The Red Wolf's Daughter (Book 3 Part 2: The Making of the Siran)

Chapter 6

Cooper narrowed his eyes and scowled but moved out of Tabitha's way when she came over to me. He didn't say a word and watched me like a hawk as if he was nervous that I was going to hurt her, even though I physically could not.

Tabitha walked over to me, her gait and posture different from the woman that I knew and loved. Her steps were hesitant and so unsure that it made my heart hurt.

She wasn't confident in her abilities and was so unsure of herself that it had aged her significantly. She looked grayer and sad, her will to live gone just as it was with Cooper, even though she was still there, alive.

Her eyes were still warm like my grandmother's, but they lost that spark, that power. Her eyes didn't command me to bow down to respect her, and it broke my heart because I hated seeing her like this, not even caring that she wasn't my grandmother but someone that had her face.

Tabitha cleared her throat and looked at Cooper. "I need to take the rope off from around her wrists so that I can access her back."

"No," was Cooper's immediate response.

"Bu-"

"I said no," Cooper snapped, interrupting the queen, and she flinched and looked down.

Oh hell to the fucking no.

He had no right to snap at her, especially since she was trying to help me out and make sure that I stayed alive.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, interrupting Tabitha from speaking. "I have no idea why she needs your permission when she is a higher rank than you. If she wants to take the rope off of my wrists, then she can take the rope off of my wrists. It's not like I can hurt or murder her anyway."

"And why not?" he asked, and I slowly blinked and pressed my lips into a thin line, not appreciative of his behavior.

"Because she has my grandmother's face," I replied sarcastically, "and like my mother before me, I can't hurt an innocent, and clearly, she is an innocent."

Cooper narrowed his eyes further and tried to make me back down, but I refused and held his gaze.

The air in the room grew tense while we stared at each other, both of us not backing down and fighting for dominance, a battle that would happen on more than one occasion.

Finally, Cooper growled and backed down first, and I had to bite back a smug smile while I watched the Alpha submit. "Fine," he growled. "Tabitha, remove the rope from her back but put it on when you are done. Understood?"

Tabitha pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded.

She walked behind me and gently pulled the rope off around my wrists. A startled gasp left her tight lips when I toppled over, the energy that I had dissipating.

"Sorry," I said bashfully and cleared my throat. "I guess that I have used up all of my leftover whatever..."

I stayed where I was at and didn't bother to move, my energy level at an all time low.

Sweat beaded on my forehead while I panted and waited for Tabitha to do something or for one of the others to do something too.

"Should we..." Thaddeus was about to say but stopped when Cooper growled.

"No," he growled. "No one else is going over to her. Is that understood?"

I held back an eye roll but didn't make a snarky comment like I wanted to. I was too exhausted to even do that and prayed that the female with my grandmother's face could fix my back and help me get some of the energy that I was lacking, even though I had no idea if her spells would work on me because she wasn't as strong as my grandmother.