Chapter Three #2
Maybe Seth was here for his brother and his brother-in-law.
Maybe he wanted to talk to Ryan about Tim and his friend.
Ryan wished he never had to talk about those two assholes again, but he was a pack member now.
He had to obey his alpha, and if Chance had sent Seth to talk to Ryan about the attack, he’d talk about it.
“Well?” Madeleine asked. “Are you going downstairs to talk to him?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Good because mom is freaking out. She doesn’t like that no one warned her that the alpha mate’s brother would be visiting.”
“Please tell me you didn’t leave him with her.”
Madeleine grinned. “Fine. I won’t tell you that I left Seth with her.”
“He’s not going to survive it.”
“He’s going to have to learn to deal with her eventually.”
“Why would he?”
Madeleine gave Ryan an unimpressed glare. Ryan knew what she was implying, but he didn’t want to talk or think about it right now.
He left his bedroom and rushed down the stairs, hoping to save Seth before his mom got too pushy with her questions. He wasn’t surprised to hear Seth’s voice coming from the kitchen or to find his mom fretting when he got there.
“You didn’t tell me your friend was coming by,” she accused Ryan as soon as she saw him.
“That’s because I didn’t know he was.”
Seth’s smile was sheepish and made him even more handsome, which wasn’t fair. “No one knew I was coming. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a bother,” he explained.
“Nonsense,” Ryan’s mom said. “None of Ryan’s friends are a bother. I would’ve baked something if I’d known you were coming, though.”
“Oh, there’s no need for you to do that. I just wanted to talk to Ryan.”
“Will you at least have some coffee before doing that?”
“This really isn’t necessary.”
“All right. Well, Seth, it was a pleasure to meet one of Ryan’s new friends. Please, feel free to come by anytime you want. If you let me know in advance, I’ll bake whatever’s your favorite.”
Seth didn’t know Ryan’s mother, but Ryan did.
She was going to bake something for Seth, whether he liked it or not.
“I’ll make sure to let you know when he plans to come by,” Ryan said with a smile.
“Seth? Would you like to go for a walk?” There was no way Ryan could do whatever this was in the house with his mother listening from the other room and his sister doing the same from the entrance or wherever Madeleine had ended up.
Seth smiled. “That would be great.”
Ryan had no idea why Seth was here, but he was dying to find out. Had something else happened with Tim and his friend? Had they complained about Ryan? Or maybe someone else had. Ryan wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Tim and his friend weren’t the only people who didn’t want him here.
He was pretty sure that at least half the pack didn’t want the mages there.
They just couldn’t say anything because Chance wouldn’t change his mind.
He’d been clear about that during the meeting.
He didn’t care if the pack agreed with that decision, and they were welcome to complain to him if they wanted to.
Some of them had decided that it would be easier to go straight to Ryan.
He could only hope that the pack meeting would help.
It wouldn’t work miracles, but hopefully, the pack was scared enough of Chance and what he could do to them to leave Ryan and the other mages alone.
Ryan never expected to truly integrate into the pack.
He just wanted a peaceful life. He didn’t think it was too much to ask for.
But maybe it was.
Ryan wanted to wait until they were far enough away from the house that he could be sure no one was listening in, but he couldn’t help but ask as soon as they were out the door. “Is everything okay? Has something happened?”
There must have been something in his voice because Seth blinked. “No, everything’s fine. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Ryan told himself to relax before he sent Seth running.
He might not know why Seth was here, but he was looking forward to talking to him.
At the very least, it was a distraction.
Ryan didn’t have a job yet, and he didn’t have friends to visit beyond the other mages.
None of them were friends, which meant that Ryan had been spending a lot of time at home with his family.
He loved them, but he also loved being independent and talking to other people.
“I just wanted to check in on you,” Seth said as he looked away.
His cheeks were flushed, which sent a flash of pleasure through Ryan. He liked that he had that effect on Seth. He didn’t know why he flustered Seth, but he wanted to continue talking to him and see if he could make him blush again.
“You don’t have to continue checking in on me,” he said gently. He didn’t want to send Seth running, but he also didn’t want Seth to feel obligated just because he’d happened to walk past at the right moment.
“Maybe I want to continue checking in on you.”
Ryan was only half surprised. He wasn’t sure what Seth saw in him—maybe he was curious because Ryan was a mage, or maybe there was something more to it. After all, Ryan wasn’t only interested in Seth because he was a shifter.
“That’s nice,” he said. “Not necessary, but nice.”
“Is it ever necessary to check on a friend?”
“Is that what we are? Friends?”
“We could be.”
“We could, yes.” But that wasn’t what Ryan wanted.
The problem was that he wasn’t sure what he wanted.
Seth wasn’t just a shifter. He wasn’t just a pack member.
He was the alpha mate’s brother. People were angry because of Ryan’s presence in the pack.
They’d probably be pissed if he ended up dating Seth of all people.
Did Ryan care? Not really. He couldn’t think only of himself, though.
It could put his family in danger, and that was the last thing he wanted.
At the same time, it was one of the reasons he’d left the coven.
He’d wanted to be able to live his life without anyone ordering him around, and that included relationships.
Why should anyone care if he wanted to kiss the alpha mate’s brother?
He knew that people would, but did it actually matter?
But Seth needed to be as careful as Ryan was, if not more. Dating a mage might make things more complicated for his brother-in-law, and Ryan didn’t think that was something Seth wanted to happen.
He huffed. He hated this. Why couldn’t they be two guys who wanted to get to know each other?
Maybe Ryan could forget who they were for the next half-hour. Maybe they both could.
* * * *
SETH WASN’T SURE WHAT he’d had in mind when he’d decided to talk to Ryan. He was still thinking about his brother’s speech and how he shouldn’t allow their parents to ruin his life. Theo was right—he often was, even though Seth would never admit it.
Seth had only been twelve when he’d left home, and he was twenty now.
His parents had influenced a massive part of his life, but he was still young.
Surely there was a way for him to get over what they’d done so he could be happy?
It didn’t even have to be with Ryan, although Seth couldn’t say he’d mind if it was.
He liked the mage. He liked that Ryan had been strong but calm when Tim and Christian had confronted him and that he hadn’t reacted with anger or violence.
He also hadn’t run straight to Chance, even though most people would have.
It was obvious that he was trying not to cause trouble, but as far as Seth was concerned, he wasn’t the one doing that. Idiot pack members were.
“So, friends,” Ryan eventually said.
They were out of sight of the house now, which Seth suspected was on purpose. Ryan’s mother and the woman who’d opened the door had seemed nice, but it was clear that Ryan didn’t want them to hear their conversation.
Thinking about it made Seth’s stomach churn. Was Ryan hiding something from the people he lived with? Seth wasn’t even sure who they were. He’d guessed they were Ryan’s family, but he didn’t know for sure, except for Ryan’s mother.
“We can be friends,” he said. He might be attracted to Ryan, but it didn’t mean that Ryan was attracted to him.
Even if he was, it didn’t mean anything had to happen between them.
Seth didn’t know who the woman who’d opened the door was, but it was clear she was close to Ryan.
They lived together, after all, and Seth had seen a little girl with them during the pack meeting.
He hoped he hadn’t been thirsting over a married man, but he’d deal with it if he had.
Ryan’s smile was sweet. “I’m not sure I know how to be a friend. Friendship wasn’t exactly encouraged by the coven leaders.”
“Well, that makes two of us. I didn’t learn to make friends while I was living on the streets.”
Ryan frowned. “Is that what happened to you?”
“Yeah. Let’s just say that mine and Theo’s parents weren’t exactly good people.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“It doesn’t mean I can’t be sorry. I’m sure you feel sorry about what happened with the coven.”
That much was true. “Were you born there?”
Ryan nodded. “My sister and I both were. Our parents, too. Our family’s lived with the coven for generations.”
“And now, you live with the pack.”
“We do. It’s a bit weird, but it can’t be worse than living with the coven.”
“Are you sure about that? You met Tim and Christian, after all.”
“They can’t be worse than the coven leaders.” Ryan paused. “It wasn’t always like that. Things were different when we had other leaders. I can’t say it’s ever been a walk in the park, but we weren’t forced to attack innocent people for power and money. Things changed when the coven leaders did.”
“It couldn’t have been easy for you to leave.”
“It wasn’t, but we didn’t have a choice after my sister’s husband died.”