nice rib-eye steak, seared medium rare, with a side of creamy mashed potatoes dripping with butter? Don’t you dream about a roast chicken with cornbread stuffing and gravy?”
Penelope Ann clamped her eyes shut and covered her ears. “Stop it.”
Anna nodded. “I thought so.”
Penelope Ann peeked at her. “That’s not reason to go sneaking skidhopper eggs and hiding them in your sleeping roll. What if the Avitras found out?”
“I don’t care if they find out,” Anna replied. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going back to the Lycaon.”
“You can’t do that!” Penelope Ann exclaimed.
“I can, and I will,” Anna replied. “I made a mistake coming over to the Avitras. I know that now.”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “Wait until I tell Aquilla. He’ll change. He’ll let Menlo go. He won’t let you go back.”
“He has no choice in the matter,” Anna replied.
“That’s not what I meant,” Penelope Ann told her. “I meant he won’t want you to go because of what he’s doing with Menlo. When he realizes you feel strongly enough about this to leave the Avitras, he’ll let Menlo go.”
Anna shook her head. “It’s not just Menlo and Aquilla. I would go back to the Lycaon for the food alone. I don’t belong with the Avitras. Maybe you do, but I don’t.”
“We can’t let this happen,” Penelope Ann insisted. “We can’t let you walk away.”
“It’s already done,” Anna replied. “There’s nothing you can do to change my mind. I suppose I should have found out more about the Avitras before I came to live with them.”
Penelope Ann looked around. “Maybe when I explain the situation, we can work out some way for you to collect your own food from the forest.”
“Where would I cook it?” Anna asked. “No, it wouldn’t work. I was wrong about the Avitras, and it took Aquilla capturing Menlo and bringing him here for me to realize that. I never belonged here, and I won’t stay here.”
“What are you going to do?” Penelope Ann asked. “When will you leave?”
Anna glanced around the room. “I don’t know. I’ll have to figure out a way to get back to Lycaon territory. Maybe Piwaka will help me find my way.”
Penelope Ann’s head shot up, and her blue eyes widened. “These eggs.....they weren’t for you at all, were they?”
Anna turned bright red. “What are you talking about?”
Penelope Ann dropped her voice to a hoarse whisper. “You got these eggs for Menlo, didn’t you? You smuggled them to him in the store room.”
Anna’s cheeks burned. She had no choice but to look away. “I told you I ate them.”
“You never told me anything of the kind,” Penelope Ann shot back. “I said it, and you didn’t deny it. You let me believe they were for you to hide the truth. You’ve been smuggling food to Menlo while Aquilla’s back is turned.”
Anna raised her eyes to Penelope Ann’s face. “How did you figure that out?”
Penelope Ann stared down at the eggs. “I don’t know. Something in the way you said you weren’t sure when you would leave told me you wanted to stay until you knew Menlo was safe.”
“Can you blame me?” Anna asked. “I don’t know how you can stand to watch Aquilla mistreat an innocent man without doing something to stop him. All I did was give him something to eat so he could put up with the abuse a little bit better. You can’t blame me for that.”
“You shouldn’t have done it,” Penelope Ann told her. “Aquilla already told you to leave Menlo alone.”
“Are you going to tell him?” Anna asked.
Penelope Ann shook her head. “I don’t know what I’ll do. Aquilla is Alpha of our faction, and he’s my mate. In a way, you’re asking me to betray Aquilla instead of you.”
“You know I only did what was right,” Anna replied. “Aquilla’s gone off the deep end with this vendetta of his, and he could wind up dragging the Avitras and the Ursidreans into another war.”
“I’m sure that’s exactly what Menlo wants,” Penelope Ann shot back. “That’s why he keeps his information to himself.”
“You know that’s not true,” Anna countered. “You know as well as I do he keeps it to himself to keep the peace. If he told Aquilla what he wanted to know, Aquilla would never stop until he murdered the man who killed his brother, and the Ursidrean Alpha would have no choice but to launch an attack in revenge for that killing.”
Penelope Ann turned away. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do.” Anna finished straightening her sleeping roll and collected the egg shells into a pile. “Even Piwaka won’t go along with Aquilla’s insane plan to hold Menlo for ransom.”
Penelope Ann pulled her hand away. “I don’t know. I should tell Aquilla about this. I shouldn’t keep this a secret from him.”
Anna leaned forward, but she dared not touch Penelope Ann again. “At least wait a few more days before you tell him. Give me a chance to figure out what to do about Menlo.”
“You don’t have to do anything about Menlo,” Penelope Ann replied. “Aquilla will handle him.”
Anna stood up and faced the woman she once considered a friend. “Don’t tell him. Search your heart. You know he’s out of his mind, and helping Menlo is the right thing to do.”
Penelope Ann shook her head one last time and turned away. “I don’t know.” She walked across the room and vanished into her bedroom.