Chương 212: THE TRAP THAT BACKFIRED

Our small audience clapped for us. My mum had a hand on her heart and was smiling with teary eyes at the sight. She was absolutely proud of me, although I had no idea why. Especially since NOTHING HAPPENED. (Don't argue with me about this, dear imaginary reader.) NOTHING HAPPENED. And also, I would like to point out that I successfully fought rogues, killed a vampire, and I'm sure even on my graduation day, my mum would not look at me with such absolute joy and pride as she did today.

Which was really unwarranted since I contributed nothing to this ceremony. Mate was the one who put on the bangle. Mate was the one who said those lines that linked our wolves. Mate was the one who pretty much put his own hand into the bangle as I held it out. Mate was the one who... DID NOT KISS ME AFTER THAT BECAUSE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN. NOTHING HAPPENED!!! Ahem, anyway, let's just move on. Because the other person who looked way too pleased in the room was Beta Lorent.

With any other guy, I would have just assumed he was a superbly overenthusiastic, over-expressive uncle, but he was literally gleaming with glee, the sweat glistening on his forehead providing an oily shine and a stench. It wasn't that warm, but then again, I was in a cute, tiny slip of a white dress. The men were in full suits. Poor men. I walked over and slid open the door to let the cool air in. At any rate, I wanted to air the room too.

Why no one else seemed to notice the rogue-like stink from Beta Lorent was beyond me. Rebel moved to follow me. He seemed to think I wanted to step out onto the balcony, but he was stopped in his tracks when Beta Lorent started to laugh. Here, I'm not talking about normal laughter. Or even the embarrassingly loud laughter that sometimes slips out. I'm talking evil villain laughter. It was somewhat out of place. Naturally, everyone turned to look at him.

Most of the faces were quizzical, although Anthony looked more than a little embarrassed at his dad, and Lady Amber tutted disapprovingly to herself. No one needed to ask, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Because, like all cliché villains, Beta Lorent had to spell it out for us—once he was done laughing, of course.

And now I understood why the good guys in TV shows just froze there, letting the villain take as long as he needed to laugh hysterically and then proceed to explain the reason for what he perceived to be his triumph. This reaction was, as it turned out, absolutely natural because that was exactly what happened. We all froze and watched him laugh. It wasn't so much from fear or trepidation as confusion. Most of the people present did not regard Beta Lorent as the bad guy.

And even though I did, I mean, suddenly laughing very loudly by yourself in the middle of a room like that was just distracting. I tried very hard to match his villainous laughter to someone I had seen on TV. It wasn't easy, but I would have to say, probably Jafar from the Disney Aladdin cartoon. He even had the matching goatee—now really, why didn't anyone notice they had a bad guy as their Beta? Anyway, as he finished laughing, he announced, "Congratulations, nephew!" He had to laugh a bit more.

Oh, the sinister joy he held within him! Anyway, he continued without prompting, "These bangles you wear, they are no ordinary bangles. Sister, why don't you tell them what these bangles are?" Lady Amber, who until this moment had only stood frozen with an expression alternating between bewilderment and disapproval, suddenly brightened and nodded.

"Oh yes! These bangles!" I looked to the bangles and then to Lady Amber. What part did she play in this trap? Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"These bangles are rare magical artifacts, the original mating bangles of the first Lorent from the colored mountains and his mate. They are made of pure Mountain Argent, and just as the legends record, they are able to expand and contract to suit the size of the wearer." Lady Amber looked very pleased at the appropriateness of such a significant and precious gift. She continued to laud it.

"They will also protect the female from having to go through heat. Seeing that Alpha Sam is so young, I thought it was a good idea when my brother Elliot suggested it. Now you see it is a bright silver—the sign of both your purity toward each other. As you mate, it would turn a pure bright gold." Beta Lorent was very pleased too. In fact, he could no longer hold back himself from excitement. He cut in at this point.

"And should you defile your mating bond with others, the bangle tarnishes. Defile it often enough and it would be black as sin. I wonder what color it would be by the time you present yourselves to each other at the mating ceremony, eh?" He laughed a little more.

"And the best part is, it can't be taken off. To remove it, you would have to rip apart your mating bond. It would be unbearably painful, fatal even." More sinister laughter.

"I've heard vampires say you are the rebel wolf that cannot be tamed, nephew. I wonder if they would have an easier time of it now that you are bound. Don't forget, if your vampire friends pull off the bangle, you won't be the only one suffering. Your little princess here will also be in agony."

"What are you saying?" Lady Amber demanded.

"Why would our James be with vampires?"

"Ah well," Beta Lorent answered with all the conniving charm of Jafar.

"You know how Alpha James and I wanted to send him abroad to study? But instead he ran away, choosing to spend each day frolicking with vampires in their covens."

"No, how can that be?" Lady Amber gasped. I looked at the silver bangle on my wrist. This was his trap? Setting us up in these bangles that could not be taken off without hurting or killing us. Putting Mate in a situation where any vamp could take his life or cause him pain just by tugging on his bangle? Alpha James must have figured it out too.

"What happened to the gold bangles we had ordered from Roulette?"

"They are here," Lady Amber said, indicating one of the boxes nearby.

"But Elliot wanted to surprise everyone with this gift."

"We will send men. Son, you are coming home for good tonight," Alpha James decided.

"No!" Rebel answered.

"I will return when I'm ready."

"Foolish son, if not for yourself, think of your mate!" Alpha James was really mad now. Rebel glared at me. I could feel it, his consternation, his uncertainty, swallowed by a deep sense of determination.

"I will protect her. You needn't worry, old man." I touched the bangle. It was magic. I could feel it, like the crystal in the warlock lands... How was Mate planning to protect me? What sacrifice was he preparing to make? I grasped the smooth metal ring and pulled it off. Just like that. Soundlessly... and rather painlessly too. Mate panicked. Funny how on the outside he was glaring at me, but now that I could feel his feelings, I knew he was just freaking out inside.

Mate swore something bad, but in Ancient Lycan, so I supposed it would've been a kind of self-censorship, except that it seemed that most of the people in the room could understand him. I had pulled off the bangle, and NOTHING HAPPENED. I held up the bangle to show Beta Lorent. Beta Lorent looked like I had just shot him.

"Idiot," I muttered. A sharp intake of breaths informed me that I was heard by the room in general. Oops. Okay, seriously? Rebel just swore something nasty in Ancient Lycan and that was okay, but I wasn't allowed to say "idiot"? Unfair! Hahaha, but I was already used to it.

"Ah, I was addressing Uncle Elliot. E. l. l. i. o. t," I said and tried on my most beguiling expression. Mum face-palmed, so I guess it wasn't as beguiling as I had hoped. Oh well, since I was probably going to be grounded...

"I don't think they're working." I reached over and pulled off Rebel's bangle too. He looked surprised, and then stared at his wrist where it once was, and then at me. Yeah, totally didn't kill us, or rip out our mating bond, or anything else. Holding both bangles in one hand, I turned them, pretending to be inspecting them.

"Maybe you forgot the batteries?" I suggested.

"They work by magic! Not batteries, you stupid girl!" Beta Lorent spat back.

"Oh well." I laughed too. (Maybe I could be a good villainess. Muahahaha.) "It was a good story. Your story about Bell playing with vampires is a good story too. I've heard another good story about it too..."

"I heard that instead of sending his nephew to study abroad, Beta Lorent had sold him to the vampire fight cages. And then, when captured and proven guilty of multiple crimes and acts of treachery within his pack, such as murdering the true beta family and shooting the Oracle..."

"Our own sister?" Lady Amber turned pale. Someone brought her a chair. I decided to stop looking at the audience. Their reactions were way too distracting. For example, Beta Lucas was opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish. Like I said, too distracting. I pressed on.

"Instead of taking his death sentence like a man, he begged for his life and made a deal to betray his own master, the Rogue King, and in exchange keep his life and reputation in his pack. But I suppose this is just a made-up story, because if it were real, wouldn't you be in deep sh... soup now?"

"You mean 'hot soup'?" Killion corrected mildly.

"Ah, yes. Deep, hot..." I paused to check I'd got the right word on my tongue.

"Soup." I nodded. I said the right word. Alpha James was the next to speak.

"Well, brother, answer us. Are these just stories?" Beta Lorent bowed his head to his brother.

"Y... yes. Just made-up stories." Of course no one believed that. Oh well. I picked up Mate's hand and slid the bangle back on with the words, "Blah blah blah, mate, mine." He quirked his brow at that, but he was smirking. I could feel his amusement. And then I put on my own bangle. I shrugged and smiled. All fixed.

"What about the kiss?" Mate asked. I would have slapped him. But my parents brought me up better than that. So I just flared up in full Dragon Ball mode and told him, "Go jump in a lake!" He laughed. And then I turned red. I could feel the heat on my face. Let's just say it was not my finest hour.