Chapter Four #2
How much did she know? As far as Ryan was aware, only one person had seen him and Seth, and he didn’t think his sister knew Seth’s friend.
He could be wrong, though. Even when they’d lived with the coven, Madeleine had found it easier to make friends and grow close to people than Ryan ever had.
It was probably how she’d ended up with a husband while Ryan was still on his own.
Well, maybe not. He wasn’t sure what was going on with Seth, but he did know that he wanted more. He had hopes, although maybe he shouldn’t in case this ended up a disaster.
“Come on,” Madeleine said as she bumped their shoulders together. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
“Only because you don’t have anyone to tell.”
“I’ll have you know that I’m making friends, unlike you.” She paused and cocked her head. “Or maybe you are. Friends with benefits?”
“Please don’t say those words.”
“What? They’re normal words.”
“Not coming out of your mouth.”
“Fine. I won’t mention that again, but you have to tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Ryan grumbled, glaring at his sister.
It wasn’t like Ryan had anyone else to talk to about this kind of thing. Even if he had, he and Madeleine were close. He could endure some teasing if it meant having a sounding board.
“We kissed once,” he admitted.
Madeleine wiggled her eyebrows. “From what I heard, it was a long once.”
“Seriously, who have you been talking to?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. I want to know who was spying on us.”
“Can you call it spying if you were making out in the middle of the forest where anyone could see you?”
“Only one person saw us.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Ryan’s shoulders slumped. No, he wasn’t sure. He and Seth had noticed Thomas only because Thomas had made sure they did. Anyone else could’ve walked by while they’d been kissing, and they wouldn’t have known. They’d been too focused on each other.
“I’m happy for you,” Madeleine murmured. “I can’t say I ever imagined you ending up with a polar bear shifter, but then, I never imagined any of us ending up in this situation. I thought we’d be stuck with the coven forever.”
“We all did.” Ryan had never imagined that he could have any kind of real future, but it was here, just out of reach. Hell, maybe it wasn’t out of reach at all. Maybe he just had to take it.
It was terrifying. He couldn’t help but to be afraid that the coven leaders would find a way to fuck this up for him and all the other mages who’d left the coven.
He hadn’t seen them or heard from them since he’d arrived in pack territory, but he knew them.
They had to be pissed and viewing the mages who’d left as traitors.
To the coven leaders, that was unacceptable.
Hell, it would be unacceptable in any normal coven or pack, but Ryan didn’t feel guilty in their case.
He and his family wouldn’t have left if the coven leaders hadn’t behaved like they were gods and their coven members their minions.
He wasn’t short and yellow, dammit, and he didn’t think he’d look good in denim overalls.
“Why don’t we go for a walk?” Madeleine suggested.
She kept glancing in the direction of the living room. It was clear that she didn’t want their parents to hear, which was a relief. Ryan wasn’t ready for them to find out about Seth. He wasn’t ready to talk about him.
“Alyssa?” he asked.
“She’s still asleep. Mom will take care of her if she wakes up.”
It took them a few minutes to talk to their parents, but Ryan breathed easier once they were out of the house.
He loved his parents, but the weight of making sure they were safe with the pack and to not fuck things up was heavy on Ryan’s shoulders.
He couldn’t afford to make mistakes, especially with someone as close to the alpha as Seth was.
“So, what’s going on between you and the alpha mate’s brother?” Madeleine asked.
They were walking past the spot where he and Seth had made out. Ryan tried very hard not to glance at it. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
“That’s bullshit. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it, but I know you. You wouldn’t leave something like this up in the air.”
She was right. “We agreed that we like each other and that we want to see where this goes, but that’s it, I swear.
Seth’s story is as complicated as ours, maybe more.
” Because Ryan and Madeleine had their parents.
Seth had lost all the trust he ever had in his parents, and that couldn’t be easy to deal with.
Ryan couldn’t even imagine not trusting his parents.
He was keeping things from them, but it wasn’t because he didn’t trust them.
Madeleine smiled. “Oh, that’s a nice first step.”
“I don’t know if it’s a first step.”
“It sure feels like it is. You’re taking things slow, and that’s all right. Neither of you has a reason to rush into this.”
Part of Ryan wanted to rush into it, but Madeleine was right. There was no reason for him to.
They continued walking for a bit. Ryan had missed this. He and his sister had always been close, but with everything that was happening when they lived with the coven, it had been too easy for them to stop talking to each other. That was over, though. A lot of things were.
A branch cracking made Ryan look to the side. He groaned when he saw a woman striding toward them. He could already tell from her expression that he wouldn’t like what was about to happen.
He glanced at Madeleine, whose expression told him she felt the same. The woman was alone, which was good. Ryan didn’t want a repeat of what had happened with Tim and Christian.
“We’re not going to like this, are we?” Madeleine asked in a whisper.
“I highly doubt it. Just stay behind me.”
Madeleine didn’t look impressed. “You don’t think I can defend myself?”
“I know you can defend yourself. I’m afraid for that woman, not for you.”
Madeleine snorted, but before she could say anything else, the woman was in front of them. She was so angry that her hand shook as she raised her finger to point at them. “You’re ruining our pack,” she snapped.
At least she didn’t look like she was about to physically attack them.
“Are we?” Madeleine asked in a sickly-sweet tone. “Because from what I can see, nothing’s been ruined.”
“You’re going to take us down with you. You’re going to destroy this pack. “
“Oh? I didn’t realize I had that kind of power.” She turned to Ryan. “Do I?”
Ryan wanted to tell her not to make things worse with her attitude, but he understood where she was coming from.
He had enough of being confronted by people who hated him just because of what he was.
He didn’t have a choice about being a mage any more than this woman had a choice about being a shifter.
Why was she and the rest of the pack holding that against him and his people? Why couldn’t they see that they were here because they didn’t have a choice?
“You’re making us a target,” the woman continued. “Your coven is going to want you back, and they’ll attack us to get to you. So yes, you do have the power to destroy us.”
Ryan winced. Okay, maybe she had a point.
From the glance he exchanged with his sister, he could tell that Madeleine felt the same, and probably slightly guilty.
She didn’t let it show, though. She squared her shoulders and faced the woman head-on.
“Well, I’m sorry, but I’d do it again if I had to.
I was saving my family, and I don’t regret it. ”
Neither did Ryan, but he wasn’t sure it had been the right thing to tell this lady.
* * * *
“I NEED YOU TO STOP thinking about the coven,” Theo said as he walked Seth out.
Seth frowned. “Why would I stop thinking about the coven? If anything, I need to continue thinking about it.”
“No, you don’t. It’s not your job.”
“Who cares if it’s not my job. I care about the pack and the people who live here. Of course I’m going to worry.”
To be honest, Seth cared about his pack, and they all lived here. He also didn’t want anything to happen to the people who’d welcomed them. Some pack members were assholes, but others were sweet and nice and didn’t have anything to say about Seth’s family and their presence here.
“All right, then. I don’t want you to stop thinking about the coven, but I do want you to start focusing on something else.”
Seth rolled his eyes. “You mean someone else.”
Theo beamed. “Yes, I do.”
“You just can’t take not being able to meddle, can you?”
“I’m not meddling.”
“Looks like meddling to me.”
“I’m gently pushing you in the right direction.”
“You don’t know if Ryan is the right direction.”
“And you don’t know that he’s not.” Theo sighed.
“I thought we’d already gone through this.
You need to let someone in. I don’t care if it’s Ryan or someone else, but you’re not an island, Seth.
You deserve to be loved and cherished, and while I know it’s hard for you to trust people, I also know that you can do it. You have so much love to give.”
He didn’t mention their parents again, but he didn’t have to. Their presence hovered over them, even though it had been years since they’d last seen them.
“Just give Ryan a chance,” Theo added.
“I am giving him a chance. I wouldn’t have agreed to see him again if I weren’t.”
Theo’s smile was delighted. “So you’re seeing him again?”
“That’s what I just said, isn’t it?”
“Good.”
“I don’t know if anything’s going to come out of it.”
“Even if it doesn’t, at least you tried. You opened up for someone. You’ve been alone for too long, Seth.”
“You only think that because you have Chance, and you want everyone to have someone like him.”
“Well, yes. Why wouldn’t I want my brother to have the kind of happiness I have with Chance?”
“I don’t feel like I can never have it.”
“You can.” Theo sounded sure of himself. “Maybe not with Ryan, but at least you’re trying.”