Chapter Four #3
“It feels like if things aren’t going to work with him, I shouldn’t even try.
” Because Seth was terrified. Ryan had the power to hurt him in a way other people didn’t.
It might be early days, but Seth could already tell.
Ryan was the only person Seth had opened up to beyond his little family, and that meant something to him.
“Opening up to people is always scary,” Theo said as he patted Seth’s arm and seemingly read his mind. “When I first met Chance, I had no idea if I was doing the right thing. I was scared for myself and for you. I stood to hurt a lot of people if I was making the wrong decision by trusting him.”
“But it was the right decision.” And Theo getting with Chance meant that their little family was safe and had a home.
Theo had taken a leap of faith. Seth wasn’t sure he could do the same, but maybe he could at least try.
He might get hurt, but he also might not, and for the first time, he thought that maybe it was worth a try.
“Are you going to see him today?” Theo asked.
“None of your business.”
“I’m your alpha mate,” Theo argued.
“Maybe, but right now, you’re my nosy big brother. You can be my alpha mate when it doesn’t involve my private life.”
“I still want to know how it goes.”
“Again, that’s your big brother side. What are you going to do if it doesn’t go well? Kick him out of the pack?”
“Maybe.”
“Chance gave you too much power.”
“Because he knows I’ll use it wisely.”
That much was true. As much as Theo liked to joke and was overprotective, he would never kick Ryan out just because things didn’t go well between him and Seth.
Well, Seth was almost a hundred percent sure of that. He didn’t think Ryan would ever hurt him on purpose, anyway. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t hurt each other, but it was none of Theo’s business.
“If anything happens with Ryan, you won’t have anything to do with it,” Seth warned him. “So stop being overprotective. I’m fine, and things haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“I know. I just like seeing you happy, and you’ve been smiling more since you’ve met him.”
That startled Seth. Had he? He hadn’t realized it. “Well, I’m not going to be smiling if you do something stupid like giving him the shovel talk.”
Theo raised his hands. “Fine. I’ll keep my nose out of it. Just remember that you can talk to me if you need to.”
“As long as you promise not to kick Ryan out, I’ll consider it.”
“I won’t.”
Seth pulled Theo into a hug that made his brother squeak in surprise. Seth snickered, and Theo slapped him on the arm, but he also hugged him back.
“We’re really doing this,” Theo murmured. “We’re building lives and being happy.”
It was everything they’d always dreamed of and had never thought they would have. Sometimes, Seth still wondered how they’d ended up here.
The how or why didn’t matter. The only thing that did was that they had.
He left his brother’s house still thinking about Ryan and a possible future with him.
He wanted to see Ryan, but he couldn’t help but wonder if that would be too much.
Maybe he could go to the house and see if Ryan wanted to spend an hour or two with him.
They’d have to avoid making out against a tree, just in case someone walked past them again, but that was fine. They had a lot to talk about.
Instead of going home, Seth headed toward Ryan’s place.
There was a bounce in his step as he made his way through the trees.
Hell, maybe he could even shift and run around for a bit, have Ryan cuddle him in his polar bear form.
When Seth and his family had lived on the streets, they used to shift and puppy pile all the time, but with everyone having a partner now, it’d been a while since they’d last done anything like that.
Seth missed it. He missed the feeling of warmth and family, and of belonging.
He didn’t know if Ryan would be comfortable doing that or not, but it was worth asking.
At the very least, Seth could shift and be in his fur for a bit.
If he and Ryan were going to be together, Ryan would have to get used to seeing him that way.
He heard the voices before he saw Ryan. He smiled until he heard what Ryan was saying.
“I don’t know, Maddie. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. That woman wasn’t wrong.”
“The coven would’ve targeted the pack even if we hadn’t become pack members,” a woman—Maddie—said. Seth hadn’t officially been introduced to Ryan’s sister, but he knew her.
“But we made things worse.”
“Have we? We’re just trying to survive, Ryan.”
“As is that woman. We put her and her people in danger.”
“The coven leaders are putting her and her people in danger. It has nothing to do with us. Hell, you can’t tell me you wouldn’t fight next to Chance and his people if the coven attacked.”
There was a pause. Seth held his breath. He didn’t want to spy on Ryan and his sister, but he didn’t know what else to do. Should he step forward and let them know he was there?
“I would,” Ryan said. “I hate this mess.”
“We all do, but that’s okay. We’re in it together, aren’t we? We have allies we couldn’t have dreamed of having before. We were never able to do anything to stop the coven leaders, but maybe now, we can. We’re not the only ones standing against them anymore.”
“Aren’t we?”
Clearly, Ryan had as much trouble as Seth accepting that he belonged with the pack. Maybe they were a good match, after all.
* * * *
WHEN RYAN HEARD FOOTSTEPS again, he got worried that the woman who’d yelled at him and his sister had returned.
He wasn’t sure what he’d do if she had. He understood where she was coming from, but there was nothing he could do to change their situation.
He needed his family to be safe, which meant they weren’t going anywhere, no matter how angry some pack members were.
But it wasn’t the woman who popped up from between two trees. No, it was Seth, which might have been worse. He’d heard what Ryan and Madeleine were talking about, hadn’t he? From the expression on his face, Ryan could guess that he had.
Shit.
“Hey,” he said with a smile.
Seth looked uncomfortable, like maybe he wanted to run away. “Hey.”
“You heard that, didn’t you?”
“It would’ve been hard not to. You’re quite loud.”
Madeleine snorted. “He always is.”
Ryan glared at her. “You betray me like this?”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” She smiled at Seth and offered him her hand. “Hi. I’m Madeleine, Ryan’s sister.”
“Seth.”
He didn’t say who he was, but he didn’t have to. Madeleine already knew.
She was smiling in a way that was concerning.
Ryan could tell that she wanted to ask Seth a dozen questions, which meant that he had to save his maybe boyfriend.
Madeleine would have time to interrogate Seth later.
Ryan didn’t want to scare him off. It was way too soon to subject him to his sister’s interrogations.
He cleared his throat. “So, did you just happen to be here, or were you looking for me?”
Madeleine snorted. She had to know what Ryan was doing, but Ryan didn’t care. He wasn’t going to allow her to terrorize Seth.
“I was looking for you, actually. I was wondering if you wanted to take a walk,” Seth said.
Ryan had been taking a lot of walks lately.
He didn’t mind. In fact, he quite enjoyed it.
When he’d lived with the coven, they weren’t allowed to move freely.
They’d needed to stay behind the protective spells on the house and ensure that no one would find it.
Here with the pack, though, he was free, and he loved the forest.
“I’d like that,” he told Seth.
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Madeleine declared, clearing her throat. “I’m going to see if Alyssa’s awake.” She turned to Seth and grinned. “It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope we’ll see each other again soon.”
“Maddie,” Ryan said with a groan. “Can you not embarrass me?”
“I didn’t do or say anything embarrassing. You’re doing everything on your own, like always.” She patted his arm. “I’ll see you at home.”
She turned and thankfully walked away. Ryan watched her for a moment, even though he didn’t have a reason to beyond delaying whatever was about to happen with Seth.
Once Madeleine was out of sight, Ryan turned to his maybe boyfriend. “So, how angry are you?”
Seth frowned. “Why would I be angry?”
“Because you heard me suggest that maybe we shouldn’t be here.”
“I’m not angry. Trust me, I understand better than most how it feels when you don’t belong.
I had my doubts when my family and I agreed to stay, too.
I wouldn’t have done it if it was just me.
I didn’t trust Chance and his people, and sometimes, I think I was right not to. ” He hesitated. “Something happened?”
“The usual. A woman confronted us and yelled at us.”
Seth swore. “I thought Chance had been clear.”
“He was. It doesn’t mean that people aren’t afraid.”
“What did she say?”
“Well, for one, she didn’t seem to care that Madeleine and I are mages.
She’s scared because she believes that our presence here means that the coven will attack the pack to get us back or something.
She doesn’t understand that the only reason the coven would attack is to kill us.
Still, she’s not wrong. We brought more attention to the pack. ”
Seth shook his head. “I heard what you told your sister. You’re right. The coven would’ve attacked us anyway. It doesn’t matter if you’re here or not. They attacked the dragons without a reason.”
That was true, but it didn’t help Ryan feel any less guilty. “We never wanted anyone to get hurt.”
“I know.” Seth’s smile was gentle and soft. “But again, it’s not you hurting the pack. It’s the coven. Well, right now, they’re not hurting anyone.”
“But they will.” If there was one thing Ryan was sure of, it was that.
He knew the three coven leaders and how power-hungry and selfish they were, but even more than that, how full of themselves they were.
The pack had stood up to them and won. They wouldn’t take that sitting down.
In fact, they’d try to get revenge. They didn’t care that half of their mages had left them to move in with the pack.
They just wanted revenge on anyone who dared stand up to them.
That included Ryan, his family, and Chance.
Ryan rubbed his forehead. “I hate talking about this. Hell, I even hate thinking about it.”
“We don’t have to continue talking about it.”
“That would be great.” But there was one last thing Ryan needed to say about it. “Please don’t tell Chance what happened today.”
Seth frowned. “Why not? He should know. He’s the alpha, and someone has disobeyed his orders again.”
“That woman didn’t do anything to me or Madeleine. She’s afraid, and she yelled at us, but that’s all she did, and I understand why she feels the way she does. I don’t blame her.”
Seth scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, I do. It’s not even because of what she said. She had orders, and she disobeyed them. Chance needs to know that.”
“Does he?”
“I understand why you don’t want to tell him, but I don’t think it’s the best idea.”
Ryan didn’t want to fight with Seth. He stepped closer and put a hand on Seth’s arm, then kissed his cheek.
“Come on, Seth. She didn’t hurt me or Madeleine.
She didn’t even try. She wasn’t threatening or anything like that.
She just wanted us to know how she felt about our presence here, and I don’t blame her for that or for being afraid for her family.
I’m terrified for mine, and maybe it’s selfish, but I don’t care about anything but them. ”
Seth stared for a moment. Ryan knew he’d won when Seth’s shoulders slumped and he reached out for him. “Fine. But if something else happens, you will go to Chance,” he ordered as he pulled Ryan into his arms.
“I promise I will.”
Seth squinted. “You’re not lying, are you?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I don’t know if I believe that, but fine.”
Ryan wasn’t lying. He might sympathize with why the woman felt the way she did, and he might even agree with what she’d said, but he understood why it was important for Chance to know.
The only reason he wasn’t going straight to the alpha was that the woman hadn’t done anything, unlike Tim and Christian.
If she’d tried hurting Madeleine, Ryan would be knocking on Chance’s door. As it was, there was no reason to.
Yet.
But Ryan was here to keep his family safe and hopefully allow them to settle down and finally be able to live their lives without being afraid.
He wouldn’t let anyone put that in jeopardy—not the coven, not Tim and Christian, not a random angry woman.
If he had to talk to the alpha to ensure that his family was safe, he would, even if that made him a spy or whatever these people thought.
They weren’t loyal to him, so he wasn’t going to be loyal to them.
“So, how about we spend some time together since we’re both here?” Seth asked.
Ryan was more than ready for a little distraction. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I feel like eventually, I’m going to need to take you on a real date, but how about for today, we stay here? I was thinking about shifting and running around for a bit. I know that you can’t do the same, but I thought you might be interested in seeing my polar bear form.”
The only time Ryan had seen it was when Seth had stood up to Tim and Christian, and he was excited to see it again in better circumstances. “Will I be allowed to pet you when you’re in that form?” he asked, hoping he wasn’t making a fool of himself or offending Seth.
Seth grinned. “I was hoping you’d ask.”