Chapter 17
Ryder Buso
“Ican see her through this?” Effie asked in sincere confusion, staring at her phone before looking back up at me in disbelief.
I knew my mate wasn’t exactly the most versed in technology, so I had a feeling she would be pleasantly surprised to learn that my sister could help her get ready and pick an outfit without actually being here.
“Yep,” I promised, “just give her a call.” My kitten was clearly still on edge, and I didn’t blame her.
Not only was she being placed in a dangerous situation on a daily basis, especially with Hastain being so unpredictable, but also because she was about to be placed in a room with the type of people I would normally shelter her from.
Including my grandfather.
It was like the gods were mocking me after I’d explained everything to Effie and subtly admitted that I would hide her away if it came down to it—so of course, I wasn’t being offered that option.
No, we would now meet with the bastard in person, and I knew the fallout from him realizing I had a mate would be disastrous.
I wanted to warn Effie of that, of how bad it could get, but I didn’t want her thinking I was pulling away.
The hurt that radiated off of her every time she thought that could be the case was enough to bring me to my knees.
I just hoped she truly believed and trusted in us—in me. Trust that I would do anything I needed to ensure she was safe and happy.
Effie pressed the call button, and the video messenger app rang only once before my sister’s face popped up on the screen.
“Effie!” she exclaimed in happiness.
“Hey.” My mate grinned and looked up at me. “You were right, I can see her. That’s so cool.”
“Is my brother there?” I moved into view of the phone and offered her a head nod of greeting as she swung the phone around so I could see the disaster that was now my condo. “We turned it into a massive movie fort, I hope that’s okay.”
“That sounds so fun,” Effie said, and I fought the urge to sling her over my shoulder and drive up to Milwaukee to allow her to be part of something that would make her happy.
“Fine with me,” I told my sister.
“Okay, now what’s this about an event?” Aanya refocused as I kissed the top of Effie’s head and left her to tell my sister everything that I hadn’t already on the drive.
I felt relieved, knowing Aanya and her mates were secure and far away from my grandfather.
Now I just had to figure out how to keep my mate safe.
As I stepped into the main room of the dorm, I noticed that Tore and Julian were having a serious conversation in the kitchen.
Dakota was sitting in the living room area where I joined him, his eyes on Effie’s door in thought.
Caedmon was standing silently by the window that overlooked the lake, the sunset gliding across the icy surface.
I could feel the physical tension in the room, and I knew it came both from the fear of Effie interacting with all these assholes and each of them having to experience their own version of my grandfather.
I hoped Julian, since he didn’t have anyone coming, could keep it completely together in case we got distracted. Emotions were a messy thing that could often lead to mistakes.
“How long do we have?” Dakota asked.
“An hour.”
Caedmon joined us, his gaze filled with anxiety.
I felt a stab of sympathy for the man. Dakota didn’t seem to feel the same though—I could practically feel his annoyance with Caedmon.
It had been building since hearing that his father was in town, and while I didn’t fully understand the dynamic, I knew it had to do with their previous—and mostly current—friendship.
“Your father will tell you to leave us and take her.”
I predicted that would be the case as well.
Caedmon offered him a blank look. “So?”
“So?” Dakota chuckled, the sound not friendly in the least. “So, I am concerned that you will do whatever your shit father wants and ditch out again, but this time try to take our mate with you.”
At least Dakota was blunt. I could appreciate that.
“I would never take Effie away from any of you,” Caedmon said quietly, his eyes flashing with a hurt that I wasn’t positive Dakota saw.
I understood the frustration, especially since they seemed to be as close as brothers, but from my limited understanding…
Caedmon’s relationship with his father was bad. Really bad.
“And what about you? If he wants you to leave, will you?”
Caedmon stared at him without answering for a moment. Dakota scoffed, shaking his head. After a second, Caedmon spoke honestly. “No. I won’t leave. Not unless Effie or any of your lives are at direct risk if I don’t.”
Dakota’s expression sobered. “That’s not necessary, and you know it. If you are going to be part of this fucking family, then we handle shit together.”
Authentic anger flashed across Caedmon’s face. “I am not going to let my father touch this part of my life. I’m not going to compromise on that shit.”
“What are you arguing about?”
Julian’s voice had all of us looking up as he and Tore joined us, the first looking extremely on edge, his eyes on Effie’s door as if listening to her conversation with Aanya.
I would have attempted the same thing, but I had no idea what their conversation would verge into, and I didn’t want to know anything about my sister’s private life with her mates.
Normally I wouldn’t have assumed that would be what they were talking about…
but considering Effie was marked, I had a feeling they may.
Which reminded me, I needed to call Tore on that bullshit.
“I was thinking about making a doctor’s appointment for Effie, if that’s something she’s interested in,” I noted, attempting to change the subject away from Caedmon’s father while pretending to study the large economics textbook left on the table. One I had already read cover to cover.
“What for?” Julian asked, looking concerned. To be fair, she had been hurt a lot lately.
“Well, she mentioned that she and Tore didn’t talk about protection, so I figured I would at least offer it as an option if she wanted to start birth control.”
That froze the room.
“You didn’t talk about it?” Julian asked. Tore’s eyes were narrowed on me, but I kept a blank expression, not wanting to incite his rage. Not exactly. But I was going to call him on his shit.
“Forgot in the moment,” he managed to get out in a rough voice.
“Bullshit,” Dakota said, and instantly Tore’s anger was directed towards him.
I decided to throw him a bit of a bone. “She may not even want it. I think her words were ‘I am okay with what that could mean.’ With each of us. I just figured I would at least offer it as an option.”
“She said that?” Tore’s eyes lit up, and I realized the fucker was serious about what his actions could result in. I suppose I wasn’t exactly shocked by that, but I’d assumed it was more of a possessive move, and while I could tell it was that…he looked authentically happy at the concept.
“Effie said she was okay with getting pregnant?” Caedmon clarified, looking confused, as if the words didn’t fully compute in his brain. Honestly, I’d been surprised by it as well. Also, way too fucking happy.
I couldn’t be too hard on myself. I was twenty-seven and just found my mate—it was as natural of an instinct as breathing.
A groan caught in my throat, thinking about leaving such a permanent marking on her.
I just had to ignore all of the other elements that could be potential issues if that ever actually happened.
“Ask her yourself,” I suggested.
“Have you brought up the doctor’s appointment to her?
” Tore demanded, looking suddenly worried.
The man was making it painfully obvious just how little he had ‘forgotten’ in the moment.
Or maybe he had really got caught up in experiencing Effie fully…
but I don’t think it would have slipped his mind completely.
“No.”
“Don’t.”
My brows went up, Tore leveling me with a stare before sitting back in his chair and looking back at her door.
I probably still would, but his reaction was beyond interesting.
Dakota chuckled, running a hand over his face and mumbling under his breath.
Caedmon was just staring at him in shock, and Julian looked fucking amused.
Then again, Tore had always seemed far more wolf than most fenrir wolves, so I couldn’t be completely surprised.
Suddenly, Effie was sticking her head out of the door and offering all of us a smile. “Just got off the phone—super cool, by the way. I am going to get ready real quick, but your sister mentioned something about Frost Formal this weekend and being back by then?”
Fuck. Well, that was an excuse to have the entire board here, which was bad news because nearly every single one of them were as bad as Hastain.
“Yeah, it’s a celebration in honor of the university’s biggest donors,” I explained.
She nodded in understanding. “We should all go together. Like a date.”
Then she went back into her room as if what she said was embarrassing.
I almost ran after her, wanting to see the blush that was surely blooming, but instead I just chuckled, shaking my head.
Yeah, we would go as dates for fucking sure.
If there were going to be this many people here this weekend, I wanted to make sure that everyone knew who Effie belonged to.
“Shit, we need to get ready. What do they want us wearing?” Julian asked, scrolling through his phone and probably trying to pull up his email.
“Suit, no tie needed,” I provided. The event was billed as casual, but in Hastain’s world—even my grandfather’s world—that never truly meant casual.