Chapter 2 - Sam
“That went well,” I said, slumping back in my chair as I stared at the closed door. On the other side of the wall, Rachel’s footsteps thundered away.
“I mean, it’s not unexpected,” Elias admitted as he rubbed his temple. “I had hoped she might see sense, but she’s got a stubborn streak in her a mile long.”
“Definitely nothing like you,” I said, flashing a grin as Elias rolled his eyes. “Completely unexpected from a Thorn.”
He let out a puff as he ignored the jab. “It’s hard to blame her. We did just drop a bombshell on her. But that doesn’t change things, and she needs to accept that.”
What he didn’t know was that the bombshell was even larger than he thought.
I had never told a soul about that morning in the park, when Rachel had confessed her feelings to me.
I had known what her reaction would be the second the Oracle had told me she was supposed to be my fated mate.
But I hadn’t been able to warn Elias, not without telling him about that day.
And I wasn’t about to put Rachel through that situation.
She was going to have a hard enough time as it was.
The Oracle watched me as I stayed silent. There was something unnerving about her stare, as if she already knew about mine and Rachel’s history. As if she had known all along.
“Give her some time to come around,” the Oracle said. “I can understand how this would be a big shock to her.”
“It’s a shock to all of us,” Elias said, his voice tight. “I wasn’t exactly expecting you to come to tell me that my sister has to mate my second-in-command and my best friend since childhood.”
If the Oracle noticed the sharp, borderline acidic tone to his words, she ignored them.
“I have told you before, and I shall tell you again: I do not control what I am told. I can only relay what the bones and the spirits have deigned to tell me. I do not question or try to understand their motives.”
“In other words: don’t shoot the messenger,” I said with my eyebrows raised.
The Oracle dipped her head, a faint quirk of her lips. “Aptly put, Mr. Casey.”
“Are you certain it has to be Rachel?” I asked. “Because it seems pretty obvious that she has no interest in any of this. So if one of us has to be mated, maybe—”
She shook her head, and the words died in my throat. “It has to be Rachel,” she declared.
I tried to keep my face impassive as I gave a respectful nod.
In my head, I was still reeling from the Oracle’s declaration since she had told me about it this morning.
It was strange enough that I had apparently been tapped for a forced mating, but adding Rachel to the mix made everything more complicated.
And yet, despite all of that, I didn’t miss the twinge of excitement in my wolf.
He had liked the idea. He still did. He had been interested in Rachel long before she had ever found me in the park that day.
I had ignored it back then because I thought it was best for both of us.
It seemed that fate had a sense of humor.
“I have to go,” the Oracle said, pushing herself to her feet with surprising agility for someone her age. “Please let me know once she’s changed her mind and agreed to the match.”
The odds of Rachel changing her mind seemed slim to none, but I doubted telling the Oracle that would go over particularly well. But Elias and I nodded.
Elias watched as she made her way out of the room. The instant the door had closed behind her, he turned to me.
“Could this day get any worse?” Elias asked. “This, plus all the sand wraith issues…and that’s nothing compared to the fallout I’m going to have to deal with once Mom and Rach butt heads about this.”
“I could tell you that the Stone Pack sent word that a couple of shifters they suspect of several robberies and a couple assaults are on the run and coming in our direction, so we should be on the lookout for strange shifters in case they come into town,” I said, drumming my fingers on the table. “That would probably do the trick.”
He grumbled. “Joy. Yeah, send word out to patrols.”
“Already on it,” I said. “They’re on the lookout. I’ll let you know if I get word about them.”
Elias nodded his approval. “On top of it, as always.”
“The entire pack would fall apart without me,” I joked, leaning back in my chair.
Elias fell into a surly silence, a warning sign I knew all too well. Letting out a deep breath, I pushed myself upright again and leaned against the table.
“Look, Elias, I know you’re not thrilled about—”
“No shit, I’m not thrilled,” Elias growled.
“Hey, none of this is my fault,” I fired back. “Don’t take this out on me. Or Rachel, for that matter.”
Elias sighed, rubbing his face as his shoulders sagged.
“I know,” he said. “Just…when the Oracle did this to me, that’s fine.
But now it’s my kid sister and my best friend, which is weird on too many levels to count.
If the fates really are telling her this, then I hope they have a damned good reason. ”
I didn’t respond, but privately, I thought that this sort of reaction was a large portion of the reason I had told Rachel it could never happen the first time around.
Elias had always been protective of her, and he would have torn me to shreds if he had thought there was a shred of a chance that I would hurt her.
With a large, frustrated exhale, he stared out the window, frowning as he thought.
“The wraith is still out there. It’s been quiet, licking its wounds from the fight a few months ago, but it’s going to come back eventually.
My gut says sooner rather than later. It’s biding its time.
” He let out a deep breath, the way he always had since we were kids, and he had to make an unpleasant decision.
“As weird as the situation, and as much as none of us particularly like it, I think it has to happen.”
“Elias…” I trailed off, not sure what the hell I would say in the first place. I couldn’t tell him about what had happened between us. It would violate Rachel’s trust, and I wasn’t about to tell that story without her approval, no matter what either of us felt.
Before I had to decide what to say, Elias held up his hand, stopping me from having to come up with something.
“She said you two have to be mates,” he said.
“That’s all. Which means all we have to do is make it official on paper.
Go through with the ceremony. That doesn’t mean you two have to be in love or anything like that. ”
I didn’t answer right away. I had made the choice to reject Rachel because I thought it had been the right decision.
But there had been a part of me that had always wondered what would have happened if I had made a different choice.
Ever since, I had kept an eye on Rachel from a distance.
Every time we were in the same space, I was always aware of her every step, her every move, as if I was tied to her by a string.
I didn’t know what would happen if we became mates, whether it would ease or intensify.
Part of the reason I was reluctant was that I was afraid I would fall for her, and I didn’t know what would happen if I did.
“I guess you’re right,” I found myself saying.
He let out a breath. “At the very least, I don’t have to worry about my sister being safe if you’re her mate,” he said. “I know you’ll keep her safe.”
“With my life,” I said without having to think about it for a second.
“And I don’t have to deal with her mating a creep or someone who would want to take advantage of her.”
“Glad to know you don’t think I’m a creep,” I said with a flippant grin, hoping that he couldn’t tell how badly I wanted to take advantage of Rachel sometimes.
“It could be worse,” he muttered more to himself than to me.
“If it’s to stop the sand wraith, then I’ll do it as long as Rachel is in,” I finally said.
Elias nodded, recognizing the opening for a change in topic if he wanted it.
“There still haven’t been any sightings?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ve doubled the patrols around the outskirts of town. I’ve told them what to look for that might show it’s been in the area: disturbed brush, newly formed dunes, or new weathering in the rock formations. None of them has seen or heard anything that could be the wraith.”
Elias tilted his head as he studied me. “I’m sensing there’s a ‘but.’”
I cracked a smirk despite myself. “You know me too well,” I said. “They haven’t seen anything that could be the wraith. But they’ve noticed some weird things to the north of town.”
“What sort of weird?”
“Dead succulents, rotting cacti…there have also been reports of dead animals cropping up more frequently. Oz said it was like some dark presence had swept across the area.”
“Oz is too dramatic for his own good,” Elias muttered.
“Maybe,” I admitted. “But he’s got good instincts, and he’s sharper than he lets on.”
Yet again, Elias remained quiet for a long moment as he considered the new information.
“I’m tired of waiting,” he finally growled. “Right now, we’re letting the wraith dictate the terms of this war. It’s time we go on the offense.” He gave a feral grin that showed fanged teeth. “I say we start hunting for its lair.”
I raised my eyebrows as an intrigued glint sparked in my eyes. “That’s a bold choice, Alpha.”
“Are you saying you can’t handle it?” Elias fired back, some of the surliness falling away from him.
“Hell, no. I think it’s brilliant. This thing has destroyed part of our town.
It’s only fair we deliver some payback.” I scratched my chin as I stared out the window, already calculating what we would need to do for such a job.
“I’ll start sending out patrols to start hunting for likely spots, and I’ll get Drake to study the spread of sightings.
We might be able to get some insight into where we need to look. ”
Elias nodded. “You already have it under control. Just keep me posted.”
“And Rachel?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice even. Inside, my wolf stirred at just the sound of her name, that pang of need lurching through me as it always did whenever I let myself think about her.
Letting out a low, slow breath, Elias stared out the window as he chewed on the question, rubbing his chin. “I’ll talk to her,” he said. “Once she realizes that it’s only the ceremony, she’ll probably have an easier time accepting it.”
I nodded, schooling my features as a dozen emotions ran through me at once: guilt, frustration, and something uncomfortably close to excitement. “It’s going to be on paper,” I said. “Trust me, I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”
“I know,” Elias said. “Which is the reason I’m not fighting this tooth and nail. Even if there’s nothing romantic there, I know that you’ll take good care of her. You won’t hurt her.”
“Never,” I agreed.
Even as I said it, deep down, in a part of me I wouldn’t acknowledge, I wondered if I would be able to keep that promise.