Chapter 10 Terms and Conditions Apply #3
Ronan’s voice cut in. “That is what we are trying to determine before the seventh day.”
“We?”
“Sava. Ian. Me.”
“The council that wants me dead?”
“No.”
“For now?”
Ronan held my gaze. “No.”
I didn’t believe him and he knew it.
Good.
Ian stepped forward half a pace. “I will not let them kill you.”
I looked at him and the room seemed to narrow around that promise. His wolf believed it. I could feel that somehow. The mark pulsed under my bandage, warm and satisfied, as if it had been waiting for him to say exactly that.
That frightened me more than Ronan. Ronan’s threats made sense. Old law, secrecy, pack survival. Monsters with reasons were still monsters, but at least the shape was recognizable.
Ian’s promise came from a place reason had not reached.
“If your protecting me gets my family killed,” I said, “then you are not protecting me.” I forced myself to keep going, because this mattered more than pain.
“My father does not become collateral because you feel guilty. Tessa does not die because she picked the wrong man and the wrong resort. Aunt Linda does not get eaten because she correctly hates Grant. Even Grant, and I cannot overstate how much I resent this, does not get slaughtered because you have feelings about him.”
Ian’s jaw worked once.
“They hurt you,” he said.
I smiled a little, and it hurt my cracked lip. “That is an extremely crowded category, Ian.”
His name came out before I could stop it and I saw his eyes changed, not fully gold, but human enough to show the impact.
I looked away first.
“Your family remains safe if you follow restrictions,” Ronan said.
I turned back to him slowly. “There it is.”
“There what is?”
“The threat in a clean shirt.”
He didn’t deny it.
Of course he didn’t.
Ronan was horrible, but he saved everyone time by refusing to pretend otherwise.
“You will not contact anyone without supervision,” he said. “You will not leave this suite without Ian, Sava, or my direct guard. You will not tell your family what you saw. You will not attempt to cross to the west side.”
“And if I do?”
Ian made a low sound but Ronan ignored him. “Then I make whatever choice protects the pack.”
I looked at Ian. “And you?”
His gaze held mine. He knew what I was asking. If I ran, would he drag me back? If Ronan ordered him to stop me, would he obey? If I screamed for my father, would he cover my mouth?
“I do not know,” he said.
The honesty hurt worse than an easy lie would have because I believed it. He didn’t know. He was a man split down the middle by duty and a wolf that had already chosen a side.
I leaned back against the pillow. My body was shaking now, and no amount of pride could hide it. Sava noticed. Ian noticed. Ronan noticed because he noticed everything that might later become useful.
“I chased a dog,” I said, my voice sounding so far away.
“I came here because my sister cried and my dad asked if I was good and my mother wanted me to make the weekend easier for everyone. I wore the dress. I sat through the toast. I let Grant make me look bitter because it was less exhausting than proving him cruel.”
The shaking worsened but I could not stop it.
“And then Henry ran, and Tessa cried, and I chased the dog because apparently I am still the person who handles emergencies for people who make them.”
Ian looked as if each word had gone under his skin.
Good, let them sit there.
“Now I’m in a locked room being told I might permanently belong to a man who bit me because the alternative is dying or getting my family killed, although that is simply pretending for a moment that there is any choice in the matter.”
My eyes burned and I hated that most of all.
“I don’t care what your wolf thinks,” I said to Ian. “I don’t care what your laws say. I am not becoming someone else’s problem to manage.”
The mark pulsed hard and pain tore through my shoulder. I clenched my teeth, refusing to reach for him but the monitor screamed anyway.
Sava moved. Ian moved faster, then stopped when my eyes cut to him.
“May I touch your hand?”
I wanted to say no but my body was rude and wanted to live.
“Yes.”
His hand slid under mine and the pain eased enough for breath to return. I hated every second of relief.
Ronan watched us for a long moment before turning toward the door.
“We begin testing distance this afternoon,” he said.
Ian’s head snapped up. “No.”
Ronan looked back. The Alpha was back in his face, cold and absolute.
“Yes.”
“She is too weak.”
“That is why Sava will control it.”
“She almost seized during a conversation.”
“And if we wait, the mark may root deeper.”
Ian rose to his feet, taking his hand from mine without meaning to and the pain spiked.
Sava cursed. “Ian.”
He looked down at me and horror crossed his face. He put his hand back beneath mine and the pain dropped again.
Ronan’s voice went quieter. “That is why.”
Ian said nothing but he didn’t have to, the room had made Ronan’s argument for him. The mark was learning him. Or I was. Either way, it terrified all of us.
Sava looked at Ronan. “This afternoon, if her vitals support it. No sooner. ”