Chapter 15
Julian De León
“This situation isn’t stable or safe for her.”
It was an accurate and fair analysis. One that I not only agreed with but was becoming increasingly concerned about.
I didn’t worry very often—I tended to be the relaxed counterpart to Coffin—but since Effie came into my life, the stakes had greatly increased, and right now my gut was telling me to get her the fuck off this campus.
We had other options, more than a few, and I knew all of them were safer than being around Hastain.
“So what do we do?” Tore demanded, still angry after explaining what had happened earlier.
My jaw tightened, furious that Effie had been alone with that bastard for even a second.
There should have never been the opportunity for that to happen.
I could see the guilt Ryder felt despite us attempting to tell him it wasn’t completely on him—fucking security had practically dragged her away in front of an entire room of students.
It showed the extent Hastain was willing to go to and that he had planned the action out, fairly extensively.
So I didn’t blame Tore for being upset, although I honestly had no idea how he was maintaining it, even with what had happened.
If I’d marked Effie, I would be so ecstatic it would most likely block out everything else.
Then again, marking her had probably triggered the already intense need to protect her.
I could see the way he continued to look over her, as if he was waiting for her to show some outward sign of the stress she’d been put through, despite the fact that she was sleeping peacefully against Caedmon’s chest.
In fact, if there was anyone we should worry about, it was him—Caedmon.
Since finding out his father was on campus, the man hadn’t spoken a word.
It was why Effie had gone to him almost immediately upon our return, his lack of communication and reaction clearly freaking her out.
I didn’t blame her in the least—it was fucking eerie—but I also knew that was the type of thing he had to work out in his head, and pushing him to open up right now wasn’t a good idea.
That I was sure about. In fact, it was the only thing I was currently sure about.
I didn’t know how to protect Effie. I wanted to believe that Tore beginning the process of marking her would change things…
but I just couldn’t be sure of that. I couldn’t be sure that Hastain wouldn’t try to fuck everything up and cause chaos in an effort to take her from us.
It already sounded like he believed he had some level of ownership over her because he’d made the purchase from the Whitepaw Pack.
A growl caught in my throat. I wanted to fucking destroy them. All of them. My chest hurt thinking about the pain I’d seen in Effie’s eyes in reaction to everything that had happened—including what she had found out about our past.
Though I was still beyond enraged, something settled in my chest at that concept.
Our past. It made too much sense that we had found each other before.
It had felt like coming home when first seeing her, and while I couldn’t remember anything before that night, I was okay with that.
Maybe one day I would search for more information about my past, but my future was far more important, and it was clear the fates had brought us together from that first night, ensuring I kept my future mate safe.
While I couldn’t claim Effie at the time, too young to form the mating bond, I had been given the opportunity to protect her in the only way I could.
“Leave.” Dakota’s voice was firm and serious in response to Tore’s question.
“That won’t stop my father,” Caedmon said in a flat tone that had me feeling on edge. “He knows she has healing capabilities that would be valuable to him.”
The idea of Caedmon’s father using Effie made me see fucking red.
“Then we kill your fucking father,” Dakota hissed. Caedmon offered him a dry look and shrugged, seemingly unimpressed by the notion.
“It’s been attempted, he’s still here.”
“What do you suggest we do?” I found his entire attitude towards the situation frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, I understood it was just a defensive reaction, but it also pissed me the fuck off.
Before he could answer me, Dakota’s phone rang, causing me to offer him a questioning look…
before Ryder’s and Tore’s rang as well. Effie shifted at the disturbance but continued to sleep.
Tore picked up the phone and stepped away for a moment as Ryder read through something, his face contorting with a frown.
Dakota had the phone up to his ear but wasn’t saying anything, his gaze on Effie.
“Yes, I’m here,” Dakota finally gritted out, looking annoyed.
“Fuck,” Ryder hissed, running a hand through his hair.
“What?” I demanded as my phone pinged. Confusion hit me as I pulled it out and realized it was an email. My stomach sank as I saw that it was from Dr. Hastain.
Celebration of the future - a mate for our blood-bonded pack!
The email was addressed to a long list of people, appearing to consist of the family members of the other men as well as anyone else that Hastain deemed worthy of attending this bullshit.
This bullshit event that was so clearly a play at bringing attention to us not having marked Effie, at least in his mind.
“My father and sister are coming to town. They will be here in the morning,” Dakota said stiffly. Tore was still talking on the phone, but I had to assume it was a very similar situation.
“Ryder—”
Caedmon’s words were cut off as Ryder picked up a phone call after half a ring. He broke into a language I didn’t understand, but I was nearly positive it was Japanese. More than anything, though, I heard the panic bleeding through his tone.
“They somehow brought him into this,” Dakota grunted, looking stressed. “I have no idea what this bastard is playing at. He doesn’t want Effie to be our mate, but he wants to bring it to the attention of everyone.”
“Including my family,” Tore said as he finished his phone call, looking angry. “My parents will be here as well.”
Fuck, he really had invited everyone.
“We have to go,” I said. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but if we don’t go and make it formally known that she’s ours and has been marked by us, it will make it seem like we are rejecting her in some form.
Obviously that’s not the case, but by inviting our families as well, he’s made it impossible to avoid his games. ”
“He’s trying to shame your blood-bonded pack for not marking her and leaving her unprotected.” Ryder hung up the phone before grabbing his jacket. “He’s going to try to convince everyone that you are not worthy of having her as a mate. I have no idea how, but I would bet you that’s the play.”
“Where are you going?” I asked in confusion.
“I need to find my sister.” His jaw was tight. “Hastain didn’t contact my parents. He contacted my grandfather and flew him out here.”
Something that was clearly not good news, according to his expression.
I arched my brow as he stepped back towards the elevator. “I’ll be back soon, I just need to make sure she’s out of town for a bit.”
Then he was gone, leaving the four of us and our sleeping mate. I put my head down, resting my elbows on my knees, as I considered the best way to approach this. I think this was the most unsure I’d ever felt in my life.
“We need a way to access the conversations he’s been having,” I said quietly. “I want to confirm who else he is planning to have at this event. I have a feeling he could be bringing the other blood-bonded packs into it as well.”
“Fuck,” Tore rumbled.
Before we could put any effort into planning what to do, Effie sat up with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. Blinking, she looked around at us, her brow dipping as she sensed the tension in the room.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded.
“Hastain invited all of their families for an event tomorrow night to announce you as our mate,” I explained.
“And we are upset about that?”
I didn’t want her to think this was about the mate aspect, because I wanted to shout on the rooftops about her being my mate, so I made sure to clarify.
“We think he is using it as an excuse to shame us for not marking you yet, then talk about us not deserving you or being able to take care of you.”
Her eyes lit with anger as she sat up, looking around at all of us. “We can’t let him do that. I don’t want anyone to think that. All you guys have done is to protect me. That’s…”
I could see her hesitating over a word before saying, “That’s bullshit. It’s bullshit.”
My eyes widened at her swear as Dakota chuckled.
“What?” she demanded, her cheeks pinkening.
“We don’t disagree with you,” Caedmon assured.
“Just haven’t heard you swear much,” I pointed out.
She shrugged. “It’s true though. Besides… I am marked now.”
“But he doesn’t know that,” Tore explained.
Her cheeks turned a deeper red, no doubt thinking about everyone finding out, as she nodded in understanding. “So what do we do?”
Good question.
I grunted. “We go. If we don’t, it may be taken as a public rejection.”
“Which is the last thing we want,” Dakota growled out.
“Then we go,” Effie confirmed and looked up at Caedmon. “You okay?”
I thought for sure Caedmon would just offer her a silent nod or nothing at all, but instead he answered her honestly. “No. I don’t like him this close to you.”
Effie examined his face before nodding. “I know you won’t let anything happen to me. None of you will. Let’s just do this weird event and then… Well, we can go from there.”
Suddenly Effie’s stomach gurgled, and she squeaked, blushing.
I chuckled softly, getting up and making my way towards the kitchen.
I opened the freezer and pulled out some pizza rolls, frowning at the lack of nutrition they provided and making a mental note that this was just one more reason for us to move.