Chapter One #2
Ryan looked around the house as he and Madeleine walked downstairs.
The place where they’d lived with the coven had been a house, but it had never truly been a home.
It hadn’t been safe. There hadn’t been any love there.
Every family kept to themselves, too afraid to reach out and be hurt for it, too afraid to be accused of plotting against the coven leaders if they made friends.
Sometimes, Ryan wondered how the coven members had even managed to fall in love and build families.
He hadn’t, and he was fine with that. After seeing what Madeleine had gone through, he was glad he’d never fallen in love. He didn’t think he would’ve survived losing the person he loved the way Madeleine had. Of course, Madeleine had Alyssa to think about, but still.
Alyssa hadn’t deserved to lose her father in a fight no one but their coven leaders had wanted and had benefited from. Madeleine hadn’t deserved to find herself raising her daughter alone.
When they walked into the kitchen, the air smelled of tomato and garlic. Their mother was checking the rolls in the oven, but when she looked up and smiled, Ryan relaxed.
He hadn’t seen his mother smile in a long time.
He flopped on a chair at the kitchen table, knocking his knee against Madeleine’s when she sat next to him. She knocked back and laughed, and that was something else Ryan hadn’t seen for a long time.
He’d had his doubts when he’d agreed to move in with the pack.
He still did. He didn’t care that they were living with shifters, but he was pretty sure that those shifters cared that they were mages.
He couldn’t blame them after what the coven had done.
The pack might not have been personally impacted yet, but they’d seen what the coven would do and what happened to other packs.
Of course they didn’t want the mages to live there.
Not that anyone had said anything to Ryan personally yet, but he was sure it was coming.
“She’s sleeping?” their mom asked.
“Finally,” Madeleine said with a nod. “I’m not sure what else to do.”
“I don’t think there’s anything else you can do except be there for her. She’s been through a lot, even though she doesn’t understand it. She needs her mother.”
Because Alyssa would never have her father. Nicholas was gone.
Ryan told himself not to think about it. Nicholas wouldn’t have wanted him to get so angry every time he was mentioned, even in passing. He would’ve been happy to know that his family was safe and that they would never have to follow their leaders’ orders again.
Ryan’s mom opened one of the cupboards, yelping when the top hinge came off, and the door almost fell on her head. Ryan pushed his magic outward, keeping the door up so it wouldn’t hurt his mom. She blinked at it, then shook her head. “We really need to do something about this place.”
Ryan got up from his chair and went to take down the door. It wouldn’t look great, but at least that way, it wouldn’t fall on whoever opened the cupboard next. “If only one of us knew what they were doing when it came to house renovations,” he teased.
Their mom was famous in their family for attempting to change things in their living spaces and dramatically failing. Last time, it had been a mural for Alyssa’s bedroom. Ryan still saw the bear she’d painted in his nightmares.
“It could be worse,” Madeleine said.
That much was true. They could still be living back at the coven house.
That would definitely be worse. At least here, they were free.
They knew that no one would send them to their death just so they could make the pack stronger and more powerful.
Ryan didn’t trust the pack, but he did trust that their alpha would never do something like that.
“We could probably reach out to the alpha and ask him about it,” he offered as he leaned the door against the wall.
“I don’t want to bother the poor man,” Ryan’s mom said as she grabbed plates. “He already has so much work to do.”
“It’s kind of his job, though,” Ryan pointed out.
“It being his job doesn’t mean we need to bother him with things that aren’t important. He’s still dealing with the coven. He has his pack to lead. That’s enough for one man.”
Ryan didn’t point out that technically, it wasn’t a one-man job.
Chance was a good alpha, but he wasn’t the only one in charge.
He had a beta, an alpha mate, and his father, the old alpha, still worked with him.
Ryan agreed that he wouldn’t want to bother the alpha for something that didn’t matter, but he was pretty sure that Chance would want them to tell him they needed help.
It was what he’d said when he’d welcomed them into the pack.
Ryan looked around. He didn’t hate the house they’d been given.
In fact, he quite liked it. It was a safe space for their family, a place where they didn’t have to worry about someone seeing them doing something they weren’t supposed to do or hearing something they weren’t supposed to say.
No one could come in except for the people they wanted to come in.
There were no spells spying on them. They were as safe as they could be considering the circumstances.
Ryan had been hesitant when Madeleine had insisted they leave the coven, but he was glad he’d listened to her.
He’d been afraid, and he still was, but even if the pack eventually kicked them out, they’d have had a taste of safety.
He hoped they could stay, but in the meantime, it gave them enough space to breathe and come up with the next part of their plan.
He was pretty sure his mother was desperate to stay.
He didn’t blame her, but he wasn’t sure she understood how easy it would be for Chance to kick them out.
If the protests became too loud, he wouldn’t have a choice.
Even if he wanted them to stay, he may not be able to allow that to happen.
He had to think of his pack, and while he’d told the mages that they were pack members now, there was obviously a difference between them and the people who’d been born there, or even new shifter pack members.
But Ryan didn’t want to talk about that right now. He ate his snack and stayed silent, nodding at whatever his sister and his mother said. He could hear his father somewhere in the house, doing something. He thought about joining him once he was done eating, but instead, he left the house.
He needed a little time. He didn’t want to worry his family with his thoughts, so he’d taken to exploring the area around the house where they lived on his own every opportunity he had. He liked the trees and nature and the fact that usually, he was alone there.
But not today.
* * * *
“DON’T THINK I DIDN’T notice what you did,” Theo said as he leaned closer to Seth.
Seth sighed. “We had a nice time. Why would you want to ruin it?”
“How would talking ruin anything?”
“Talking about feelings always ruins things.”
Theo rolled his eyes. “You’re going to have to, eventually.”
“Me, talk about feelings? I don’t think so.”
Theo hesitated. It was enough to tell Seth that he wouldn’t like what was about to come out of his brother’s mouth. He wished he could stop it, but Theo didn’t give him enough time.
“You’re going to have to talk about feelings if you want to have a relationship.”
Seth groaned. “Right now, the only thing I want is to be allowed to go home without talking about this.”
“You’re only twenty-one, Seth.”
“Twenty. My birthday isn’t for another month.”
Theo shrugged. “Fine. You’re only twenty.
You have at least another fifty or sixty years to live.
I don’t want you to be on your own all that time just because you’re scared.
” He leaned closer and glanced at the others, who were tumbling out the door.
He probably didn’t care if they heard what he was saying, but this was a moment between Theo and Seth.
“Don’t let them ruin even more of your life.
They already took enough away from both of us. ”
Seth didn’t want to talk about his feelings or finding a partner, but he wanted to talk about their parents even less. “I’ll think about it, all right?”
“Something tells me that you won’t, but that’s okay. Like you said, you’re only twenty. That gives me enough time to wear you down.”
He’d do it, too. Theo was stubborn. It was why he’d been their alpha. He’d decided he would keep them safe, and through sheer stubbornness, he had.
Thankfully, Theo was distracted when Thomas bumped against him.
He turned, and Seth took advantage of that and snuck out the door.
He’d told Thomas they would walk home together, but Thomas wouldn’t mind going on his own.
He wasn’t afraid of walking around pack territory alone, and Seth was sure that Thomas would understand if he explained why he’d wanted some time on his own.
He strode toward the forest, breathing easier once he was between the trees. He could still hear voices, but he didn’t think anyone would come after him.
Since it had been a while since he’d last shifted, he decided to take advantage of the situation and do just that. It would give him some time alone to think, and Theo wouldn’t follow him to continue talking about him finding a boyfriend.
It wasn’t that Seth didn’t want a boyfriend. He just didn’t know how he could trust anyone enough to let them that close. Maybe he would one day, or maybe he wouldn’t. Only time would tell, but he wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready. He certainly didn’t feel ready right now.
What he did feel ready for was shifting, so he quickly took off his clothes and hung them on a branch. The air was cold, so he shifted quickly, eager to be in his fur.
He stretched, going as high as he could, arching his back as he scratched the bark of the closest tree with his claws. Yes, it had been too long.