Chapter Two #2
There it was. He’d been told that when something big happened, the alpha or one of the people who worked with him could send a pack-wide text to get everyone to come to one of these meetings. From what he’d been told, it didn’t happen often. It took people away from their jobs, so it couldn’t.
But Chance was doing this today, and there was no way it wasn’t because of what had happened with Ryan.
Part of him wished that Seth hadn’t stumbled onto the fight.
If he hadn’t, this wouldn’t be happening, but at the same time, Ryan might be in worse shape than he was.
He hadn’t wanted to use his magic to defend himself, and he didn’t regret not doing so, but he would’ve had to if things had escalated.
He had no doubt that if he’d done that, the two shifters would’ve taken it straight to Chance and found a way to blame Ryan for what had happened.
It was a good thing that he hadn’t needed to do it, but this was getting messier by the minute.
Someone knocked on his bedroom door. He went to open, already knowing who it was.
Madeleine pushed past him and strode into the bedroom.
“Why don’t you come in?” he snarked.
“This is because of what happened to you yesterday, isn’t it?” she asked, raising her phone.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t be an idiot. That wasn’t a tree,” she said, waving at Ryan’s face.
“It could’ve been a tree with hands.”
She shook her head. “You’re not funny, Ryan. What actually happened to you?”
Ryan sighed. “I was cornered by two assholes. They pushed me around a bit and told me I didn’t belong. It’s nothing I didn’t expect.”
“They hurt you.”
“One of them slapped me. That’s all that happened, I promise.” He wasn’t going to tell her that something worse might have happened if Seth hadn’t intervened. She was freaked out enough as it was.
Madeleine shook her head. “Maybe coming here was a mistake. I know I insisted that we had to, but I didn’t expect this. I should have. I should’ve thought about it more, but I was scared.”
Ryan reached out to take his sister’s hand. “We did what we had to do. We kept our family safe, and we gave Alyssa a home. I don’t want you to worry about what’s happening. It was nothing.”
Madeleine didn’t look convinced, but unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of time.
They’d need to be at the biggest communal building in less than an hour.
“Let’s go,” Ryan said gently as he guided the sister toward the door.
“There’s nothing else to talk about. I’m fine, and that’s not going to change. ”
“The alpha wouldn’t be having this meeting if he didn’t think this was serious.” Madeleine frowned. “When did you talk to him?”
Ryan grimaced. “I didn’t. I wasn’t going to tell him, but someone saw what was happening.”
“They went to the alpha?”
“Well, the person who saw this was the alpha mate’s brother, so I guess he felt he had to.”
Madeleine looked horrified. “God, I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this mess.”
“There’s no mess for you to get out of. Nothing happened. I got slapped once, and that’s it.”
“That was one too many times, Ryan.”
Ryan’s cheek agreed, but what could he say? He didn’t want his sister to worry. It was already too late for that, clearly, but he hoped that the meeting would smooth things over.
Unfortunately, there was also a possibility that it would make things worse.
He couldn’t stop thinking about that as they joined their parents and Alyssa and left the house.
Ryan’s mother kept wondering what was happening and what the meeting was for out loud, while his father kept glancing his way.
He knew what the meeting was for. He had to.
Ryan hated this. He wished he’d thought to ask Seth not to tell anyone, but he suspected that Seth would have even if he had.
He probably felt he owed it to his brother-in-law, and Ryan didn’t blame him.
He didn’t blame anyone but the two idiots who’d attacked him yesterday.
If they hadn’t done that, everything would be fine.
Instead, Ryan and his family were forced to attend a meeting along with the entire pack.
He could feel people staring at him as soon as they walked into the building.
He raised his head high as he and his family joined the other mages, who were huddling together at the back of the room.
Hopefully, no one was about to get kicked out of the pack, but if someone was, Ryan hoped it would only be him.
None of the other mages had been involved in what had happened yesterday.
They didn’t deserve to pay for any of it.
Neither did Ryan, but if he had to sacrifice himself so that everyone else would be safe, he would.
At the same time, he hoped that Chance was the alpha everyone thought him to be.
If he wasn’t, well. It wouldn’t bode well for Ryan.
* * * *
AS ALWAYS, WHEN THEY had to deal with the core of the pack, Seth stayed close to his family.
They might not technically be their own pack anymore, but in his mind, they’d always belong together, more so than they did with the pack.
He’d never tell his brother that, but he’d felt like that since they’d moved in, and he suspected that wouldn’t change anytime soon.
It didn’t have to. Seth didn’t have to feel like he belonged to want to be here.
“Do you know what this is about?” Thomas asked in a whisper.
Seth glanced around the room. From what he knew, this building was usually used for celebrations.
It was a tight fit now because of all the new pack members, but everyone fit anyway.
Some people had to stand because all the chairs were taken, and of course, those people were mages.
They’d gathered at the back of the room and were huddled together, visibly worried as they talked to each other.
“Because I heard that Chance is going to announce he’s about to marry Theo,” Thomas continued.
Seth snorted. “Please. As if they’d tell us with everyone else.”
Thomas grinned. “So you do know what this is about. “
“I do, and it has nothing to do with a wedding.” He almost wished it did. It would be a nicer reason to be here.
“You’re not going to tell me?”
More people walked in through the door and joined the group of mages.
Those people included Ryan, and Seth’s focus immediately went to him.
He looked good, even with the bruise darkening on his cheek.
How hard had Christian hit him? If Seth ever got his hands on the man, he’d make sure that Christian regretted what he’d done—although he suspected Christian already did.
He looked around for him. He wasn’t surprised to see that he and Tim were sitting together, whispering harshly to each other.
Tim gestured toward the back of the room while Christian was doing his best not to look.
It was almost as if he felt guilty, which he should.
This meeting was because of him—and Tim, too, but the main problem here was Christian. He was the one who’d hit Ryan.
“You’re going to find out soon enough,” Seth muttered, still staring at Christian and Tim.
The last people to come in were Chance and his beta, along with his father.
Chance’s father might have retired as the alpha, but he was still pretty involved in the pack’s leadership.
Seth didn’t know him well, but from what he’d heard and seen, the man had been a good alpha.
It made sense that he’d raised Chance to be one, too.
They climbed the few steps up to the small stage that had been built on one side of the room.
Seth wasn’t sure Chance needed it. He had a way of commanding the room that meant that people started turning to him even before he announced his presence.
Seth looked at Chance. His expression was serious, and Seth could see from the tightness of his eyes and the flat line of his lips that he was angry. He doubted that Chance would stop being angry anytime soon. He was disappointed with his pack.
Seth wasn’t. He hadn’t expected much from them, and he wasn’t surprised that people weren’t accepting of the mages or that some of them had reached the point of becoming violent.
He’d seen this kind of thing his entire life.
Chance might be the alpha, but his pack had been peaceful when he was growing up.
He’d had the opportunity to learn with his father, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to see how nasty people could become when they felt they were cornered.
“I’ll get straight to the point,” Chance announced, his voice booming through the room.
It took a few seconds, but eventually, everyone stopped talking.
Everyone was watching Chance now. Theo wasn’t on the stage with him, so Seth wasn’t surprised when he joined him and the rest of their family.
He didn’t say anything. He just grimaced when Seth caught his eye and tilted his chin toward Chance, who was looking around the room.
His gaze stopped on Christian and Tim, and the two men seemed to try to make themselves as small as possible.
They curled in on themselves, but there was no hiding for them.
Chance didn’t say their names. He didn’t mention them. Seth was sure he’d want to talk to them once the meeting was over, but for now, Chance had something else in mind.