Chapter Twenty-eight #2
‘Maybe you don’t, but Paisley thinks of Emberlyn as a sister – having her company will help. And you know something? You have a better chance of making your witch feel comfortable with our clan if she has familiar people around her, such as one of her lifelong best friends.’
Ripper heaved a sigh. ‘An hour. That’s all you’re getting. Then I want my . . .’ He trailed off on hearing the rumble of a car engine. Looking to his left, he saw a vehicle approaching. It wasn’t until the car came close that he recognized it as belonging to the parents of Michael Reed.
Crew frowned. ‘What could they want? Because, somehow, I don’t think they’re here to wish you and Emberlyn the best.’
Catching sight of their somber expressions through the driver’s window, Ripper would have to agree. His arms still folded, he stalked to the bottom of his path with Crew at his side.
The Reeds parked up and then cautiously approached, their expressions unfriendly, their body language standoffish.
Colton briefly inclined his head in greeting. ‘Ripper, Crew.’ He cleared his throat. ‘We’d like to talk to you, Ripper, if you can spare us the time. In private, I mean.’
Actually, Ripper was planning to go pick up Emberlyn in a few minutes. But he figured this wouldn’t take long. ‘I have a little time before I’m heading out.’
‘I’ll wait in the truck.’ Crew strolled over to the vehicle and hopped into the front passenger seat. He also lowered the window, the eavesdropping bastard.
Claris clasped her hands in front of her. ‘We’ve known for a few weeks now that you’ve been . . . spending time with Emberlyn.’
An unusual way of saying ‘sleeping with her’. It was almost as if Claris couldn’t bring herself to speak the words aloud.
‘I suppose it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise to us, regardless of your reservations about witches.’ Claris gave a tight smile, adding, ‘Our Emberlyn is a fascinating girl, after all.’
The amount of possession loaded into the words ‘Our Emberlyn’ rankled Ripper something fierce, but he didn’t let it show.
‘You appear to be serious about her.’
‘I am,’ Ripper confirmed.
Her lips tightening, Claris exchanged a grave look with her mate. ‘We never expected it to reach this point or we would have spoken to you sooner.’
Ripper winged up a brow. ‘About what?’
‘About how utterly inappropriate it is for you to become seriously involved with a woman who belongs to another man.’
The fuck? Feeling his brows snap together, Ripper echoed, ‘Belongs?’
‘You know she’s mated,’ Colton cut in, impatience rippling across his face.
‘I know she had a mate. That’s not the case anymore.’
Claris bristled. ‘Emberlyn dragged her heels when it came to breaking the mating tie. She didn’t want to do it. She loves my boy. Loves him with her whole heart.’
A heart Michael had broken. But as Ripper couldn’t share their son’s betrayal with them, he said, ‘Maybe so. Matters nothing, though. He’s not here. And if he were, it would make no difference – she renounced him as her mate.’
‘That would change if he came back,’ Claris insisted.
Ripper shook his head. ‘She made her choice. She wouldn’t go back on it. If he returned, he wouldn’t be the same Michael anyway. Parts of him would be lost, and he’d never get them back.’
Claris leaned toward him slightly. ‘They said that about you when you were Rabid; said you’d be a shadow of your true self if you ever came back. But that’s not the case.’
‘He’s been Rabid longer than I was.’
‘But you were just a child. Even a year in that state should have broken parts of your spirit. It didn’t.’
Colton nodded. ‘Like you, Ripper, our Michael is strong. Unbelievably strong. He would come back to himself if he returned, and he would want his mate. She would go to him; she’d reclaim him in an instant.’
‘And you’d be tossed aside like trash,’ Claris added. ‘That can’t be what you want. Do what’s best for all involved and step aside.’
Ripper felt his face go rock hard. ‘That isn’t going to happen.’ They were fucking high to think it would.
Annoyance sparked to life in Colton’s eyes. ‘You’d truly want a woman who was once claimed by another werewolf? You can’t tell me it doesn’t bother you.’
In truth, the knowledge of it made jealousy score its nails down Ripper’s back. He hated that she’d once been another wolf’s mate – especially since the son of a bitch hadn’t deserved her – but it didn’t make Ripper want her any less.
He took a step toward the couple. ‘What bothers me is that you’d rather she walked through life alone than find happiness with anyone other than Michael.
’ It was cruel and selfish. ‘You don’t like the idea of her moving on because it shows she’s accepted that he isn’t coming back.
You can’t handle that because you don’t want to accept he’s gone. ’
Colton’s jaw went tight. ‘He’s our son.’
‘But not Emberlyn’s mate,’ said Ripper.
Claris shook her head wildly. ‘She belongs to him.’
Anger flared in Ripper’s gut and shot through his blood. ‘She did once. Now she’s mine. And it pisses me off that you’d question my rights to her.’
‘You can’t have rights to someone who already gave them away,’ said Claris.
‘She broke the mating tie rather than live in a state of limbo, but she never really gave herself permission to move on. She’s held back from every man she dated – none of them lasted long.
You won’t, either. She took things a step further with you, but this is as far as she’ll go. Don’t you see that?’
‘No,’ Ripper replied. ‘And what you see is quite simply what you want to see. You barely talk to Emberlyn; you couldn’t possibly know what’s going on in her head.
Feel free to believe whatever you want to believe, but do not again question my claim to her.
We’re going to have big fucking problems if you do. ’
Twin flags of heat stained Colton’s cheekbones. Moments of tense silence slipped by, and then he took his mate’s elbow. ‘Come, Claris. He’s not going to see sense.’
Even as she allowed herself to be led away, Claris looked at Ripper. ‘Ask her. Ask her what she’d do if Michael returned; if she’d reclaim him. Then you’ll see that we’re right.’
Ripper didn’t respond; just watched as they got into their car and drove away.
A creak filled the air as Crew shoved open the truck’s passenger door.
He puffed out a breath. ‘That was intense.’ He slipped out of the vehicle.
‘I was surprised they dared ask you to walk away from Emberlyn. They can’t have honestly thought you would, or that anyone considers her to still be Michael’s mate – other than them, that is. ’
Ripper would have felt sorry for them – it couldn’t be easy to lose your child to Bloodhill, knowing what could become of them – if they weren’t being such selfish assholes.
‘It pisses me off that they expect Emberlyn not to move on with her life just because they’ve put their own on pause while waiting for their boy to come back. ’
Crew eyed him closely. ‘You don’t think they’re right, do you? That she’d go back to him?’ It was evident by his tone that he held no such opinion.
‘No, I don’t. They need to believe that, so they do.’
‘If you’re not worried they’re right, why are you looking so grim?’
‘Because if they’re not prepared to let this go, their next move won’t be to come back here – they know I won’t change my mind.’
‘So they’ll go to her,’ Crew reasoned before spitting out a curse.
‘Yeah. And that I really don’t want.’