Chapter 31
Reid
Evan’s declaration had lit a fire in my soul. One I was slightly afraid of. That I didn’t want to draw too close to in case I got burned.
It wasn’t overwhelming me in the way I’d thought it might though. I couldn’t say I was in the right place now, but I also couldn’t say I wouldn’t ever get there.
From the sounds of it though, I wasn’t going to have much time to get used to it. I suspected that whatever Evan was about to tell me wasn’t going to be good.
“Nothing good ever follows the words ‘we need to talk,’” I said. His arms were still around me, and I focused on his hold. Evan had me. He was here. He was in love with me. Whatever he was about to tell me, we’d weather it. It’d be okay. “Hit me with it, Evan. Rip the plaster off.”
“Okay.” He exhaled shakily. “Before I do, just know that we won’t be letting this happen. Finn, Calan, and Logan are already working on various different plans. What I’m about to tell you isn’t going to come to fruition. We won’t allow it.”
I was back on the precipice again, darkness beckoning me forward. With the fire burning inside me, it was easier not to fall. To hold on to the light and let that fuel me. “Just tell me.”
“The Clarksons have arranged a marriage for you,” Evan said. Behind his eyes, I could almost see his wolf watching me. “To the alpha of the Wilson Clan.”
I waited for the punchline. That couldn’t seriously be their plan, right?
But Evan was grimly silent.
“They can’t do that,” I said, giving a slightly hysterical laugh. “There’s no fucking way I’d agree to it. And what makes them think the Wilson Clan alpha would even want a human? It’s ridiculous. You can’t be serious.”
“I wish it was a joke,” Evan said wearily. “I said as much to Logan when he told us. It seems too preposterous to be true, but apparently it is. By offering you up in marriage, the Clarksons will gain a new ally and more than double their strength in numbers.”
My ears felt numb. So did my fingers, for that matter. And my toes. I didn’t think the cold was to blame. “Why would they want to do that?”
Evan’s throat bobbed. “To expand their borders.”
My blood turned to ice. “But the only clan close by is the McCarthys’. Surely they wouldn’t attack you, not after…”
The words faded away as the reality set in.
Who was I kidding? That sounded exactly like what the Clarksons would do.
Danny had wiped out over half of our clan members in retaliation for the deaths of his wife and daughter.
That wasn’t something they’d forget, even if the ones he’d killed had been guilty.
And I had to imagine that they’d been building their strength all this time, waiting for the perfect excuse to attack.
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. “They’ve already issued a declaration of war. Why don’t they just attack now?”
“Because we’re still stronger,” Evan said grimly. “They aren’t as stupid as we’d like them to be: Neil especially. They know Danny would return to fight. That’s why they need you.”
“But I’m not going with them.” Panic filled me. “I don’t have to, right, Evan?”
“Absolutely not, sweetheart.” A few of his bones cracked, but he didn’t shift, just held me a little tighter. “We’ll be letting you go over our dead bodies. It doesn’t matter what bullshit they try to pull, you’re not leaving.”
“Over our dead bodies.”
The darkness threatened to overwhelm the blaze Evan had set alight. There was too much of it now, sweeping into every crack left by my past. “That’s what they want, isn’t it? They’re not expecting me to come quietly. They want you to fight.”
“Yes. That’s one of the things we don’t understand. As far as Logan’s aware, the Wilsons are refusing assistance until the marriage has been completed. If it came down to a battle, the Clarksons wouldn’t win.”
“One of the parts? What’s the other?”
Evan sighed. “They seem to have an ace up their sleeve. Thanks to the treaty, they can’t remove you from our lands or incite violence. We can’t figure out how they’re expecting you to leave with them without one or both of those things happening.”
I tried to swallow, but the lump in my throat was too big. I suspected I knew exactly how they’d make that happen.
Because Evan might say it would only happen over his dead body, but there was no way I’d ever let it get to that.
Evan might have been prepared to risk it all for me, but he didn’t realise I’d do the same.
Somehow, the Clarksons did.
If Evan was in danger, if his immortality was at risk, there was nothing I wouldn’t do to save him.
Including walking away from him to marry someone I’d never met.
When it became clear I had too many questions to answer, Evan had taken me to the main house. I’d been in here multiple times over the past few weeks, and I had to admit that the tension had lessened each time.
Now though, there was no stress at all. I barely even registered where we were going, too hung up on the very real risk we were facing. It was funny how my anxieties paled in comparison to that fear. Everything else suddenly seemed surmountable.
I just wished I knew how to keep Evan safe in a way that wouldn’t break his heart.
And my own.
Finn, Logan, and Calan were all sprawled over various pieces of furniture. Calan was in his usual high-backed chair by the fireplace, Finn on the sofa, his legs dangling over an arm, and Logan was lying on his back on Finn’s desk.
Even if Evan hadn’t told me what he’d learned, I would’ve known something was up the second I stepped over the threshold. The tension was almost palpable. Finn and Logan offered me nods in greeting, whereas Calan didn’t seem to register our entrance.
Evan led us over to the sofa, tugging me down beside him. I fidgeted in my seat, completely uncomfy.
“You okay?” Evan said quietly. “You seem restless.”
“This doesn’t feel right,” I muttered. “It’s not right.”
The other three shifters pretended they couldn’t hear our low conversation, which I appreciated. I’d accepted that they all knew how I struggled sometimes, but I didn’t want attention drawn to it.
Evan rubbed my knee. “What do ye need, Reid? What’ll make it feel right?”
I chewed on my lip, trying to focus on what exactly felt wrong. It was the sofa, I realised. I felt…unrestrained. Like I was going to tumble off at any second. The fibres were itchy, which was weird as I’d never noticed that on sitting on it before. There was an odd smell too. I didn’t like it.
How could I fix it though?
Just like that, I knew what the answer was.
Without giving myself time to question it, I shuffled over until I was sat on Evan’s lap.
His arms came around me automatically as I relaxed back into him.
There. Now I was stable and safe. Evan’s scent comforted me, and the feel of his hoody was familiar.
As it should be, given I wore it more often than he did these days.
Evan kissed my pulse point before whispering in my ear, “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”
He did, and now I felt better.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t need Evan to make me feel safe or secure. I’d survived on my own before, and knew I could do it again.
The difference now was that I didn’t want to.
You might have to if the alternative is the Clarksons executing Evan.
I swallowed the sudden swell of bile. Maybe the inner circle had come up with a plan. They had to have done, right?
Evan appeared to be thinking along the same lines. “Any ideas?”
“Nope.” Logan scowled, tossing his dagger into the air before catching it again. “We can’t figure out what the catch is. Without that, we don’t know how to prepare.”
Fuck.
Undeterred, Evan addressed Finn. “Did ye get hold of Danny?”
“Aye,” Finn said heavily. “He’s in New Zealand, doing a tour of the Lord of the Rings sets.”
There was a long silence before I broke it with the obvious question. “Why?”
Finn shrugged. “Apparently him and Riley love watching movies together, and one of Riley’s friends, Matty, has got super into them recently. They’ve travelled there with him and his mate, Sebastian.”
“Fucking Sebastian,” Logan muttered.
I eyed him, startled. In spite of his murderous tendencies, there were very few people Logan actually disliked. “Do ye know him?”
“Unfortunately,” Logan muttered. “He’s a vampire assassin and hacker, who now only does the latter. He fell in love with some human. How, I have no idea. Most people get stabby when he’s in the room.”
“Unfortunately, being a vampire, he can’t fly Danny back like one of his other friends would be able to.
” Finn scratched at his beard. “Apparently it’d take longer for one of them to fly out there and bring him here than just getting on a jet, so that’s what they’re doing. He’ll be here tomorrow evening.”
Evan tensed under me. “And if the Clarksons decide to arrive before then?”
For some reason, Finn glared at Calan. “Well, we have a bevy of demons who are happy to fly up here and assist at a moment’s notice, but someone has vetoed that idea.”
“No demons,” Calan said flatly. “That’s my line and I won’t cross it.”
“Are ye saying yer willing to risk my ma—” Evan cut himself off suddenly, clearing his throat. “—Reid, just because of some weird prejudice you have?”
My heart was thundering in my chest. I knew what Evan had been about to say. A month ago, the thought of being his mate would’ve terrified me into a panic attack.
Now though, my heart was racing for a very different reason.
“It’s not a prejudice.” Calan scowled at the ceiling. “We can protect our own, that’s all I’m saying. If we have demons and fuck knows who else running in to save our arses every time, how does that make us look in the community? Weak. That’s how.”
“While I think Calan is talking out of his arse about why he doesn’t want demons here,” Logan said, “he does have a point. Danny coming here is one thing, but anyone else? It sends a message that we’re vulnerable.”