Wolf Bait (Perry and Jonas)

Chapter 54 The blacksmith is practically trembling as he watches me take the melted metal over to the casts we made to pour. It took us weeks to take the thread off the synth metal and press it down enough to create the cast for the chips I need. I can make twelve. Ten students is more than enough. I haven’t seen the King since the evening after he had me marked. I wake up and find my food on the new bed stand he had brought up. He makes sure not to touch my urn. During lunch, he finds a way to sneak food onto my desk. I always catch his scent, but never a glimpse of him. Not that I want to see him. There’s a guard beside me at all times now. His name is Jordan and he can’t be that much older than me. He stays outside my study and taps on my door when it’s time for me to get out and then he leaves after locking the door. The King also confiscated all of my guns and revoked Jacob’s visitations. It’s been quiet these past few weeks. But it’s still no lonelier than when I was in Red Wood. At the very least, no one here acts like I’ve got the plague. I pour out the metal into each thread cast as carefully as I can for each part I need. When I told Silas, who has been around more and more lately, he brought me to Orion. The head of a family who might be the very last Lycan blacksmiths in existence. Having been reading the history lessons Jacob emails me, I’ve been very well informed of a lot of their insane traditions. Not all of them are bad. The ones that don’t involve wolves at least. “Start covering them, Orion,” I tell him as I finish the last pour. “Yes, my lady,” he agrees right away and finally stops looming over me. I place his tools back where I found them and start cleaning up the mess we’ve been making. “You shouldn’t-” I stop him with a glare and the kind man just smiles and puts his hands up in surrender. Once he’s done with what I instructed, the two of us finish cleaning up his workspace a lot faster. “I’ll see you later. Make sure the sandpaper I brought is ready,” “Yes, my lady. Everything will be ready when you come back,” he bows his head. I almost jump out of my skin when I find the King standing outside the metal shed. I wipe my sweaty

forehead with the back of my hand and keep going. He doesn’t look like he beat himself up over what happened or the last thing I said to him. B***h. “You could have messaged me, I growl at him as he follows me into town so I can get back to the castle. “You don’t have your phone,” “There’s a reason for that,” I roll my eyes. “We need to talk,” he sighs. “About?” “Preparations for the ceremony, Nope. Have someone else take care of that. I’ll go with whatever fiasco you want,” It’s not about that. You have to be seen doing these things, he says and I stop. There are a couple of women up ahead. The two of them scramble into whatever store they’re standing in front of. The other Lycans know what happened when I was marked. How I permanently scared their King. How I killed the man who did this to me. How I would have attacked anyone who came near me if the king hadn’t forced me into submission. They all stay out of my way now and there is a hint of respect in their prying gazes. 1/2 09:58 Fri, Oct 18 Chapter 54 “You mean us?” I growl to myself. “Yes, Pernicious. That’s what I mean,” he says just as annoyed as I feel. ** “Today. We have an appointment with a wedding planner. You need to get cleaned up, steampunk junky,” I growl out in frustration and continue to head toward the castle. “Oh, and be a good girl. Wear your collar today, Little Wolf. Since you want to be growling at me,” The a***le had the necklace fixed to where I can take it off with a regular clasp and he had it replated gold so it matches the marks on my body. He also had the diamonds removed and replaced with red ones. Didn’t ask what kind of gems he added. Rubies probably. He looks st***d

enough to put big-**a*rubies on me just to prove he can. It’s a lot nicer this way. The marks aren’t as bad as the marks on Alpha Calypso and the other wolves. Their marks are pitch black and border on tribal. These are very elegant. Vines with little bellflowers. The King’s name is etched over my rib cage and his family insignia takes up the full roundness of my left a*** cheek. The marks go along the entire left profile of my body. Over my leg, my arm, my torso, my neck, my cheek, my left eyelid, over my eyebrow, under my ear, and stops in my hairline. It’s beautiful and a very prominent reminder that I stopped being a person the day we met. He had been my friend up until the marks. I’ve come to realize that a little too late. He warned me and I didn’t listen. Like a scorpion riding the frog across the pond, I’m going to do what comes naturally to me now. I’m going to make shit worse for both of us and then when he kills me. He will never find happiness again. I’ll be da***ed if I allow it. 09:58 Fri, Oct 18Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.