Toni's PoV:
He sat straight on a beautiful chestnut coloured horse, his every mannerism showing him to be an Alpha's son, and serving to make me annoyed. The boy's face was thin and angular, with unruly dark hair curled by his ear and strong cheekbones. His eyes were an icy blue, made all the more striking by thick, near black, eyebrows and the smirk twisting his mouth up when he saw me.
I straightened my slumped shoulders. I would not disappoint my father by cowering in defeat -- now that I knew who it was, I could show defiance.
The boy was wearing a smart, collared shirt and trousers, with the emblem of his pack stitched in blue on his blazer. I looked him over, wondering why he was dressed so formerly, and why he was so far from home. It was not often that William came to visit.
"What are you doing out here, Antoinette?" He asked.
I sighed. The boy -- no, man -- in front of me was not one I knew well. We usually only saw each other two or three times a year, and neither of us had gotten along very well with the other. I thought he was rude and arrogant, and he thought I was just some annoying pup. It really was a tragedy that we were engaged.
Beside me, Celina kept quiet. She knew that to speak would be a bad idea -- she was only a Beta's daughter, after all, and while that made her important in most situations, she was nothing compared to the son of an Alpha.
I struggled to find the right words, wondering if there was any answer I could give that wouldn't land me in more trouble. No doubt that once my father found out I would be in extremely hot water. I'd never been very disobedient, but I was a far cry from my perfect brother, who never stepped a toe out of line.
"We were... out for a walk," I eventually said.
William couldn't seem to decide if he was angry or amused that I had screwed up. His face settled on a scowl as he turned his horse away from me.
"You shouldn't be out here alone, you know how dangerous it is. Come, Antoinette, we will escort you back to your father."
I helped Celina, who was pretty shell shocked, and followed William, knowing that I didn't have much of a choice in the matter. We joined the rest of his riders, who all looked very surprised to see us. They bowed their heads in respect as I passed.
"You may ride with me," William said. He gestured to one of his riders, a friend of his that I recognized, to take Celina with him.
I nodded curtly. "Thank you."
He helped me onto his horse, taking my hand in his as I stepped into the stirrups. I sat with both legs on one side, as ladylike as possible, knowing that I had to at least try to act as I was meant to. William got up behind me, putting one arm on either side of me in order to take the reins.
"Does your father know you're out here?"
"No."
"I thought not," he sighed. We trotted forwards, going slightly slower that William had been before so that it was easier to navigate through the forest. He did now have someone sitting in front of him, after all.
"He's not going to be happy to find out."
I shrugged. "I know. We were hoping he wouldn't find out."
I paused. Hopefully William would get my hint and know not to tell my father, but he had never gone out of his way to be kind to me. He remained uncomfortably silent.
"I have to admit, Antoinette, I was not expecting it to be you we found out in the Rogue Lands."
"What do you mean?"
Below me, I could feel the steady clip-clop of the horse as we moved through the woods. Sitting above the forest floor and moving so quickly dispelled any fear I had; there was no danger in the Rogue Lands when we were protected like that. My worries from before seemed silly now, but they were replaced by the fear of the trouble I was about to be in.
"You know what I mean, Antoinette -- there have been reports of more and more rogue activity, not to mention the other things out there."
I tried not to laugh. William sounded just like a conspiracy theorist. "There's nothing else out there -- just rogues and some birds and maybe some humans, too."
William glared at me. "Don't pretend to know better than me, Antoinette."
I bit my tongue -- he was absolutely infuriating. William thought he was so far above me just because he was a few years older and was going to be an Alpha. He was utterly insufferable. Of course, I couldn't tell him that, so I fell silent instead.
The trees around us began to thin out. The sunlight, which had been largely blocked out by the leaves before, started to grow stronger, getting in my eye and making me squint. My pack's territory ran mostly though the forest, but we seemed to be heading towards the one section that was close to the town. I noticed how the forest seemed to fall away, the mulch beneath us turning into a dirt road and then becoming gravel.
There were five of my father's lackeys ready to greet us when we arrived at the border. It was marked out by boulders nearly as big as me, which were placed just within eyesight of each other all along the border. I glanced back nervously at Celina when I saw my pack mates, but she just shrugged. There wasn't much we could do.
We came to halt at the border and William swung himself down. He reached out a hand to help me down and I took it, giving him a curt smile of thanks. I hated acting ladylike -- I was perfectly able of getting down by myself.
My pack mates eyed me with suspicion and surprise. They had obviously not been expecting me and Celina to turn up there, too. One of them, my father's Beta, Adam, stepped forwards to greet William.
"Welcome again to our territory," he said.
"Thank you, it's good to be here."
Adam nodded. He glanced over at me and then at his daughter, Celina, with a stern expression. "I see you have the young Antoinette and my Celina with you."
"Yes, we had to escort them through the Rogue Lands," William said. He strode forwards, standing directly in front of me so I couldn't see. I wasn't surprised he was going to snitch on us, the rat.
"I would like to talk to your Alpha about that actually, as soon as possible."
"Of course, of course. " Adam gestured in front of him. "Allow me to lead you there."