Chapter Two #3
He returned his attention to the rest of the room once he was done staring at Tim and Christian.
“When I welcomed Theo’s pack and the mages into our pack, I was clear,” he said.
“If any of you has anything to say about their presence here, good or bad, you should come find me. I understand this is a complicated situation, and I don’t expect every one of you to welcome the mages with open arms. What I do expect is for you to behave like pack members.
Instead, I learned that some of you have cornered one of the mages to hurt him.
I learned that some of you have been threatening the mages and telling them they don’t belong.
This isn’t what I expect from my pack. This isn’t the kind of people I want in my pack.
So this is my last warning. If you think that threatening the mages and hurting them is acceptable, you know where the door is.
If you think that I should let you hurt them or that I should kick them out of the pack after welcoming them in, you’re welcome to leave. ”
Seth was in awe. He’d expected his brother-in-law to be strong and to set down the law, but he was really standing up for the mages.
It was his job, but it would’ve been easy for him to favor his pack.
In fact, Seth was pretty sure that was what most people in the room had expected him to do. Most alphas would have.
But not Chance.
“If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with what happened, I encourage you to leave,” Chance continued.
“I don’t want you here. I don’t want anyone who thinks that hurting someone who’s already gone through hell is acceptable anywhere near my pack.
This is the last time I’ll do this. It’s the last warning you will have.
If I ever hear of anything like this happening again, I won’t be so lenient.
I will expel anyone who disobeys my orders.
If you don’t want the mages in your pack, that’s fine.
You can find another pack. If you have any problems, please come to me or Houston.
Hell, talk to my father if you trust him more than you trust me.
I don’t care if you hate me or if you think I’m making a mistake.
I want to hear your thoughts. What I don’t want to hear is that people have been attacking other pack members. ”
He glanced around the room again, and Seth was pretty sure that his gaze stopped on Tim and Christian. It was a miracle that the two of them were still there. If Seth had been in their place, he’d have found a way to sneak out the door. Hell, he would’ve crawled out the door.
He turned toward Ryan again. The mage was a little pale, which made the bruise on his face more visible.
From the way people kept glancing his way and whispering, Seth was pretty sure they suspected that he’d been involved in whatever had caused Chance to call for this meeting.
That meant people would try to talk to him once Chance was done talking.
They might not like the mages, but they were a curious bunch, and they’d want more information.
“You can go now,” Chance declared. “You know where to find me if you have doubts or anything else to say.”
Seth didn’t have anything to tell Chance, and he wanted to protect Ryan from the onslaught of people who would want to talk to him now.
He hoped that most of them would be nice, maybe apologize for what had happened, but he was sure that some wouldn’t hesitate to imply things or to be nasty.
It was the nature of having so many people living in a tight-knit group.
“Where are you going?” Thomas asked when Seth stepped away.
“I’ll be right back.”
“That’s not what I asked!”
But Seth didn’t have time to explain himself. He wanted to reach Ryan before the rest of the crowd. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d even be able to drag the mage out the door before Chance tried talking to him.
* * * *
RYAN WAS GRATEFUL THAT Chance was taking what had happened seriously, especially since Ryan hadn’t talked to him, but he wished the alpha hadn’t put him on blast the way he had.
He might not have mentioned Ryan by name, but considering the bruise on Ryan’s face, it had to be obvious to anyone who saw him that the alpha had been talking about him.
That meant that people were curious—everyone, not only the other mages.
Ryan had caught several shifters glancing his way as Chance spoke, and if he wasn’t wrong, he’d even seen some of them inch toward him.
They seemed to want to talk to him, which was the last thing he wanted.
He was sure that some of them would be on his side and apologize, but they had nothing to apologize for.
They hadn’t been involved in what had happened yesterday.
Ryan didn’t even want Tim and his friend to apologize. He just wanted to put all of this behind him. Unfortunately, with the speech Chance had just given, Ryan suspected that wouldn’t happen anytime soon.
“I’m going home,” he said as he turned toward his family.
His mother’s eyes were wide as she stared at his face. She’d put two and two together, hadn’t she? “Ryan,” she started.
Ryan shook his head. “Not now, please.”
His mom stared at him for a while longer before nodding. “Not now, but soon. We will talk about this.”
“If we really have to.”
“We don’t have to. I just think we should.”
“Once we’re home, though. Please.”
She nodded, and Ryan stepped to the side. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t fast enough. Someone caught his elbow, and he turned, ready to tell whoever it was to fuck off and stop touching him. The words died on his lips when he found Seth looking at him.
He’d been thinking about the polar bear shifter a lot since yesterday. He wasn’t sure why since he hadn’t thought twice about him before, but he suspected it was a mix of Seth helping and how handsome he was.
“That looks like it hurts,” Seth said, gesturing in the direction of Ryan’s face.
Ryan grimaced. “It doesn’t hurt that much. It’s just very obvious.”
Seth nodded. “That’s good.”
“It is.” Ryan had been about to escape, but thankfully, now that Seth was talking to him, it seemed like everyone else had decided to keep their distance. They were staring, and they looked like they were waiting for their turn, which Ryan hoped they’d never get.
He didn’t want to talk to those people. He knew that they were his fellow pack members and all of that, but until they treated him and his family like they belonged instead of like they never should’ve been brought here, he wanted to keep his distance.
“Anyway, I’m sorry you had to go through all of that,” Seth continued. “It shouldn’t have happened.”
“I agree.”
Ryan already knew that was how Seth felt.
He’d told him yesterday when he’d walked him home.
Ryan hadn’t expected him to, just like he hadn’t expected Seth to want to talk to him right now.
It was putting both of them in the spotlight in a way that made Seth visibly uncomfortable since he kept eyeing the door, but he didn’t look like he was about to leave.
Ryan glanced at his family. Madeleine was staring at him, but his parents were talking to some of the other mages. Ryan wished that Seth had decided to talk to him at a different moment or in a different place. The way people were watching them made his skin crawl.
“And I’m sorry that I didn’t talk to you before talking to Chance,” Seth continued. “But I felt that I owed it to him to be honest about what’s happening with his pack. He needed to know.”
Ryan sighed. “I’m not happy about it, but I do understand. He’s the alpha. He needs his people to respect him, and what Tim and Christian did was disrespectful. Chance was right to address it.”
Seth cocked his head. He was staring at Ryan as if trying to understand him. Ryan wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t that complicated.
“You realize that Chance called this meeting because of what they did to you, not because he thinks they don’t respect him, right?” Seth asked.
Ryan frowned. “Well, his priority is being a good alpha, which means he needs people to trust him and follow his lead.”
“He does, but I know what’s important to him, and in this situation, it’s to make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh, I am.”
“Because you were lucky.”
There was no denying that. If Seth hadn’t happened to be walking past when he had, Ryan suspected he might not be standing now. He didn’t think Christian and Tim would have killed him, but they could have hurt him badly, and he wouldn’t have fought back.
He couldn’t afford to. It would be too easy for anyone in the pack to use that against him. They were afraid of magic, and magic was the only way Ryan had to defend himself.
“I was lucky that you decided to help me instead of walking past,” Ryan murmured. He looked Seth in the eyes as he said that, and he was delighted to see the flush spread on Seth’s cheek. He wasn’t sure why Seth was reacting that way, but he had a good idea, and he hoped he was right.
He bit his lower lip. Should he say something? If he didn’t, would he have another opportunity to talk to Seth? He didn’t have the man’s number, and while it would be fairly easy to find him, Ryan wasn’t sure it would be right.
“So,” he started.
His sister bumped against him, causing him to turn.
She tilted her chin toward a small group of shifters coming their way.
They didn’t look like they were planning on attacking anyone, especially not with the alpha right there on the other side of the room, but Ryan’s heart still skipped a beat.
Whatever they wanted, he didn’t want to talk to them.
“We should probably go,” Madeleine murmured.
Seth turned to look at what was happening and grimaced. “I agree. They look determined.”
Dammit. Ryan had missed his opportunity.
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s probably better if we go. Thanks again for what you did for me, Seth.”
“It’s what anyone should have done.”
Ryan agreed, but they both knew it wasn’t what anyone would have done. “See you around,” he murmured as Madeleine dragged him away.
Their parents were ahead of them, Alyssa, in their mother’s arms, walking close together as if they were expecting someone to try to stop them.
It was a real possibility, but Ryan hoped that once he was out of sight, people would leave his family alone.
They hadn’t been involved in what had happened.
Hell, he hadn’t told either of his parents about it.
His father had suspected, but his mother had been in the dark until Chance’s speech.
They didn’t have any answers or information to share.
That didn’t mean people would leave them alone.
Ryan felt better once they were outside the building.
Not being in there didn’t mean they were safe yet, though, so he continued walking, eager to get home.
He hoped his parents wouldn’t start asking questions, but he knew better.
His mother was already turning around, no doubt to ask him to explain what the fuck was going on.
Luckily for him, Madeleine stepped in to save him. She hooked her arm around his and pulled him ahead. For a moment, Ryan thought that she had questions about what had happened yesterday, even though she knew because she was the only one he’d told. That wasn’t what she wanted to talk about, though.
“The alpha mate’s brother, huh?” she said.
Ryan groaned. “Please don’t.”
“Well, if you don’t want to talk about him, we can talk about what caused that bruise on your face.”
If Ryan had to choose between the two, he knew which one to go with. “Fine, we can talk about Seth.”
Madeleine looked delighted. “So I repeat. The alpha’s mate’s brother?”
“He just happened to walk past and saved me from those two idiots. That’s all there was to it.”
Madeleine snorted. “We both know that’s not true. If that was all there was to it, you wouldn’t be so flustered. The two of you were cute, trying to talk in there.”
“We’re not cute,” Ryan grumbled.
“Well, Seth certainly is. I can see why you’re interested in him.”
“I don’t know if I’m interested in him.”
“Please. I know you. That was definitely your I’m interested, but I don’t know what to do about it face.”
“I have that kind of face?”
Madeleine gestured at Ryan’s head. “You have a lot of different faces, and I recognize all of them. Are you going to do something about it, then?”
“No.” At least for now.