Chapter Seven
A s weird as it was not to live in the coven house anymore, Sullivan couldn’t regret leaving. He’d been born within the coven and had lived there all his life, but he felt finally free, and he wouldn’t have if he’d stayed.
His gaze slid sideways to Matty, who was spread out on the bed next to him, reading something on his phone. Sullivan had been, too, but it was hard to focus when Matty was cuddled up against him the way he was. Matty always seemed to want to be in physical contact, which Sullivan approved of, but it made it hard to think about anything that wasn’t Matty and the feelings growing between them.
Sullivan had to, though. Now that he wasn’t with the coven anymore, he couldn’t get any more information on what the leaders were up to. He couldn’t try to convince other mages to help Chance and the pack, or at the very least, not to help with the coven. He wouldn’t say he’d ruined the plan because he still had allies within the coven, but it had made things harder. A lot of the mages he’d talked to trusted him but might not trust other people on their side, like Michelle and Meredith. Sullivan leaving might have pushed them into siding with the leaders again.
Sullivan didn’t know, and he wouldn’t be sure until the pack and the coven faced each other. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He’d been thinking of alternative plans, and while none of them would be easy, it would be for the best to neutralize the leaders without involving the rest of the coven. That meant they couldn’t reach an outright war, but Sullivan wasn’t quite sure how to avoid it yet.
“You’ve been staring at the wall for about five minutes,” Matty said as he pressed even closer. “What’s going on?”
Sullivan didn’t want Matty to feel neglected, but he thought his boyfriend understood. “Just thinking about what our next step will be.”
Matty sighed. “You didn’t ruin anything, so stop thinking that you did.”
“You know me too well,” Sullivan said as he rolled sideways and pressed Matty against the mattress. “It shouldn’t be possible since we haven’t known each other long.”
Matty shrugged. “I’ve been watching you.”
“That sounded slightly creepy, but luckily, you’re cute.”
Matty laughed and wrapped his arms around Sullivan’s neck. “We are lucky, aren’t we?”
“The luckiest.” Sullivan wasn’t lying. He couldn’t believe he’d met Matty and had fallen in love with him during this mess, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. They would fight the coven leaders together, no matter what. It was good to have that kind of support, but even better, that kind of love.
Sullivan’s phone rattled on the nightstand. He groaned because he had plans for Matty, but these days, he couldn’t afford to ignore phone calls. He rolled sideways again, Matty rolling with him so that he could stay plastered together as Sullivan answered his phone. “Yes?”
“I hope I’m not bothering you,” Chance said.
Sullivan wasn’t about to tell him that he was. “Of course not. What’s going on?”
“You need to come to the entrance of pack territory.”
That got Sullivan’s attention. He sat up, frowning. “Why?”
“I think that what happened with you and Oliver rattled some people.”
Sullivan wanted to push for answers, but Chance might not have any. “What do you mean?”
“There’s a group of cars coming our way.”
Shit. Sullivan launched himself out of bed, already scrambling for his clothes. “Do we know anything about them?”
“No. That’s why I need you at the entrance of pack territory.”
“I’ll be right there.”
He hung up and turned to Matty, who was also getting dressed. Sullivan was tempted to tell him to stay home, but Matty would do what Matty wanted. “This could be dangerous,” he warned.
Matty shrugged. “One more reason you shouldn’t go there on your own.”
“I don’t think Chance would let me face whatever’s coming on my own. He’ll be there, and I’m sure he won’t be the only one.” The dragons who lived with the pack and the other mages would probably be there. Some of the shifters might be, too, but they’d all seen what had happened to the dragon clan when the coven had attacked them. Shifters couldn’t do much against mages who didn’t hesitate to use magic against them.
“Yeah, well, I’m coming with you anyway.”
Sullivan had expected it, so he didn’t argue. They needed to get out there as soon as possible.
Luckily, while pack territory was vast, most of it was forest. The rest wasn’t that big, and they got to the entrance in under five minutes after leaving the house.
Sullivan stumbled when he saw the woman talking to Chance. Lana had her baby strapped to her chest, but there were no signs of her husband or the other kid. Sullivan only noticed them in one of the cars after he specifically looked for them.
What was everyone doing here? It wasn’t only Lana and her family. There were half a dozen cars, all of them filled with people. It looked like half the coven had decided to leave.
That was what had happened, wasn’t it? It was obvious. For some reason, these mages had decided to leave the coven and reach out to the pack.
Lana looked up and noticed Sullivan. She smiled a little, causing Chance to turn. When Chance saw Sullivan, he gestured at him to move closer, and Sullivan did, eager to find out if he was right.
“It seems that your departure from the coven house left quite an impression,” Chance said. “Lana was telling me that a group of mages decided to leave the coven permanently, or at least until the leaders are taken care of.”
Lana shuffled her feet, looking nervous, but she raised her chin. “We don’t want anything to do with them anymore. I know we shouldn’t have waited so long and allowed them to do everything they did, but that’s over now. When you left, I knew we couldn’t stay.”
Sullivan had promised that whoever wanted to leave would be welcomed by the pack, but he hadn’t expected this many people to pop up. He wasn’t sure what Chance would do, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to break his promise. “There are a lot of you,” he said.
“I started talking with some of my friends, and they were as eager as I was to get our families out. I don’t want my children to grow up in that kind of place.”
“Well, they won’t have to,” Chance said with a smile. “I can’t promise that every member of my pack will be happy to see you or that they’ll keep their feelings to themselves, but even if you don’t find a place in our pack, the pack will support you. I’m sure some of you will feel more comfortable in town, and we can help with that. We’ll work together so that everyone is happy and safe.”
Lana looked like she was about to cry, so Sullivan quickly squeezed her shoulder. “You’re safe now, and so are your babies.”
She nodded, visibly overwhelmed. “I don’t know how to thank you. If you hadn’t talked to me, if you hadn’t left, I don’t think I ever would’ve had the courage to do the same.”
“But you did, and you’re here now.”
Sullivan glanced around. He didn’t know how many people had joined them, but he could already tell that with so many mages leaving the coven, the leaders would struggle. They’d have less magic to use in their spells and fewer people to order around. More importantly, they’d have fewer people to use against more packs and clans. Sullivan didn’t know if that would be enough for their side to win this war, but it gave him hope.
He smiled when Matty stepped forward and started cooing over the baby. Lana relaxed almost instantly, and it felt good to see Matty getting along with someone from the other side of Sullivan’s life. The two sides were meeting, but instead of clashing, they belonged. That boded well for the future, and now that the coven had lost so many members, Sullivan was positive that they could do this more than ever.
They could win the war against the coven leaders.