AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Oliver shrugged. “Call it what you want. The result is the same. You had to watch us.”
“I made that choice myself. No one forced me.”
Oliver cocked his head. “Why did you do it? You could’ve refused, and no one would’ve thought less of you.”
“I would have. It wasn’t about how others would judge me. There was no reason for me to say no other than my feelings of being butt hurt. I deemed those irrelevant.”
Like Oliver had said, a decent man through and through. “When I realized the truth, I wasn’t upset with you either. Or angry or jealous. Don’t you think that’s strange?”
“Not really. You have no reason to be because we both know Adar worships the ground you walk on and hardly knows I exist.”
They’d never find the answer going back and forth like this. Arguments could be made for either side, so they weren’t going to solve it by talking about it. “I want you to spend time with him.”
Delton gaped at him. “Excuse me?”
“You have my permission to spend time with him, with or without me present. And not just for when he needs you for the impact play. Hang out with him, talk to him, maybe do something together. Give him a chance to get to know you.”
Delton opened his mouth, then closed it again, a deep frown line appearing on his forehead. “I don’t understand. Why would you want that?”
Wait, Oliver was still holding Delton’s hand. How had he not realized that? They’d been holding hands this whole time, and it hadn’t even registered with him. Another layer to the whole mystery. “If you’re right about being wrong about you and Adar, I have nothing to fear, now do I? I know he and I are mates, and I also know he’d never cheat on me. The man is far too honorable for that.”
“Agreed.”
“But if I’m right and we are a triad, this will prove it. He will see the truth, and things will change.”
Delton was quiet for a long time. “Do you really think we belong together?”
His voice was barely audible, and it hurt Oliver. “I’m not ready to rule it out, so why not try my way and see where it takes us?”
“I still think you’re wrong, but if we do this…” Delton blew out a breath. “You can’t tell him. I don’t want him to know and feel pressured. Promise me you won’t tell him.”
“I promise.”
“And it has to be about more than Adar and me spending time together. I want to hang out with you too.”
He was right. Not only that, but his proposal sparked joy inside Oliver. Funny, but he was looking forward to getting to know Delton better. If that didn’t prove that things weren’t as clear-cut as they had seemed, what did? So yeah, they would spend some time together, the three of them, and see what happened. Because if Oliver’s gut was right, he didn’t have just one mate. He had two.
Now, all he needed to do was convince them.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rhene had been uneasy from the second Erwan had left. Letting him go had been the right choice. No way was Rhene depriving his mate of the opportunity to say goodbye to his mom. At least, that was Rhene’s guess of what was going on. Somehow, Erwan’s clan had been able to get a message to him, which proved how urgent it had been. Rhene could think of only one thing that could be that pressing and didn’t involve Rhene himself.
So no, Rhene wasn’t going to let his apprehensions about the trouble brewing get the better of him and prevent his mate from leaving. If nothing else, not having to worry about Erwan was a load off his mind. He was always far more concerned about Erwan’s safety than his own. Now, he could focus on the situation at hand, namely the omegas led by Zacharias.
After Erwan had teleported away—and what a freaking surreal experience to see his mate disappear from one second to the next—Gregor had suspended the meeting. He’d had little choice because no one had known what to do after all the turmoil, Gregor included. How could they continue the meeting when two of the clans had been disbanded? The True Doyle clan had now become the only Doyle clan, but its king was absent. And the Murphy clan had ceased to exist. That left the O’Connors, who seemed to be in shock, and the Fitzgeralds.
Fergal had ordered extra tents to be pitched in his quarter of the camp, and all the omegas who wanted to join the Doyle clan had gathered there. Rhene shouldn’t have been surprised they’d brought no personal possessions with them, yet it hit him hard. Some of them had been with their clans for over a hundred years, but they walked away with empty hands. How heartbreaking was that?
“The Murphys are still here,” Gregor said early the next day, after a night in which no one had slept much. How could they, when they’d experienced the hateful stares of the Murphys and Erwan’s father and uncle?
“Do you have cause to remove them from the camp?” Rhene asked.
“Cause? Absolutely. But the problem is carrying it out. We’re dealing with some powerful alphas, and I don’t know how they’ll react when we tell them to leave. If they decide to fight, I’m not sure we stand a chance.”
That confirmed what Rhene had already suspected. “You’re not sure your clan members will have your back.”
“Most of the alphas are not happy with the course Fergal is taking, so no, I’m not expecting much support from our clan. Right now, I only trust two people other than myself, and that’s Fergal and you.”
