Chapter 19 #2
“I’m someone who gives a damn,” I interrupted. “Just like all of you. And maybe that’s why there’s this…connection.” I gestured between us. “Because we’re all angry about the same injustices. We don’t just want to complain about them—we want to do something.”
I took a breath, centering myself the way I did before a final deposition before a judge. “But if we’re really going to change things, we can’t be at each other’s throats. The system survives because it keeps you divided and suspicious of one another.”
Aleksi’s expression shifted, those forest-green eyes studying me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. “You understand.”
I nodded. “I’m an employment lawyer,” I explained. “I’ve seen this playbook a hundred times. Divide the workforce, make them compete against each other, convince them their real enemy is the worker beside them rather than the system that keeps them exploited while the people at the top stay rich.”
“You would ask me to sacrifice my people for the greater good.” Aleksi’s voice trembled. “Just as they have?”
“We would never ask that,” Kenai protested, but I raised my hand again.
“Aleksi, you’ve been asked to be patient while your people see little change and Kenai’s people get magical protections.
I know it seems unjust, and you’re angry.
Just like they’re right to be frustrated when unity falls apart.
Everyone’s anger is valid here. The question is—are we going to let that anger destroy any chance of genuine change? ”
The room fell silent except for the crackle of the fire. I could feel the shift in energy—the way their aggression softened, their posturing giving way. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.
I reached out to the bond between me and Aleksi—because it was there.
I couldn’t deny it any more than I could deny what I felt for Kenai and Taimyr.
I didn’t understand magic, but I understood how the two men behind me had changed my life, had made me feel safe and loved.
People can’t make good choices when they’re alone, when they’re fighting to survive. How could I expect that from Aleksi?
Please, trust me. Trust us.
Aleksi’s nostrils flared. He looked me up and down, then whispered something under his breath before turning toward the fractured door. “I need to think,” was all he said as he stepped out into the falling snow.
Aleksi didn’t go far. I watched him pace in the snow at the edge of the forest surrounding the chalet. As the sun began to set, Kenai tried to offer him the spare bedroom, but he’d refused.
Kenai stomped back into the chalet. “He said”, Kenai slipped into a gruff Finnish accent, “‘We forest reindeer don’t need such luxurious accommodations. We are used to the cold and snow.’ Like I’m not!” He scraped his hands down his face and flopped onto the couch between Taimyr and me.
The firelight painted shadows across their faces as we sat in silence, the weight of Aleksi’s presence pressing against the windows like the gathering dusk. Through the bond, I felt Kenai’s frustration churning, while Taimyr’s energy hummed with irritation.
“He’s impossible,” Taimyr muttered finally, his dark eyes tracking Aleksi’s silhouette as it moved between the trees. “This is exactly what happened last year. We were so close to a unified front, and he just…walked away. Let perfect be the enemy of good.”
“You saw what his people go through,” I said quietly, watching the massive figure pause in his pacing to stare up at the emerging stars. “You know why he did.”
“We know,” Kenai gritted out, his voice edged with defensiveness. “But incremental change is better than no change at all. If we could’ve gotten that first agreement through—”
“He can’t see it that way.” The words came out sharper than I intended.
Both my mates turned to look at me, their surprise rippling through our bonds.
“I’m not saying you were wrong to try. But can you really not understand why he couldn’t sign his name to a deal that made everyone else’s lives better while his people remained at the bottom? ”
Taimyr’s jaw tightened. “So what do we do?”
I stood and moved to the window where I could see Aleksi more clearly. He now stood perfectly still, his breath visible in small puffs against the darkening sky. The loneliness radiating from him made something twist in my chest. “We use this. Use what just happened.”
“Use him breaking down our door and attacking us?” Kenai’s voice dripped with skepticism.
I turned to face them. “Think about it strategically. In any negotiation, you need something the other party wants, or it goes nowhere. Now, we have something he wants.”
Kenai sat up straighter, his tactical mind catching up to the idea. “You’re suggesting we use his bond to you as a bargaining chip?”
“I’m suggesting,” I said carefully, feeling my way through the thought as I spoke, “that for the first time, Aleksi has a personal stake in cooperation. He needs to prove he can work with others. He needs…” I hesitated. “To prove himself to me.”
The forest outside shimmered in the wind, snow swirling in small eddies around Aleksi’s form.
Even from here, I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his hands clenched and unclenched at his sides.
He was fighting an internal battle. Was it about wanting to claim me, or about protecting his people? Probably both.
“He’ll see it as manipulation,” Taimyr warned, though his tone had shifted from dismissive to thoughtful. “Forest reindeer value directness—honesty. If he thinks we’re playing games—”
“I’m not playing games.” I moved back to the couch, positioning myself where I could see both of their faces.
“We’ll be completely transparent. Tell him exactly what we need from him—not just for any potential relationship, but for the union to succeed.
Make it clear the two things are interconnected—because they are.
How could I be with someone, with him, if he can’t cooperate with you? ”
Through our bonds, I felt their emotions shifting—resistance giving way to reluctant consideration. Outside, Aleksi had resumed his pacing, digging a path in the fresh snow.
Taimyr let out a long sigh. “So he wasn’t lying about the bond?”
I shook my head. “Do you want me to reject it?” My heart stuttered at the thought, but how could I not ask when these two men where perfect for me? How could I be so greedy as to want more?
Their arms were instantly around me, noses pressed into the crook of my neck.
“We told you before,” Kenai murmured. “That’s not how reindeer shifters work. A bond is sacred. It can’t be ignored.”
Taimyr huffed. “Yeah, but if I’d known it meant ending up in a herd with Aleksi, I might’ve questioned it more.”
Kenai chuckled. “Fate’s funny like that, isn’t it? I don’t love the idea, but somehow, it feels like exactly what we need.”
They both curled in tighter around me, their warmth pressing in on all sides. Fate certainly had an interesting sense of humor.