Chapter 12
Kyran
“Everything’s set.” Lucas is waiting outside by the porch steps when we emerge. He gives Tara a pointed look but swings his gaze back to me. “I just got a text. They’re waiting at a designated spot.”
“Then let’s go.” It’s easier if I don’t look down at her.
Easier if I don’t think about the bombshell she dropped on me at the last second.
She wants to stay. I didn’t know whether to laugh with joy or curse fate itself.
The one thing I wanted to hear, though it could mean giving up everything that’s ever mattered in exchange.
The respect of my clan. Their trust in my leadership.
Still, I have to reflect back on what she said about the pain of losing her family being nothing compared to losing her fated mate.
She could have been reading my mind, speaking my thoughts.
How can I lead my clan going forward when part of me will always be with her?
It would be like living half a life. How can I be the alpha my clan deserves when I’m only half of me?
As we walk, the clan falls in step with us, two and three members at a time.
Joseph and Lydia are among the first—I notice the way Joseph grips her arm, like a warning.
I would bet he’s already put his foot down and warned her about running her mouth tonight.
Of all times for her to learn a little restraint, this would be it.
“What’s he going to do… What if… How many will they bring…
” They’re not exactly doing their best to keep their questions quiet.
I feel Tara’s dread and wish I could put an arm around her.
Some sort of gesture to make her feel less resented than she is by the growing crowd following us to the meeting site.
I would only get pushback from the clan, and I doubt her pack would appreciate seeing it once we arrive.
My heart is a bass drum in my ears. It grows louder with every step we take until it almost drowns out the sounds of curiosity and disapproval behind me. Almost. I doubt anything could drown it out completely.
I sense the flash of excitement that bursts through her when we reach the place Declan requested for this meeting.
It isn’t far from the clearing I first found her in.
A lifetime might have passed since then.
Nothing less. Meanwhile, my pack is on its guard, apprehension crowding the air.
I would hope they’re not stupid enough to speak out of turn—especially considering how desperately outnumbered we are.
They seem to go on and on. Declan did not take chances tonight.
He stands at the front of the group, with his brothers on either side.
There’s no mistaking them for anything less than siblings.
They all wear identical looks of anger and distrust to go along with their similar coloring and facial structure.
One of them holds onto the hand of a small blonde—Nora, it must be.
I remember watching her stare down who I now understand was her half-brother, the one holding a gun on her.
She’s brave, having already been through hell again and again.
“Stay close to me,” I warn Tara, who releases a shuddering breath. Back at the cottage, she told me she was ready to walk away from them and start a new life with me. Is she regretting it now that she sees them?
Declan inclines his head once we come to a stop several yards away. “She looks well,” he admits.
“You didn’t believe her when she said she was unharmed?”
“Would you, in my position?” The moment of quiet observation passes, and now he bares his teeth. “We’ve wasted enough time. We want her back.”
“That’s too bad.” That quip came from one of mine. I would rather not look away from the wolf staring holes through me, so I leave that to Lucas, who even growls a warning.
“Too bad?” It must be Tara’s twin, the one with Nora. He lowers his brow, green eyes piercing me from a distance. “If that’s the way it’s going to be, we can settle this here and now.”
“Don’t,” Tara says in a whisper. “Please.”
“Your sister crossed the border and broke the law by doing it.” My heart’s not in this, nowhere close. It all seems empty, performative.
“And she deserves to die!” someone shouts from farther back in the crowd.
“Touch her,” Declan warns, “and you die. That goes for every single one of you.”
“She did break the law,” I point out. I’m being torn to pieces, and it’s getting worse by the minute. Hedging, weighing my options. Unable to sentence her to death, unable to let her go. I can’t bring myself to do it. I never could have.
“You know why she did,” Declan retorts. “It couldn’t be helped. There must be room for extenuating circumstances in a situation like this.”
That much we can agree on, but I would rather keep my thoughts to myself for now. What do I do? When I look at their numbers, the safest move seems to be handing her over. I have no doubt that hothead twin of hers only wants an excuse to start a fight, no matter what his brother commands.
“She broke the law,” someone pipes up behind me. Lydia. “And she is on our land. You don’t get to decide what to do with her now.”
“Exactly how do you get to decide?” Cole barks, ignoring his mate when she quietly reaches for him to calm down. “We didn’t come here to talk to you. We came to talk to him.”
Tara’s desperate plea rises over the voices now shouting.
“Please, stop. Please.” The energy in the air turns hot and dangerous.
A fight is brewing. I feel it. It was inevitable.
Something has to stop it. Tara looks up at me, and I meet her gaze.
I know in my heart her fear isn’t for herself.
It’s for them. She’s lost so much already.
“What’s it going to be?” Declan demands. “Either you make this simple and allow our pack member to walk away, or we can declare war for her.”
This is it. My bear knows it, and I know it. No turning back. “That won’t be necessary.” A soft gasp erupts behind me, but quickly falls to silence when I lift a hand. “There’s no need for war. I’ve decided to accept fate.”
Tara’s strangled sob is almost drowned out by the uproar that erupts, ripping through my clan. “What?” Lydia screeches, and she isn’t the only one. “You can’t do that!”
“Fate has decided,” I remind everyone, raising my voice until it’s close to a bark. “And who are we to deny that? I accept fate’s decision. The mating ritual will take place this weekend. End of discussion.”
Declan’s face falls, along with those of his brothers. It isn’t their faces I’m worried about. It’s hers.
And she’s beaming. “Are you sure?” she whispers, tears standing out in her shining eyes.
“If you’re brave enough, I’m brave enough,” I tell her, and we share a smile.
“Tara…” Declan is so sorrowful, but resigned, staying in place while his pack begins to wander off behind him. “Are you sure about this?”
“You know there’s no choice. I love you,” she whispers. “But I am being called to do this. Would you rather me feel tortured the rest of my life because I can’t be with my mate?”
“Of course not.”
“I’m sorry it had to be this way, but I’m happy. I really am.”
The other brothers look shell-shocked, like they fully expected to bring her home tonight. She is home now. With me, where she belongs.
If only my clan saw it that way. I turn to face them, clocking the disbelief and even disappointment.
“This is over now,” I announce, taking Tara’s hand and drawing her close.
“And as your alpha, I expect understanding if not support. I can’t force you to like this.
I only ask that you trust I’m making the only decision I could make. ”
A few of them look accepting, nodding, and even offering Tara a brief but appreciated smile. Unfortunately, they’re outnumbered by those who can’t possibly understand. I hope they never do, because what I’ve been through is nothing short of torture.
“Let’s get back to the cottage,” I decide. “Let them process this for themselves.” I need to be alone with her. There are no more walls between us. No more questioning. Now that I’ve decided, I can’t remember why it took me so long to make up my mind. This is the only thing I could do.
“I’ll take care of this,” Lucas promises, approaching a cluster of anxious-looking bears and walking with them. This isn’t the ending they were hoping for. No violence, no death. They’ll get over it, and if they don’t, that’s their problem. It’s their choice. I’ve made mine.
“I can’t believe it,” Tara whispers. She sounds giddy with relief. “I really didn’t know what you were going to do. You kept me hanging there.”
“You honestly thought I would let you be killed?”
“Yeah. I definitely did.”
“Never.” I only wish it hadn’t taken me so long to see the light. To hell with the expectations of a bloodthirsty clan and the ancient laws we abide by. Fate threw a curveball. There is nothing else I could do.
That’s the thought ringing out loudest in my head when a fireball of pain explodes in the back of it. Tara’s high-pitched cry fades to silence as I drop to the soft ground and darkness consumes me.
When I snap my eyes open, I’m alone. The back of my head pounds hard enough to nauseate me, but it’s the fact that she’s gone which makes me fight to get to my knees.
Everything is spinning around me—I close my eyes, knowing this won’t last long, but also knowing there isn’t a second to lose. She’s gone. Someone took her.
And they’re going to die for it.
We were deep enough in bear territory that I don’t think it was the wolves, but I won’t dismiss the possibility as I pull my phone from my pocket and dial Declan’s number. “What? Did you change your mind already?” he asks.
“You didn’t take her? It wasn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” he snaps, while other voices overlap in the background.
“I was attacked,” I tell him, staggering to my feet while my bear demands vengeance and the scent of my blood hangs in the air. “I don’t know how long I was unconscious, but when I came to, she was gone. Someone from my clan must have taken her.”