Braiden
“My King.” Samuel dips his head as the elevator doors open, his eyes traveling from me to Ava.
“My Queen, are you alright?” His question is quietly asked, eliciting concern from Ava as she looks around,
confused and blushing.
“Your eyes.” Nick's surprised tone and words, followed by his finger pointing to a large gold-framed mirror
hanging from the wall in the corridor we are in, jolt Ava into action as she lets go of my arm, quickly st epping
towards it.
“Oh my god. Why aren’t they changing back?” Ava’s finger brushes the undersides of her eyelids as if that will do
anything.
“It’s fine. Mine change all the time. You look beautiful.” I st ep behind her. White eyes meet with grey in the
mirror's reflection.
Our kiss. Ava’s bold move to ask me to kiss her must have stirred something in her wolf. From what Nick told me,
because of the silver in her body and lack of pack exposure, her wolf was very reserved—rarely making an
appearance.
“Okay. So this is a regular thing among wolves?” Ava’s voice is hopeful as she looks from me to Nick and Samuel.
While new wolves struggled with this, which might seem odd with Ava being twenty-seven years old and still not
having control, it wasn’t so much that her eyes had not changed back. It was the color.
I was blessed to have seen them before at the mandatory gathering when she had shifted into her white wolf. Like
then, I marvel at their beauty.
Gone is the green, and instead, white surrounds her black pupils, with only a thin black line at the edge of her iris,
slightly bleeding into the white. It’s fucking magnificent. And unique. More than unique, actually. Unheard of.
Just like black eyes for a wolf.
She and I were the only two wolves in the world with white and black eyes.
Even knowing it may cause a stir, I cannot feel anything but proud. Ava’s wolf was waking up, rousing from its
passive state. My wolf could sense her stronger than before. It could mean we were breaking through.
“There, now we match,” I say, my wolf accommodating by changing my eyes to black.
“Shall we?” I hold my arm out for Ava to take, her jaw nearly on the floor as she gapes at me. It’s rather cute.
“That’s your solution?” Ava puts her hands on her hips, this stance I have seen on her often when she gets riled up.
An image of her standing in my white shirt after the incident at the mandatory gathering, taking this same stance,
nearly has me smiling.
“Yes. We are ready,” I say to Samuel, who is watching the scene with amused surprise. No one spoke to me like
Ava did.
I take Ava’s hand, pulling her gently forward as the royal guards lead the way to the function hall, with Samuel and
Nick now in front of us. Nick glances behind him, chuckling, as Ava tries pulling her hand from my grasp.
“Braiden, let go,” Ava hisses, ke eping her tone low so that only I can hear. Everyone was in the hall already,
awaiting the arrival of the King.
Which at least gave us privacy out here.
“Stop, My King!” Ava knows how to get my attention, bringing the procession to a halt.
Royal guards eye the scene cautiously, not accustomed to this tone being used with their King.
“Give us a minute.” I wait until Samuel, Nick, and my guards have st epped a reasonable distance away before I
st ep toward Ava, crowding her while she stays rooted to the spot.
“That’s six, Ava. What did I tell you about calling me My King.” She huffs out, pulling her hand from mine.
“It’s the only way to get you to listen to me. I can’t go in there like this.”
I wait for her to elaborate, which she doesn’t.
“Like what?” I prompt, causing Ava’s expression to turn from anger to exasperation.
“Are you choosing to be obtuse, or do you really not know what I am referring to? My eyes, Braiden. I cannot go in
there like this.” She points to her face, those same eyes slightly watering and alluding to the fact that she is on the
verge of tears.
“You look beautiful, Ava. No matter the color of your eyes.” I soften my tone, brushing a thumb over her cheek
reassuringly.
“It’s not that. It’s not about the beauty. I’m not that vain. Clearly, my eyes are unusual. It is written all over your
guards’ faces. Even Samuel’s. Tell me the truth.” Ava waits for me, and I wonder how to approach this so I don’t
scare her off.
“You are a white wolf. I am a black wolf. Unique to our world. That uniqueness applies to not only our fur but our
eyes as well.”
“So if I walk in there, everyone will know? On top of some rando rogue wolf walking into a high-profile public
event on the King's arm, you want me to walk in there like this? Cause more drama. Be talked about even more.”
She waits, her brow drawn down as if giving me time for the words to sink in.
“You really don’t think about anyone other than yourself. Have you even begun to consider how hard this is for me,
Braiden? How much all of this is for me?” Her hands swe ep the area around us, her eyes swimming with hurt and
unshed tears.
My sister's words come back to haunt me. I didn’t think about how hard this would be for Ava. I just expected her
to be okay with it. Most women wanted to be here, next to the King. But Ava was not most women, which added to
her appeal.
“I’m sorry.” Those words banish her anger. Two little words that I didn’t know could make a difference until now.
And only the second time I had used them. Both with her.
“This is unusual for me as well,” I admit, Ava shaking her head in surprise.
“I have only ever had to think about myself and my pack. It has been that way for years. I’ve never felt this way for
anyone before, and I am out of
my d epths. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I would never do that intentionally.”
A long silence fills the space between us as Ava soaks in my words, allowing them to se ep into her being and see
where they land. Which feelings they will impact and which response they will evoke. I have no idea, as I have
never spoken these words to anyone.
What I don’t expect is the slight tug on her lips as she tries to suppress a smile.
“For someone so out of their d epths, you sure know the right words to say.” The tension I didn’t realize I was
holding releases as she smiles.
I st ep closer until we are inches apart.
“Close your eyes, Ava.” She hesitates, looking down the hall at Samuel, Nick, and the guards before looking at me
and then closing her eyes.
“You are in control—no one else. Take a de ep breath and feel your wolf.
Seek her out. And when you find her, gentle her. With words, with touch, until you feel her calm down. Eventually,
when you trust each other enough, your desire will be her desire. Because you are one. Not s eparate.
Not different. Just the same. That is how you take back control. When you start loving yourself. Okay?”
I st ep back, giving her some space.
Ava takes a de ep breath and then releases it, rolling her shoulders as she does. Fuck, she is gorgeous. While the
seconds tick by and she calms herself, my gaze swe eps her face, admiring her natural beauty. Her long eyelashes
flutter and then open, revealing beautiful green eyes.
“See. Control. You have it. You just need to practice. Shall we?” I hold my arm out, Ava’s smile holding
something else in its d epths as she tilts her head to the side.
“You’re not so bad.” Ava loops her arm through mine as we continue toward the event hall.
“I’m not a saint either, Ava. You are playing with fire, looking like you do tonight. Let's get this over with, and
then I can show you exactly how bad I can be.”
Ava doesn’t look at me, but the blush on her cheeks and how she pulls her lips in let me know all I need to know.
As we approach the entrance to our destination, I push those thoughts aside, reminding myself why I acc epted this
invitation, to begin with—The Underground. Somewhere amongst the sea of high-profile individuals in
attendance tonight was the head of The Underground and the human responsible for the countless deaths of our
species.
A man known by only one name. The Butcher.