Chapter 10 Valens
Valens
“You did what?” I bellowed at my sister, her hunched shoulders and downcast gaze telling me everything.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. It’s just—”
“Savannah, you’re not a child anymore! You can’t just go around talking shit about things that are none of your business! You’re nearly thirty.”
“You are my business!” She was so exasperated, she threw her hands up in the air. “And if she causes problems for you, she causes problems for me. That’s how this works. We’re family!”
“The only one causing problems for me right now is you. I asked you to stay out of it. I thought I could confide in you. Clearly, I was wrong.”
Savvy paled, taking a step toward me, but I shied back.
“V! Don’t be like that. She should know how you feel, how she’s hurting you, and if you won’t stand up for yourself…”
“No. You don’t get to decide that. I specifically decided not to push her because I wanted her to want to be in the relationship. On her terms. You trying to guilt her into something before she’s ready is the opposite of helpful.”
My fury was too much for our little house to contain, so I grabbed my jacket and stormed out the door. If I stayed with my sister and listened to her keep trying to justify ignoring my wishes, I’d be too tempted to wring her damn neck.
And I loved her, overstepping and all, so I couldn’t do that.
I didn’t know where I was going until I stopped outside Elodie’s door. It was a risk, going to see her after what Savannah had pulled this morning, but if nothing else, I needed to apologize for my overprotective sister.
Three quick raps on the door, and I took a step back. I was a big man, and people often found it intimidating when they opened the door and I was filling the whole frame.
Elodie didn’t open the door; her hard-ass partner, Galyna, did.
“You,” she said with a low growl. After a quick glance over her shoulder at the interior of the little guest cottage, she stepped onto the patio with me, quietly shutting the door behind her. “What the fuck do you want?”
I tried not to bristle, but it was hard not to, given how aggressive she was being. My wolf found it disrespectful and saw Galyna’s alpha wolf as a challenge to my own. Probably because her partner claim on our mate was a conflict.
“I would like to speak to my mate.” I kept my voice neutral with long-practiced control. You didn’t get to be pack second if you were a hothead who couldn’t be civil.
Her lips twisted like she’d just sucked a lemon. “My partner needs some time. Your sister stirred up shit she didn’t have any business in this morning, or did you not know that? Elodie had to report to the head priestess, and she’s upset.”
That took all the piss and vinegar right out of me. “I came to apologize for my sister. Is Elodie okay? I kept my word. I have no intention of pressing her.”
Galyna’s mouth flattened into a hard line as she studied me, and I had to admire the way she protected her own.
Were I in her shoes, I’d be no different.
“I’ll ask if she wants to speak to you out of respect for her. If she says no, I expect you to get lost without a word.”
“I understand.”
She slipped back through the door, and I couldn’t miss the snick of the lock clicking into place behind her. It was a warning, but there was no lock on this earth that could keep an alpha from his mate, and we both knew it.
The minutes dragged on, and I could barely pick up hints of female voices in conversation through the sturdy wooden door.
When it cracked open again, I held my breath, preparing for the “shove off” I knew was coming.
But when Elodie peeked around it, her face red and tearstained, my heart nearly snapped in two.
My mate, hurt because of me. My sister.
Fuck.
“We probably shouldn’t talk right now. It’s… a bad day. And I’ve got to get to my duties soon.”
Her voice was shaky, and I knew she had to have been crying hard to be this out of sorts.
“I won’t keep you. I just came to apologize.
My sister told me what happened, and I knew I couldn’t let what she said stand.
” I ran a hand over my beard, closing my eyes for a second in frustration.
I wasn’t good with words. I didn’t know how to smooth things like this over.
“I’m a man of my word. I told you I wouldn’t push for anything you didn’t want, and I meant it.
I’ve spoken to Savannah, and it won’t happen again. ”
Elodie shrugged. “She’s protective of you, which is understandable.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “You’re not angry? I just assumed since you’d been crying…” Assumed. Instead of letting her speak.
I had a lot to learn as a mate.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, pouring all my care and worry for her into the question.
Her face crumpled, and I closed the distance between us, bracing my hands on the doorframe to avoid touching her unless she asked. My wolf howled for me to wrap her up in my arms, take her back to our den, where nothing could hurt or upset her again.
“Please, talk to me. I’m dying to hold you, but if I can’t do that, I need to know what’s wrong. I’ll fix it, whatever it is, I promise.” My desperation was unbecoming of an alpha, but fuck all if I cared.
Elodie shook her head, biting her delectable bottom lip and refusing to meet my gaze.
“You can’t fix it. That’s the thing. I told the head priestess about our connection.
” She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself.
It was the first time I’d ever seen my spitfire mate vulnerable, and I hated it.
“What did she say?” I asked, trying to learn from my mistakes instead of rushing to conclusions, even as my heart hung on the ledge.
“I’m not out. I have to choose—you or the enclave. If I formally reject our bond, I can stay a maiden.”
The words struck fear into my heart like I’d never known. I’d been operating under the assumption that eventually, our bond would win out because it was the Goddess’s will. But if she rejected me as her mate… It was a future too awful to consider.
“I see.”
“Do you? Because this is my life. This is everything I’ve worked for, all I’ve ever known. I’m never going to be a housewife, Valens. I am a fighter. I have people I love to protect, a purpose.”
“So do I. It’s possible to protect the ones you love without cloistering yourself away from the world.”
She finally met my eyes, staring into the depths of me in that way only she could. I hoped she saw it all, all that I wasn’t sure how to say, how to show her yet.
“I don’t know what to do. I assumed that there was no mate for me, that I was destined for this. But if I’m not, I don’t know who I am.”
She reached toward me, as if she was dying to hug me as badly as I was her. Her hand shook as she pulled it back.
I offered my own hand, palm up. A simple offering of comfort.
She stared at it for a long moment as if it were a venomous snake, waiting to strike.
But when her delicate fingers traced lightly over my palm, I shuddered.
Such a simple touch, but I would burn the world to protect her.
To make her mine. Not because I had some mystical idea that I was already in love when we barely knew each other.
But because she was good. So deeply precious to my wolf that I would do anything to ensure her safety.
My own heart? Well, it was only a half step behind.
She would be so easy to love, I already knew it.
“This isn’t smart. She told me if I was unsure, I should leave and come back to the enclave.
” Her fingers laced with mine, the sensation of our palms pressing together for the first time was just enough to soothe my frantic wolf.
“She said that I couldn’t stay here if I was going to reject you.
But how could I go? How could I abandon this pack? They’re family, just like Galyna.”
“You don’t have to. You can stay with us. Build a life with me. We’ll protect this pack together. The maidens aren’t the only ones who protect the omegas.”
Her brow crinkled with confusion as she looked up at me. “What?”
“My mother used to tell me stories about the guardians. Did you have those stories?”
“No, I’ve never heard of a guardian. Guard duty, sure… but nothing else.”
“Take a walk with me? I’ll tell you everything. It’s a good story.”
“Okay.”
She slipped out, closing the door behind her, never taking her hand from mine.
It was the smallest of concessions, so why was my heart leaping in my chest as if she’d just agreed to wear my marks?