“I’m sorry, Jules, but you don’t have an option. They gave me this.”
I take the paper Logan holds out to me and scan it, my fist clenching on the order that has come from and been signed by all eleven council seats with Merin’s proxy for Blain stamped right at the bottom.
I’d laugh. It’s so freaking ironic that I’m being taken in for questioning about my Fated with his proxy decision proclaiming it an order. It kills me that it gives me no choice.
Noble steps closer again, and I snarl, my wolf coming up strong and sure. I don’t want to fight with these males, but this is bullshit, and they all know it.
No way am I leaving Blain alone and unprotected.
“Jules.”
“I’ll go when I’m good and fucking ready! I have the right to make a call first!” I hiss, grabbing my phone from the chair and dialing Cass as fast as my fingers will type.
She answers on the second ring.
“You need me?”
“The council is bringing me in for questioning. I need someone on Blain before I walk out of this clinic.”
“Banner!”
I hear a growl, some whispered words, and then the howl of a wolf before the line goes dead. Turning back to the three males I adore, each one of them a part of my life at least at some point, I firm my jaw and keep my lips sealed.
I won’t blame them for this, no matter how angry I am right now, but once I see Dad….
Five minutes pass as slowly as a snail’s crawl with the three of them glancing between me and Blain. When I hear pounding footsteps and a vicious growl that has them backing up, I feel a smile twist at my lips.
Lync prowls into the room, his hairy face and clawed out hands showing me exactly what he’s feeling. He’ll protect with his life.
“Thank you.”
He chuffs, stalking over to the foot of the bed where he turns to face the door with his legs spread and hands hanging loosely at his sides.
“Cass.”
I nod, knowing that he’s here because Cass wants him to be. When Banner stomps in and stands beside him, his eyes narrowed on his brother, I almost swallow my tongue.
“This what you guys are into now? Taking a female away from her male when he’s half dead?”
“Banner, you know I don’t want this, man. I’ll bring her right back here as soon as she’s done. All she has to do is answer a few questions for their investigation and I’ll have her back at his side,” Logan says, spreading his hands when he looks at me. “You know…”
“I get it. Don’t sweat it, Lo. If it wasn’t you, it would be someone else. Why three big males though?”
He snorts and rolls his eyes, his mouth twisted down into a rueful grimace.
“He knew you’d refuse, and that I wouldn’t force it. Clarke’s here to provide a second and Noble…”
I don’t hear another word because I’m looking at Noble, who’s staring at Lync as if he’s seeing a ghost. When his eyes go wet and his throat works convulsively I feel like utter shit for this.
He hasn’t seen Lync in a longtime, and I know this must be hard for him. Lync hardly glances at him, the stiff posture and forward direction of his eerie blue eyes sending off aggressive signals that even I find hard to see.
In short, back off because I don’t know you, or I don’t want to. I can’t say whether Lync’s attitude is the result of not recognizing Noble or whether it’s a refusal to do so. All I know is that Noble is in pain, and it’s hard to watch.
“Ban—”
“If you gotta do this, bro, then do it. Get it done. Lync and I will be here to protect what’s hers while she’s having her rights taken away.”
I try to smile at Banner for his help and turn to Logan with my head held high.
“Let’s do this.”
The trip through town to my Dad and Mom’s place is a ten-minute walk, one I use to frantically reach out to Hannah, who isn’t responding at all. By the time we reach the house I am shaking with nerves and anger at Dad. How could he do this to me?
Swallowing, I walk up the porch steps and open the front door, stepping inside before I do something stupid like shift and run for my life. Can’t do this!
I really can’t do this. I can hardly remember anything Hannah told me about what Cass said to the council. I don’t want to get this wrong. Don’t want to lie to Dad. Don’t want to not lie and have Cass’s ass in the sling right after I betray my Fated.
Logan closes the door behind us, and I notice that Noble and Clarke haven’t come in when I look behind me. His face set in harsh lines, I see Logan swallow and give a chin nod to Dad’s office.
“They set up a table in there for the questioning. All you have to do is tell them what happened, honey. There’s no need to be afraid,” he says gently.
I swallow, the bile in my throat making me feel sickened when I look at the office door and see it open. Dad is there, his eyes shooting fire at me.
“Easy for you to say, Lo. I’m pretty sure they’re gonna come at me like a truck, unlike the way they questioned Cass,” I say ruefully, peering up when he chuckles.
“Yeah, well Banner makes an impression, and I don’t care who you are when you have a three-hundred-pound bear-wolf shifter bristling over his mate, you take shit easy.”
I snort, nodding my head, because most people assume Banner Kilter shifts into one animal. Me, I’ve seen that male when he gets pissed and goes on one of his late-night runs. I’ve seen him double shift, and trust me, seeing a wolf the size of a grizzly bear will scare anyone, no matter who they are. Add to that Banner’s adoration and obsessive love for his mate, and you better believe he’d rip anyone apart for daring to harm Cass. Alpha included.
“I better go do this.”
Logan pulls me in for a hug, his face leaning down and whispers into my ear, “Hannah’s going to pop in. Relax. Take your time. Do not lose your temper.”
I don’t know if that’s possible. My nerves are strung tight, and everything inside me is screaming that I need to get back to Blain. It’s the Fated female in me that can’t stand not being there if something goes wrong.
“I’ll try.”
Giving him one last squeeze, I turn and make my way into the office, my eyes going wet at the corners when I see Mom standing off to the side near the back entry.
She doesn’t say anything, just watches me with a hurt expression that scream volumes at me. She’s hurt that I chose someone she considers a threat over the family who loves me. I want to tell her that Blain isn’t a threat, that I had no choice, but I can’t be completely sure that’s true, so instead I turn away, ignoring the plea in her eyes and walk into the office with my head held high.
Dad closes the door, not saying a word, and I turn to see eleven males all seated at a long table. Dad takes the seat at the head of the table, and Merin waves me to the seat at the other end where I sit and see all twelve looking at me.
I face Dad last, my eyes taking in the tense set of his shoulders and almost stubborn tilt to his chin. I love my dad a lot. If there has ever been a bigger daddy’s girl in this world, it’s me. He’s been my rock, my champion, that ideal upon which my perfect male is based, and nothing will change that.
The things I said to him in the heat of anger still weigh heavily on me, but this, right now, is him drawing a line in the sand, and I’m very afraid that I’m on the opposite side. I have to be.
“Welcome, Miss Silverton. We apologize for the necessity of taking you away from your Fated at a time like this, but it has come to our attention that the council leader—Blainton Seers, your Fated—may have been involved in resistance business and has committed treason against the Alpha of our pack.”
I hear Merin’s words and take in the murmurings of the other council members, but I keep my eyes on Dad the entire time, daring him to say something about what I’m about to do.
“Councilman Merin, whatever is going on is really none of my business. I have my male in a hospital bed fighting to liv
e after he not only saved my life, four times, but also Cass Kilter’s life, mate to Banner, one of the enforcers for this pack. My male not only saved us from being killed when those males first came to Cass’s cabin, but he also put his life on the line taking on five scentless shifters—”
“Who were taking orders from him!” Dad snarls, his fist slamming down on the table, making me jump.
He’s so furious I can scent it on the air around us, and I take a deep breath to calm myself and not react to his anger. It’s scary though, seeing my level-headed father lose himself like this, and even more frightening when I see his grey eyes swirl with his wolf, the animal just barely restrained under the surface.
Don’t get angry, Jules. He’s trying to bring out your temper, so you spill your guts. Just breathe deeply and listen. Cass told them that Blain is a lower-level resistance agent and that he was staying in to steal that altered formula for the pack.
But—
Just keep it together. Tell them only what they ask. Don’t volunteer information, okay?
Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I’m just…
I know, babe. You need to keep it together though, okay?
Taking a deep breath, I ignore the nerves that hit me and look back at the councilman, who seems to be in charge of proceedings, my face free of expression, as I wait for him to speak.
“It has been brought to our attention that our Alpha suspects Blainton of being the mastermind of the resistance and that he sat in the head seat of their council. What say you to those charges?”
I swallow, staying as clam as possible, and prepare myself to lie through my teeth.
It’s not hard! And it’s fun.
Shut up, Hannah.
“I say I have no answer to that? Blain? On the council? It’s laughable! The male has been trying to get out of the resistance for months.”
That’s not exactly a lie since I suspect that he was planning to leave the inconvenience of it behind and just run things himself from the pack. Hence, having his father framed as the head seat of the resistance and losing almost all of the Alpha’s on the council when my pack killed them.
That was all Brigger Seers doing. Finding the council, the head of the resistance, and then calling in the pack to kill them all so he could save his Fated.
Blain simply set it up so that his father took the fall and everyone else who could identify him was removed permanently.
“He’s the head!”
“Alpha, please. With all due respect, it is this council’s mandate to discover the truth of the claims you have made and the charges you bring against councilman Seers. We are here to investigate and collect proof, not lynch the male on supposition. Now, you say he was in the resistance?”
Oh gulp.
No! No, that’s great. Fine. Cass told them he was trying to infiltrate them, just like Brigger. Just keep it simple. Blain told you and Cass that he kidnapped you on orders, but that he was planning to help you escape. After he got the formula. That’s your trump card, Jules. He was a double agent, just like Brig. Tell them that and move on.
“He was. From what I understand he was helping to relocate females from abusive mates into other packs.” Oh God, I am going to hell. “As far as I could see, he was defecting, but he took his time trying to gain access to a formula that he suspected could help us in our fight against the scentless. Some scent formula that wears off?”
Merin nods, his blonde head going low as he scribbles my answer and looks back up at me to ask the next question.
“We understood from Mrs. Kilter’s testimony that your Fated came down to the basement to unlock your cages? Can you tell us what the purpose was?”
“He uh, he was pretty frantic. Some of it happened so fast. One minute we were locked in there, and the next we were at a secret tunnel he’d obviously dug out. He wanted us to escape and run to the Alpha before the scentless carried out orders to kill us.”
I can still remember that night and the panicked quality of Blain’s movements. The way he practically put himself between us and the scentless who came down to the basement. His shift. The ferocity of his strength as he fought them off. It’s all a blur and some parts are so clear. He was magnificent, strong, the perfect mate, I think, swallowing down a spate of confusion and tears.
“Good, good. That is what Mrs. Kilter testified to. As the alpha requested though, we have to broaden the questioning now. Miss Silverton—”
“Sorry, but you should call me Seers. Blain and I may not have had the official mating ceremony, but we’re mated all the same,” I cut in, ignoring Dad’s growl of fury when my words reach him.
Having to remind him of this, especially when he clearly despises Blain is one thing I didn’t want to do, but I have to remind them that Blain is mine. It’s the only piece I have left to play on the board.
“He was still resistance!”
“Yes Alpha, he was, and as a result—”
“As a result of his work and the sacrifices he made trying to get his hands on that formula I would say the least you all could do is show my mate some respect and gratitude,” I cut in, biting my lip when dad snarls.
“Where is the formula then? If you want me to sit here and believe the male was some sort of martyr for the pack—”
“I don’t want you to accept anything, Alpha! He’s my mate. I owe him my loyalty and fidelity from now on, and if that is not to your liking, then it’s not my problem. I don’t know where the formula is because as Cass and I both explained, things were hectic. When Blain wakes—”
“God willing, he won’t!”
“When he wakes up! I’ll ask him. As for this investigation of yours, all I can say is what I know. Cass must have told you most of it, so I just can’t understand why I’m here,” I say clearly, meeting their eyes one by one with a hard look of disgust. “It is my right, as a Fated, to be accorded the opportunity to remain with my male until such a time as he is healed and able to defend himself.”
“He’s not yours!” Dad yells, his eyes glowing stormy silver when he stands and towers over me, his voice an aggressive angry snarl of rejection. “He’s a liar and a murderer. He is responsible for the Clayton pack being genetically screwed over. Althea still hasn’t found a cure for that formula.”
Oh boy, I totally get his anger—
Stop being such a goody girl! He’s trying to work on your guilt and sympathetic nature, Jules. Just stick to the script here and you’ll be fine. Remember, Blain saved you both. He doesn’t deserve to be tried before he can redeem himself.
You’re saying that to me? You?
Blame all the young inside me. They’re turning me into a raging bag of hormones.
I purse my lips so as not to laugh at her tone and face off with my dad across the table, the distance between us growing by leaps and bounds as I make my final decision to do this, no matter the consequences.
“He is not responsible for that. He’s not involved in that at all—unless you want to sit there and tell me you have physical evidence—”
“His own brother—”
“Was a double agent but instead of dragging his mate in here to force her to testify against him so you could kill him or lock him away, you now have Brig and Barbie over for dinner!” I yell, getting to my feet to face him down. “You’re a fucking hypocrite! Come on, Dad! Blain isn’t guilty of much more than Brigger did—”
“Brigger Seers brought us the formula and saved—”
“And Blain saved me! Your daughter. He saved my life despite the fact that you refused my Fated years ago and went so far as to hide it from me!” I hiss, my temper flaring to magnificent proportions.
“You were a child!”
“And now? I’m not a child now, Dad,” I point out, seeing the councilman’s shocked faces as they look between us.
It’s not a crime to deny Fating. Half the males at this table do it all the time in relation to their own children if their Fated turns out to be undesirable. What is unacceptable is that my d
ad lied. As the Alpha, that is not a good thing because the whole pack looks to him to be the epitome of the perfect male. Kind. Fair. Ruthless. Honest.
That last trait is the most important because he sets the tone for us all. At least he should.
“Julia, I was doing what was best for—”
“You. You were doing what was best for you. You looked at a fourteen-year-old male, a boy, Dad, and you deemed him unworthy and treated him like trash. I don’t care if I had never wanted Blain Seers, or if we’d hated each other, I had the right to know!” I yell.
“And now you know, so be a female and admit he’s not for you! Goddammit, I am your father, your Alpha! You will obey your Alpha!”
“As soon as I see one in this room, I’ll do that,” I counter, making him freeze and look back at me in shock.
The insult I just handed down is unforgivable, but something I can’t stop from coming out of my mouth. Dad flinches, rearing back and looks across at me with so much hurt I feel my chest go tight.
“The male I’m talking to now isn’t my Alpha or my father. You’re acting out of anger, and I get that, but you have got to take a step back from this and let me live as I see fit. Blain is my mate. He saved me and kept me alive so that I can be what he needs, and I’ll do that no matter what happens. You cannot order me away from him, pack law forbids it, and even if it didn’t, Dad, I’d leave. I cannot stand-by and watch you play out a vendetta against a male who deserves better.”
No one says a word, and I’m left tensing when Hannah whimpers and gasps.
“Did you just deny your Alpha?”
Oh shit, Jules! Oh fucking shit, what have you done?
Chapter Four
Blain
I come to, feeling as if a bear took its claws to me and feel my head pound when I turn it, trying to blink away the cobwebs that cling to my mind like sticky sludge.
Greyriver Shifters Page 97
