The next morning, Tybalt Capulet showed up at Juliana's breakfast table like a brewing storm dressed in a designer suit. At just twenty, her cousin had already carved out his spot as the pack's chief enforcer: ruthless where he needed to be, fiercely loyal, the very picture of everything the Capulets wanted in a son. Strong. Traditional. Obsessed with family honor.
"Heard about the engagement," he said without a hello, piling his plate high like he expected a battle. "Lorenzo Escalus is solid. Smart pick."
Juliana almost choked on her orange juice. "Good pick for who exactly?"
"For the pack. For your future. For keeping you safe from the wolves who'd use you as leverage against us." His dark eyes locked on hers. "You don't look thrilled."
"Would you be thrilled if Uncle Vincent picked your mate without so much as asking you?"
"If it was what was best for the pack? Hell yes." His conviction was so fierce she wasn't sure if he truly believed it or was just fooling himself. "Besides, it's different for you."
"Different how?"
"You're the princess. The future of the Capulet bloodline. Your safety matters way more than what you want."
That dismissal of her own feelings made her wolf growl under her breath. "Whose safety? Mine, or the pack's political chess game?"
Tybalt froze mid-bite. "Both. They're the same thing, Jules. A strong alliance keeps you shielded from the kinds of enemies who'd love to tear you apart to get at us."
"What enemies? We're not officially at war with anyone."
"We're always at war with someone. Montagues top the list, obviously, but plenty of other packs would see the Capulet princess as a prize." His voice turned heavy, the kind of weight that comes from seeing too much bloodshed. "You've been lucky, sheltered. I haven't. I've watched what they can do to innocent people."
Juliana set down her juice, steady now. "Tell me."
"Tell you what?"
"About the Montagues. What they've done to deserve so much hate."
His jaw tightened. "You don't want those nightmares in your head."
"No, I need to understand why everyone's so hellbent on hating them. Why my whole life revolves around dodging them."
For a moment, Tybalt seemed like he might shut down. Then his shoulders sagged, and she saw past the enforcer's mask to the kid who used to shield her from bullies and rough pack politics.
"The Riverside Incident. Ten years ago. You were too young to remember." His voice dropped, flat. "Montague warriors ambushed a Capulet family during a neutral ground meeting: parents and two kids, all dead. The youngest only eight."
Juliana's blood ran cold. "That's awful."
"They left the bodies as a message. Nowhere's safe when you carry Capulet blood." Tybalt's fists clenched. "I had to tell your father. Help bring those bodies home."
The weight of decades of pain and hatred settled over the breakfast table like a shroud. Juliana tried to squeeze her romantic fantasies of love conquering hate down deep.
"That was ten years ago. Not all Montagues..."
"All Montagues profit from the fear those killings brewed. All choose to own that legacy instead of fighting it." Tybalt leaned forward, fierce. "There are no innocent Montagues, Jules. Just some who haven't shown their true selves yet."
"So I'm supposed to marry Lorenzo because he's not a Montague?"
"You marry Lorenzo because he's a good man who'll keep you safe from wolves like that. Because alliances stop more Riverside Incidents." His glare softened. "I know it's not romantic. You wanted to choose. But the right choice and the easy choice rarely match."
Juliana stared at him: the man who truly believed giving up her happiness was a bargain for her safety. Who saw the world in black and white, where political marriages were a bitter necessity.
"What if I told you I wanted to go to college first? See the world before I get tied down?"
"I'd say the world's full of wolves waiting to bite the daughter of Vincent Capulet. Every day you're out there unprotected is a day we could lose you." His tone was even but ironclad. "You're worth too much to gamble on fairy tales."
"And if I ran away?"
Tybalt's smile was part fondness, part warning. "I'd catch you long before the airport. Bring you back safe. And make damn sure you never get the chance to put yourself on the line."
The threat wrapped in love took Juliana a moment to recognize for what it was. To Tybalt, sacrificing her freedom to save her was the highest form of devotion.
"I need to think."
"Think all you want. But don't drag your feet. The engagement announcement is in eight days." He squeezed her hand firmly. "Trust me, Jules. Trust the people who love you enough to make the tough calls."
After he left, Juliana sat alone among the heavy silence of family expectations and old grudges. Eight days to step into a gilded cage or find a way out of the most loving, strangling family in supernatural California.
Eight days to see if she had the guts to risk everything for a life she chose.
Eight days to pick between safety and freedom, duty and dreams, love and sacrifice.
The clock on the wall ticked away each second like a countdown to her undoing.