Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Bastian
There were two things I was certain of at that particular moment. One, the bet I had going with Cade was in the bag, and second, Rynn had definitely broken at least two bones in my hand.
But it wasn’t like I was a stranger to pain, so I just smiled and cheerfully waved at everyone who greeted us with my other hand.
Rynn was almost too easy to read, which was why this bet was already won.
She was isolated from her friends, and while I had no doubt she was still loyal to her family, I was confident they weren’t close.
She was a lycan and therefore desperate for companionship.
All I’d had to do was show her a bit of kindness and she’d warmed up to me in less than three days.
The incident with me refusing to tell her a story the other night had been a minor setback, but I didn’t talk about my past or personal things with anyone.
Not Cade, not Ryker, and definitely not Warrick.
It had been a misstep on my part. I should have just come up with a story, but I found I didn’t like lying to Rynn if I could help it.
She was just so . . . gullible. It was sweet.
The Princess nickname was fitting, considering her family was the top pack of the Narchis Order with her uncle being the Alpha.
One would think someone who’d grown up in that pack—especially after she’d been promised to us—would be more politically savvy.
But dear sweet Rynn wasn’t, which meant she was easy to manipulate.
By me. By her original pack. By her best friend, who she was completely devoted to.
There was no way Samara wasn’t tugging at Rynn’s heartstrings at least a little bit to improve things for the Moroi.
She’d practically declared that she’d go to war with us over Rynn, but I doubted she meant it.
Rynn might be hopeless at dealing with people, but Samara excelled at it, especially with Kieran by her side.
I had no doubt I’d be able to get back into Rynn’s good graces, especially based on the death grip she had on my hand. Another bone crunched; up to three broken fingers now. She’d need a shoulder to cry on while we were here.
This was why I was the perfect one to tackle the Rynn situation.
We needed her to at least be content living with us, which meant there had to be some level of physical intimacy to satisfy her lycan nature.
I loved Ryker like a brother, but subtle he was not.
Rynn would never put up with his possessiveness, and he likely would have slammed that annoying guard, Leon, against the wall until the man’s head was mush for how he’d looked at Rynn with that mixture of disgust, hostility, and lust.
Something I’d be digging into later just to sate my own curiosity.
And Cade was incapable of not getting attached, which was why he’d been careful to keep his distance from our dear Rynn.
Then there was Warrick. I snorted to myself as I winked at a very pretty blonde woman.
She blushed and bit her lip in a way that instantly had me wondering what she’d sound like while she moaned my name.
Maybe I could track her down later and find out when Rynn was sleeping.
I hadn’t snuck out on her the last two nights because nobody had been intriguing enough to do so, but I had plenty of options here; I just needed to be a little discreet about it.
It wasn’t unusual for Velesians to seek bedmates outside their pack; we enjoyed a little variety. The exception was bonded mates, but not many Velesians took that route. Permanently tying your soul to another was quite the commitment. I couldn’t fathom why anyone would ever do so.
“Rynn!” an overly sweet voice yelled.
This time, I did wince when Rynn increased the pressure on my broken fingers.
She also slowed her rapid walk before halting entirely.
We hadn’t stopped for anyone else, so that told me whoever this woman with the annoyingly pitched voice was, Rynn wanted to deal with her now before going any farther.
I slid to a graceful stop next to her and studied the woman striding towards us.
A thick braid of long auburn hair snaked around her shoulder, falling to her waist. She was pretty in a delicate sort of way.
Large blue eyes sat above a slender nose, and narrow lips curved into a slight smirk.
Even if her vertical pupils hadn’t given her away, she moved with the unmistakable feline grace of an ailuran.
Most of the people who had greeted us had been more focused on me than Rynn, but whoever this woman was, she only nodded at me briefly, the rest of her attention solely on Rynn.
“Anita, it’s been a while.” Rynn attempted a smile, but it looked more like a grimace.
She reminded me a lot of Ryker at that moment.
They were both terrible at hiding their true feelings.
If Rynn didn’t hate him so much, she probably could have figured out a lot of our secrets just by asking Ryker pointed questions and watching his reactions.
Thankfully, Rynn had no interest in spending any one-on-one time with Ryker.
“I’m so sorry I haven’t written to you.” Anita’s brows bunched together as she gave Rynn an apologetic smile.
“Things have just been so busy lately. My brother joined a new pack, so I’ve been visiting him frequently while he gets settled, and my sister is in talks with a pack as well, one a little farther down the coast. You remember that she’s always loved the ocean.
My mother hasn’t changed a bit and is as crazy as ever . . .” The woman droned on and on.
I absently listened to her but mostly paid attention to Rynn’s ever-tightening expression. A hiss tried to erupt from my throat as another one of my finger joints popped, but I swallowed it back down.
“Anita,” Rynn said abruptly, cutting the woman off. “I’m so sorry, but I really shouldn’t keep my family waiting much longer. Perhaps we can catch up another time.”
“Oh right, of course.” Anita laughed, and the sound of it was even more annoying than her voice.
I realized it had nothing to do with the pitch but the lack of sincerity behind it.
I’d only known Anita for a matter of minutes, but I already knew what she was: a social climber.
Those sharp, pretty blue eyes swung my way for a second before returning to Rynn.
“Why don’t I join you? It’ll be like old times with me keeping you company while your family lists all their demands.
I can help run interference if you need me to. ”
She reached for Rynn’s hand, the one I wasn’t holding, but I was faster. “That won’t be necessary.” I tugged Rynn back so she was slightly behind me and stepped forward into Anita’s space, flashing her a smile wide enough to show off my fangs. “She has me now.”
Rynn didn’t react to my claim on her, which told me just how much she wanted to get away from this woman.
Meanwhile, calculation quickly flew through Anita’s eyes before she gave Rynn a kind smile. “How about we catch up tomorrow?” She glanced at me. “I’m sure Bastian has important Alpha pack business to take care of while he’s here, so I can keep you company.”
It was a subtle dig. Implying that Rynn, despite being a member of my pack, didn’t also have things to do while she was here.
“Sounds nice,” Rynn replied before I could say anything. “It’ll likely be late afternoon because I do have some things to attend to while I’m here. I’ll find you when I’m free.”
“Wonderful.” Anita grinned before glancing at me again, this time with a hint of smug satisfaction at having secured some of Rynn’s time. “I’m so glad to see you’re taking such good care of my best friend.”
We continued our walk, and I leaned over to whisper in Rynn’s ear. “Do Samara and Cali know they have competition for the best friend title?”
Rynn didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she simply let go of my hand and stared straight ahead like she was walking to her execution.
I frowned slightly and then flexed my hand as the bones healed. Nobody else stopped us along the way; they just called out happy greetings that I don’t even think Rynn heard. She was retreating far into herself. It was almost like those first few weeks when she’d been at the Alpha stronghold.
Before Rynn had come to live with us, we’d arranged several trips here to meet with her on familiar ground.
At the time, she’d been using the declining health of her mother to stall joining us, and we’d let her, because Warrick had been convinced he’d been close to finding the thing that had slaughtered his and Cade’s families all those years ago.
He hadn’t found shit. He never fucking did, and yet he refused to let it go.
I, on other hand, had been all about living in the moment. This was Lunaria. We could all be dead next week. Dwelling on the past accomplished nothing.
Still, I didn’t remember Rynn being like this during those visits. She’d been quiet and reserved, but not so . . . beaten down.
Had I missed something? Maybe it had to do with her claim of sacrificing something? My frown deepened. Rynn wasn’t my packmate. She wasn’t even my friend, really. Just a person who was present in my life due to circumstance.
But I didn’t dislike her. She had this sly humor about her that had gotten more than one genuine laugh out of me over the past few days, before she’d gone silent. Plus she annoyed Warrick, which instantly put a plus in her column in my book.
None of that was why a sense of unease was coursing through my veins though. Family was supposed to be a safe haven. The people you could run to when your world was burning down, who would barricade the doors behind you.
I wasn’t naive. I was well aware that not all families were like this, but I’d assumed Rynn’s family still had her back even if they weren’t super close.
Then again, maybe this was all an act. A way to make us doubt her loyalty to her family pack.