She came down for breakfast and was a little hurt to see James wasn't there, "You were up early this morning," her father said. "Yeah, and was threatened marking against my will," she sassed sitting down. "What?" He asked. "Craig came into the gym and tried to mark me," she answered. "I don't like your tone," Kaspar told her. "I don't like your friends," she spat. "Blair, I had nothing to do with that, you honestly think I would ask someone to mark you against your will?" He questioned. "I don't know daddy, you want me to reject my mate," she replied. "I guess I deserve that," he said looking back at his plate. "But I wouldn't do something that drastic and devious," he added. "I don't want any of those men, in this house," she commanded. "Blair, they are the warriors who train our armies," he told her. "I don't care, until I have made a decision," she began.
Kaspar dropped his fork, "You refuse to make any decisions," he nearly yelled. "Because you didn't train me for this. You knew Ben was possessed and yet you trained him anyways and all you did was train me to kill him for you," she said with venom in her voice. Kaspar looked down, "It was wrong of me to put that on your shoulders," he offered. "Did you even care about me?" She asked. Kaspar's mouth dropped open as he looked at her, "Blair, I love you," he told her. Blair got up and walked to the back door, "I… I didn't think past that moment because I hoped it wouldn't happen. I didn't train you for alpha because I didn't believe it would actually happen," he confessed. She paused and looked back at her dad, he always knew she was stronger than she knew, he saw it in her eyes since she was a baby. "You just didn't care what all this would do to me," she told him, tears stinging her eyes and walked out.
Blair was walking through the empty snow-covered garden clearing her mind, James walked out to her as she sat on the bench looking out at the pond. "You missed breakfast," she said sensing him behind her. "Sorry," he replied walking over and sitting on the bench with her. "I thought you left," she told him softly. "Why do you keep thinking I'm going to leave?" He asked. "Why would you stay, I haven't given you a reason to. I haven't even given you an answer of mating," she answered. "Doesn't matter," he replied. Blair stared straight ahead, "Is this a pond?" He asked. Blair smiled, "It is, Ben had this great idea to play ice hockey, but he nearly broke his neck, so I used it for ice skating," she answered. "Do you still skate?" He asked. "Sometimes," she said with a pause. "We used to hold Olympics on this pond," she told him with a smile. "Did you always win gold?" He questioned playfully. "No, actually Beth did. I always got bronze, so I'm clearly not that good," she answered with a laugh. "It's good to hear you laugh," he told her. She looked over at him, he put his arm around her, and she leaned into him. She looked up at him she brushed her lips lightly across his. James kissed her, "Mark me," she murmured against his lips. "What," he said pulling back a little, confused. Blair closed her mouth and sat up straight, "Blair, that's not," he began. "Never mind," she said hurt in her voice. Blair got up and walked back to the house. "Blair," James called, but she kept walking. He sighed, "DAMN IT," he yelled.
James looked around and ran after her, "What are you doing here?" Blair asked angry as he walked in. James walked through the kitchen, "He called," Kaspar began. Blair's eyes got huge, "I told you he tried to mark me this morning," she interrupted. "I know and I needed to know why," Kaspar told her. "He what?" James asked walking up behind Blair. "Get the fuck out," Blair said to Craig. "Blair, please," Kaspar begged. "No, I will bring the matter before the elders and we will decide your punishment," Blair told Craig. "You can't even make a decision alone, some alpha," he spat. "Craig," Kaspar scolded. "Exile then, unless you prefer death," she offered with an attitude. Craig narrowed his eyes, "I Blair Alexandra Brenner, Alpha of the Cold Moon pack, banish you to live a life of exile, you may never join another pack. Should you be found in my territory again I will kill you myself," she commanded. Craig looked down and walked out slamming the door, "Blair, you're handing down sentences with emotion, you can't do that," Kaspar advised. "He tried to mark me against my will, and I simply told him never to come to this house again he broke a command," Blair told him and went to her room.
Kaspar let out a sigh and looked at James who was just as angry with Craig. James went to Blair's room and knocked, "Go away," she said through the door. "Blair, we need to talk," he called. "You made your feelings clear," she told him. "Blair, I'm not having this conversation through a door," he replied. "Then go away," she ordered. He turned the knob and opened the door, "Damn it, Blair, I told you I wanted honesty," he nearly yelled. "You're in, have your conversation," she spat. "Why didn't you tell me about this morning?" He asked. "You weren't at breakfast," she answered. He rolled his eyes in frustration, "Do you even know what goes into marking a mate?" He asked. She stared at him, "Do you think I'm stupid?" She pushed back. "What?" he asked back. Her face went cold, "Do you think I'm stupid," Blair repeated. "Of course not," he answered anger still in his tone. "Then why do you treat me like I am?" She questioned. James gaped at her, "I am an alpha in my own right, I know what I want," She pushed. James got close to her, so close he could breathe her in. He could see the wanting in her eyes, "When I mark you, you won't have to ask," he told her, and walked out of her room slamming her door. Blair sat on her bed, breathless
Wednesday morning Blair didn't come down for breakfast, Mrs. Smith said Blair didn't want to be disturbed. "Is she at least eating?" James asked. "She had some fruit, yogurt, and coffee," Mrs. Smith assured him with a sweet smile. James couldn't stand this, he needed to at the very least see her. He sat down at the table uneasy, as Kaspar came down, "She's canceled all meetings until Monday," he sighed sitting down for breakfast. "She's angry with me," James confessed. "She's angry with herself and me, I should've given her the training for this," Kaspar corrected. Mrs. Smith brought them plates of eggs, bacon, and toast, "She feels I've fed her to the wolves," he joked. "A young woman's heart is an ocean sometimes it's calm and sometimes it's churning, she lost her mother, and that churning ocean can be hard to navigate alone," Mrs. Smith offered.
The two men nodded and thought perhaps they were asking too much of her too soon, "Are there any traditions you have on New Year's?" James asked. Kaspar thought for a moment while he chewed his food, "There's a few parties we would attend here and there," Kaspar answered. James nodded, Kaspar looked at his plate then back at James, "Blair wasn't much for New Years, she usually fell asleep in the chair before the ball dropped," Kaspar chuckled.
Ryan came back that afternoon and he briefed James on what they had found in the Gwen diaries, which wasn't much. "Your father said alpha Kaspar was reading about the Winston coven when he would come visit," Ryan said. James searched the pages of the book Ryan brought back, "The demon is going to try and help the Winston witch use her powers with the power from distich bond to create the hybrid. An Alpha to rule pack and coven," James revealed. "Unless," Ryan stopped. "Unless what?" James asked. "Someone else's blood is spilled in the chalice during the ritual. That will kill the powers in the chalice and the witch," Ryan explained. "If we can find the Winston witch before she gets Blair and Ben together, we can stop it," James put together. "She may already have him," Ryan responded with a pause. "We don't have any clues who she is, it could take months or years to weed her out," Ryan added. "Blair's not safe until she's found," James told him. Ryan nodded. "Then we had better find Ben and hide him," James ordered. Ryan bowed and grabbed his phone.