Chapter 10
Riley
I frown. “I never smelled anything.”
“That’s because he left plenty early before you left the house each day.
You also wouldn’t have smelled it because you hadn’t shifted yet.
I can guarantee if it were to happen now, you’d smell it.
” I realize belatedly that Reid has moved away, giving my mom and I privacy.
Of course, there’s no such thing as privacy in a house full of shifters.
But thankfully, most of our guests are outside.
I catch sight of my dad across the living room.
He’s talking to one of the men in our pack, but I know half of his attention is over here with me and my mom.
And you’d have to be a fool to miss the angry older brother over in the corner glaring daggers at Reid.
Evie’s doing her best to keep him from losing it, but it doesn’t look like it’s going well.
“What’s the matter, Honey?” My mom switches over to our mental link. Are you not happy it’s Reid?
I am. It’s just—
Suddenly, Zane is there. “Family meeting.”
I glance around the room. “Right now?”
He looks down at me, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “Yes, Riley, right now.”
I scowl at him. “Zane, knock it off.”
He doesn’t acknowledge my words. He walks over to the basement door and opens it.
I know what he’s doing. He wants us downstairs because it’s sound proofed; nobody will be able to hear our conversation.
He waves Evie over, who looks like she’d rather be any place but here.
She gives me an apologetic look before she starts down the steps.
My mom starts to go over as well, but I stop her.
“Mom, you don’t have to go just because Zane snapped his fingers.
He’s just throwing a hissy fit because he didn’t know about Reid. ”
“I can hear you,” Zane says from his spot over by the stairs.
“I know. You were supposed to,” I tell him, turning around to face him. “Stop being mad just because you didn’t know. Newsflash, I didn’t know either.”
He chuckles, but it’s dark. “Just adding more fuel to the fire, Little Sister.”
“Stop calling me that,” I snap at him.
Then Reid is there. “Zane, if you want to take your anger out on someone, take it out on me. Leave her out of it.”
Zane’s eyes flash, and he smirks. “Oh, I plan on it.”
I roll my eyes and shake my head. “I can’t with you.”
“Okay. Let’s go talk,” my father says and starts down the stairs. “Zane, let’s go.”
My brother finally leaves us alone, muttering the entire time he stomps down the steps. I turn to Reid. “I’m sorry.”
Those chocolate brown eyes meet mine. “I can handle your brother. I know you can too, but let me know if he’s too much.”
I close my eyes a moment. “All right. Let’s get this over with.”
“I don’t think I’m invited to this meeting,” he says. His voice is easy-going, but there’s an underlying tension to him. I can see it in the set of his jaw and the tension in his shoulders.
“Oh, you’re coming. I’m not facing them on my own.”
He smirks. “They’re your family.”
“I know.”
“I’ll come.”
We start down the stairs, but Zane appears at the bottom with his arms over his chest. “Family meeting.”
I pause, and Reid moves so that he’s standing on the same step as me. I feel his hand on my back, and it surprises me. Until recently, Reid hasn’t touched me in years. I glance up at him and find him already looking at me. “I’ll wait upstairs, but if you need me, reach out to me.”
“It’s fine. Evie’s in the meeting,” I say, looking pointedly at my brother.
“Evie’s my mate.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “What do you think Reid is?!”
“My bonded mate,” Zane quickly corrects.
“Zane, you are so full of—”
Reid cuts off my tirade. “I’ll be right at the top of the stairs.”
Then he walks up the stairs, leaving me alone to face my family. I stomp down the steps, shoving Zane back when I pass him. “Real mature,” he remarks.
I whirl on him. “I’m immature? I’m immature?”
“Zane and Riley, let’s go,” my father says, and I walk over to join him and my mom and Evie.
Zane comes over and stands next to Evie, crossing his arms over his chest. “How are you doing, Honey? I know this was a lot tonight. Your first shift and then finding out Reid is your mate. How are you holding up?” We all ignore Zane’s growl at the mention of Reid.
My eyebrows nearly hit my hairline. “Um, are you forgetting about the dead skinwalker upstairs?”
“I didn’t know about him,” my dad says with anger in his voice. “He would have never been in our home had I known.”
“It’s okay.” I drop down onto the couch. “It’s not your fault.”
My mom sits down next to me. “It’s not your fault either, Sweetheart.”
“Yeah, well I’m the one who made friends with the enemy.”
“Don’t,” my father says in a stern voice. “None of us knew.”
“What about Reid?” my mom asks quietly.
“It’s,” I pause, searching for the words.
“It’s a lot.” I take a breath and start to compartmentalize.
“If Zane will stop acting like a jerk, everything is okay.” He wisely stays quiet, or maybe my father mentally gives him a command to stay silent.
“Reid and I are going to wait to bond, so that will give us time to process and work though everything. I’ll be able to start basketball and get a feel for that on top of my classes.
” It takes me a moment to realize they’re all looking at me with matching expressions of surprise and concern. “What?”
“You’re not going to bond right away?” my mom asks gently.
“No.”
“Why not?” my father asks.
“We’re just waiting.”
“For what?” my father asks.
“Was this your idea or Reid’s, Honey?” my mom asks.
I pause. “Mine.” My mom looks over at my dad. “What?” I ask again.
My mom is gentle with her words. “It’s not good to wait for long, Sweetheart.”
I frown. “How is it okay that Evie and Zane waited, and we can’t?”
“Evie’s human,” Zane rumbles.
“Well, yeah, but you guys still waited.”
“Because she didn’t know any different,” Zane argues.
“So?”
“It’s not good for wolves to test the bond,” my father adds.
“The longer you go, the harder it will be on the two of you. Ask Zane or Slate how hard it was, and they will tell you. It will be even harder on you and Reid because you’re both shifters.
The bond has already attached you, unlike how it worked with Zane and Evie or Tessa and Slater. ”
“Don’t you want to bond with Reid?” my mom asks gently.
I feel my stress mounting. “I literally just found out tonight. I just asked him for some time.”
“But he’s your mate,” my mom counters. “You shouldn’t want time from your mate. Everything in you should be yearning to be with him.”
The pressure builds in my head, and I feel a headache building.
“Yeah, I get it. But I just found out tonight that the guy who’s all but ignored me for the last three years is my mate.
Oh, and that was after the guy I thought was my friend ended up being one of our mortal enemies, and Reid killed him.
So, I’m sorry if I’m not exactly jumping into a bond with Reid.
And if you guys knew, why didn’t you tell me? ”
“We didn’t know,” Zane argues.
Evie makes a face, and I catch it. “You knew, didn’t you?” I ask.
She bites her lip, even as Zane looks at her. “I did; I’m sorry.”
Zane frowns. “You knew?”
She nods, looking miserable. “I mean, he didn’t tell me. I figured it out.”
“How?” Zane asks in exasperation.
She laughs softly. “It was painfully obvious, Zane. When Riley’s in the room, no one else exists in Reid’s world. I saw it the first time I met her in the coffee shop.” She shrugs. “I asked him about it, and he confirmed it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Zane asks.
“He asked me not to. Well, he sort of demanded that I didn’t tell you. Tessa and I promised to keep it a secret and—”
“Tessa knew too?” Zane asks. Evie scrunches up her nose and gives an apologetic yes. “Does Slate?”
She nods but doesn’t say anything. “I’m gonna kill him,” he mutters.
“No, you’re not,” I snap at him.
“Wait, is that where Reid disappeared to all the time?” Zane turns to me. “Was he with you at night?”
“What? No. Well, I mean, he wasn’t with me in the house.”
His eyes narrow. “But he was here?”
“Outside, Zane. He was outside, and no, I didn’t know. Mom told me.”
“Okay,” my dad says, stepping in. “I was trying to let my two adult children work things out on their own, but apparently, that’s not working.
Zane, Reid is Riley’s mate. Accept it. Riley, you don’t have to bond until you’re ready; but don’t wait too long.
And please,” he waits until my eyes meet his.
“Tell me if it gets bad.” I don’t get a chance to ask him what he means by that before he turns to Zane.
“And you need to give your sister a chance to take all this in. You lost your mind when you scented your mate, took half your football team to get you stopped. I got called in for that one, remember? Just because your sister already knows her mate and just because he’s from her pack doesn’t mean that she’s still not shocked and dealing with it on her own terms. She also had to witness her friend being killed tonight.
” I feel his words physically like a punch to my gut.
“If anybody is to blame for tonight, I take the blame. I let a skinwalker into our home. And you let him in as well,” he says directly to Zane.
“So, while there’s blame being thrown around and anger, maybe let’s redirect it.
Let’s remember that your sister, nor her mate, are the enemy.
” His face hardens. “We thought they were no longer a problem, and that was a mistake. Riley,” he faces me, and I know what’s coming.
“No,” I say before he’s even had a chance to say anything. “Dad, I just started college. I haven’t even had a month to settle in. You told me you would let me have freedom now.”
His eyes are hard when he responds. “That was before I knew the threat against you was still very active.”
I shake my head, feeling my hope draining away. “I haven’t even been able to play basketball yet, and—”
“And you’re probably not going to get to,” he interjects, stunning me into silence for a moment before I respond.
“What?!”
“We can’t let you travel with the team. There’s no way to keep you safe.”
“But Dad,” I begin.
“Riley, you can’t. There’s no way to ensure your safety.”
I feel the walls around me starting to close in on me. “I can shift now. I can protect myself.”
“Like you did tonight?” His face softens the slightest bit, and he softens his voice. “The only reason I didn’t kill that skinwalker tonight was that it was Reid’s kill to make, as your mate. But if he hadn't, I would have. You were nowhere near ready to shift and defend yourself.”
“Because that was my first shift!”
“I know, Sweetheart. But aside from that, could you have killed that skinwalker if you needed to? Could you have killed Peter?”
I blink. “I can’t answer that.”
His voice is soft when he answers. “You just did.”
Anger and frustration start to rise. “I’m not weak.”
My father’s eyes widen. “Sweetheart, I never said you were weak.”
“But that’s what you think, that’s what all of you think. I’m the baby of the family. I may not be the next alpha, but I’m still strong and you need to all stop treating me like I’m weak.”
“Riley, that’s not what we think,” Zane starts, but I whirl on him.
“We wouldn’t even be having this discussion if not for you.
You’re making such a big deal about not knowing that Reid, your best friend, is my mate.
Well, how do you think I feel? How do you think I felt when I lost my really good friend three years ago without a word.
You and me and Reid did everything together until one day we didn’t.
He stopped paying any attention to me, and you left to go to college.
I was all by myself at home, and then everybody started tightening my security until I couldn’t breathe.
Peter was the only one who—” I feel my voice break, and dread fills me.
I will not cry; I refuse to cry. Instead, I just turn around and run up the steps. I can’t do this anymore.