Defy The Alpha(s) 2: Rebel Beast

Chapter 64: You’re Replaceable

"Fire is easy to summon. Restraint is the true dragon’s gift."

~ Rebel Beast

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The force with which Tamara slammed the door interrupted whatever luxurious wellness routine had been taking place inside. The ravens nearly jumped out of their skin.

Rhydian didn’t.

"What is all this noise?" he murmured, lazily lifting the cucumber slices from his eyes before setting them aside.

His blue gaze settled on Tamara.

"Oh." He sounded almost pleased. "You’re finally here." Rhydian said as if he hadn’t caught her scent the moment she’d stormed into his chambers.

"Everyone out," Tamara ordered, her voice low and dangerously restrained.

The raven shifters hesitated. None of them moved.

Technically, this entire ordeal was part of their punishment, with Rhydian drilling lessons into them.

When he gave an order, everyone else came second.

"Out!" Tamara barked.

Several ravens flinched, right before Rhydian gave a lazy flick of his fingers.

"You can go."

That was all the permission they needed.

The ravens abandoned everything where it was, and disappeared through the doorway so quickly it was almost impressive.

The door had barely clicked shut behind the last one when Tamara lifted the crumpled invitation.

"What is this?" she demanded. "No, better yet, what the hell are you thinking?"

Rhydian regarded her calmly. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?"

Tamara marched toward the bed until she stood over him, her features twisted with disbelief.

"You’re willing to gamble your future for the humans?"

Unlike the furious dragon before him, Rhydian simply folded his hands behind his head and settled farther against the pillows as though this were nothing more than an afternoon conversation.

"If you’d read the entire letter," he replied evenly, "you’d notice I also placed Prince Caelis in a rather uncomfortable position."

Tamara shot back immediately, "That is assuming he accepts your invitation."

Her voice rose. "You’ve just handed that snake the perfect opportunity to get rid of you. All he’d have to do is arrange for one human to get hurt during the party, and you’re gone."

Her eyes blazed. "What exactly do you intend to tell your father, Huh? The Drakhar family? That you abandoned Bestiaris because you decided making impossible promises to humans was somehow a brilliant idea?"

Tamara rarely questioned Rhydian’s judgment, but today, she was questioning his sanity. Nothing about this resembled the dragon prince she’d served for years.

Yes, Rhydian had always possessed a reckless streak, but it had always been calculated. This was something else entirely.

Her thoughts drifted, against her better judgment, to a certain human girl.

It had to be her.

Nothing else explained why Rhydian had suddenly become so invested in winning the humans’ trust, let alone organizing a gathering in their honor.

The words rose to the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them.

The last time she’d voiced that particular suspicion, Rhydian’s response had not been pleasant. Tamara had learned her lesson that some thoughts were safer left unspoken.

"Do you have such little faith in me?" Rhydian asked, the question catching Tamara so completely off guard that she blinked.

She swallowed before lifting her chin.

"I’m simply being logical."

"Is that so?"

Rhydian reached for the cocktail abandoned on the bedside table and absently stirred it with the straw before taking a leisurely sip.

His blue eyes remained on her the entire time.

"Is that the same logic you used when you allowed Thamas to carry out the attack on the humans?"

The words landed with such frightening precision that Tamara froze. For the briefest of moments, surprise shone across her face before it was replaced by indignation.

"I did no such thing!" she shot back, her dark eyes flashing with a mixture of outrage and disbelief.

Whatever humor vanished from Rhydian’s eyes as he lifted his gaze and looked Tamara dead in the eye.

"Would you stand there and tell me you didn’t have the slightest suspicion that Thamas would order the attack?"

Just like that, Tamara found herself at a loss for words.

Thamas was hot-tempered, stubborn, and impossible to reason with once he’d set his mind on something. She hadn’t been certain he’d openly defy Rhydian’s command, but neither had she done anything to stop him.

Silence settled between them. It was answer enough.

Finally, Tamara drew in a slow breath.

"The dragons aren’t comfortable with the humans being here," she admitted. "I assumed you simply didn’t want human blood staining your own hands. If Thamas acted on his own, the blame would fall entirely on him for disobeying your orders while your own conscience remained clean."

She met Rhydian’s eyes without looking away. "The humans would’ve been gone and you wouldn’t have had to dirty your hands to make it happen."

Rhydian let out a humorless chuckle.

"So this is what I’ve become in your eyes? A coward?

"No, that’s not what I meant—" Tamara answered immediately, but the look in Rhydian’s eyes stole the rest of the words from her mouth.

There was no anger in them, only disappointment.

"Tell me something, Tamara, how long have you served me?"

"Three years," she answered without hesitation. "Precisely since we arrived at Bestiaris."

She added with a small smile, "Although we’ve been friends for as long as I can remember."

For some reason, that only made her feel more uneasy.

Rhydian’s gaze drifted somewhere beyond her."I still remember the day I told Father I wanted you as my second-in-command. I thought he was going to breathe fire on the entire palace."

Even within the Drakhar Court, dragonesses were still expected to remain in the background. Their greatest duty, according to tradition, was producing heirs to restore the ever-declining dragon population.

Appointing a woman as his second-in-command had bordered on blasphemy.

"You were strong," Rhydian continued.

"Disciplined. Hardworking. When everyone else questioned themselves, you never did."

His eyes returned to hers. "But above all,

you were loyal. And together, we made a great team."

Rhydian drew a slow breath before speaking again. "I want that Tamara back. But if I cannot trust my own second-in-command..."

The words lingered heavily between them.

"...then you may discover you’re far more replaceable than either of us ever imagined."