Chapter 20 - Drake
I watched Liv storm off, her hair flouncing behind her. Part of me screamed to go after her, but my feet remained rooted to the spot, stubbornly motionless.
I’d blown it, just like I had when I had forced her to stay here.
There had been a chance that we might be able to move past it, but any chance I had at redemption with Liv had just gone up in smoke.
All I had wanted was to protect her, to keep her safe.
But she didn’t see that. Instead, she saw a fabricated attachment brought about by a mating bond neither of us had wanted, all because I had never told her how I truly felt about her.
I could have opened up to her. I could have told her how much she meant to me, how much she had always meant to me.
It would have been the right move. Except the words hadn’t come.
They’d lodged in my throat like a stone, refusing to budge as she aired all her grievances.
It wasn’t until she had dissipated in the crowd that they vanished.
My foot took a step in the direction she had gone, then halted. I had other things to deal with. Namely, a wraith and a demon stalking the town. If Liv was hellbent on working with Rachel and Emma, I didn’t want to preoccupy her more than I already had.
Ignoring my wolf, still demanding I go after her, I spun on my heels and stalked off toward Elias, Oz, and Sam.
“We need to wait for the girls to come up with their assessment,” Elias said.
“But I’m going to guess that we’re going to need to go into the tunnels regardless of what they say.
That’s where the wraith and demon are likely holed up, and they’re going to be able to do this over and over again until we stop them. ”
“I can start gathering the men and getting them prepared,” I said.
Elias nodded. “Do that,” he said. “We’ll want to be able to leave at a moment’s notice.”
I could feel Oz staring at me with that speculative look he always gave me when he was trying to read me. It was annoying mostly because of how uncannily accurate he was at interpreting my expressions. As Elias and Sam moved away to start the detailed planning, he moved toward me.
Oz frowned as he looked me up and down, one eyebrow raised. “You look miserable,” he said.
“I’m fine,” I grunted.
Oz snorted, rolling his eyes. “Drake, you’re my best friend. I’ve known you since we were kids. You might think you’re all stern and mysterious, but I know your tells. Right now, they’re telling me that you’re way too distracted to be effective. What’s going on?”
Taking a deep breath, I ran my fingers through my hair, scowling at an expectant Oz as he waited.
“You’re infuriating sometimes, you know that?” I growled.
“It’s only one of my best traits,” Oz said with a wide grin. “Now tell me what’s happening so I can help and we can move on to the whole ‘wraith and demon attacking the town’ thing.”
My jaw worked, tongue prodding the inside of my cheek as I tried to work out whether I wanted to tell him. The crowd parted, and I caught sight of Emma, Rachel, and Liv all huddled together. Oz followed my gaze, and comprehension dawned on him.
“What happened this time?” he asked. I could read between the lines. He was really asking: What did you do?
I thought about snapping at him to mind his own business. Except that wouldn’t placate Oz. He would keep pushing until I told him.
“I told her I didn’t want her here.”
Oz snorted, shaking his head. “That’s a brilliant move right there,” he remarked.
“I’m worried about putting her in danger.”
“Sure, and I’m guessing that conversation didn’t go particularly well.”
“She said I was controlling her. She doesn’t feel secure around me, or trust me that much,” I said.
Raising his eyebrow, Oz said, “I can’t really blame her.
What have you done to merit that trust? Based on what you’ve told me, you’ve forced her to stay in town to mate you and are still dictating what she can and can’t do, despite knowing she, Rachel, and Emma are our best hope. What about that instills trust?”
I didn’t answer at first, mulling over the question.
It shouldn’t have startled me the way it had.
Except that the only thing I had done to warrant any sort of trust was to be nice to her.
The two times I had really opened up to her and been honest had been the time in the underground spring and when she had told me about her powers.
Even the last time, I had been more concerned about her powers.
Oz was right—I hadn’t given her much to trust me about. Most of the time, I had been taciturn and surly. No wonder she didn’t want much to do with me right now.
Oz watched with a shrewd smirk, eyes dancing as he gave a satisfied nod.
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I thought,” he said, then let out a low breath.
“Look. I’m not going to tell you what to do.
That’s on you to figure out. But you at least have to understand that she needs to see that you really care about her if she’s going to trust you. ”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” I growled.
“By controlling her and telling her things are too dangerous? What if, you know, you showed you trusted her and helped her stay safe by working with her instead of trying to keep her from helping?”
My wolf snarled on instinct at the suggestion.
It was still putting her in danger, even if I was there to help.
At the same time, I saw the logic through that gut rejection.
She was going to help regardless, and she had every right to do so.
I didn’t feel bad about trying to protect her, but there were extenuating circumstances, and Oz was right: There were other ways to protect her without stopping her from helping.
The most I could do right now was make sure she stayed safe while she put herself in danger.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
Oz shrugged, flashing one of his amused grins. “I mean, it’s all sort of common sense, when you’re not too stubborn and pigheaded to figure it out. You just have to think for a few seconds.”
I let out a low growl, which only made Oz laugh, his eyes crinkling. “You’re impossible sometimes,” I said.
“Maybe, but I’m right, and I’ll definitely take that trade-off. Besides, who else is going to point out the obvious to you when you’re being dense?”
I shoved him as he continued chortling to himself. My lip twitched upward despite myself.
“Smug prick,” I grumbled with no real malice.
“Yeah, but I have every right to be so,” Oz said, shrugging as he smirked. “I’m just that amazing. And look—I see that smirk. I almost never get you to smile. Clearly, I’m doing something right.”
That took me by surprise, even as I realized he was right.
When had I started smiling more easily? I knew the answer.
It was Liv, and that infectious personality of hers.
Even when I hadn’t realized it, she had rubbed off on me, giving me some of her best qualities in a way I couldn’t have imagined anyone doing, not unless…
There’s no such thing as fated mates, my father’s voice snarled in my head. Anyone who thinks otherwise is selling something. If you fall in line with that nonsense, then you’re nothing more than a gullible idiot. Don’t be a weakling.
As much as I hated to admit it, those words burned inside me, searing my brain despite myself. Except for the first time, I started having doubts, because there was no way I could feel this strongly about her if there wasn’t some veracity to it.
I could worry about that later. For the time being, all that mattered to me was getting through the next few hours alive and keeping Liv safe. I could worry about the rest later.