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“It’s fine, Blair. He’s right,” Pike says once it becomes clear that Serena won’t be coming down. “I don’t have an excuse or even an answer, not really. All I can say is I wasn’t going to hurt her. We weren’t hunting her like that…” His words trail off. His face screws up as he thinks about it, and I get the feeling he’s just as lost as we are, if not more so, because it was his beast.
“It was different from the hunts we go on for food or to let off steam. It was as if she was a magnet, pulling us to her. There wasn’t anything else, just the all-consuming need to get to her, be near her, bathe in her scent—.” He snaps his mouth shut, cutting himself off as if just realizing how that might sound.
Crazy.
That’s how it should sound, but it doesn’t. None of the others say as much, either, so at least we can agree on that.
“I still don’t like it,” Lyle snaps, turning away from Blair and continuing to pace.
“You don’t have to like it. We have bigger things to worry about. Like actual threats to Serena,” Blair counters, sitting back down.
“We need to form our own pack.” The second Lyle says the words, we all start talking at once.
He holds up his hand to stop us, and we fall silent. “I know she doesn’t want it, but it’s the only way I know for us to stand a chance at keeping her safe. I’m not saying we have to mate, but a legally binding pack is much harder to go against, and you all know it.”
He’s right, and with Pike stepping down from the Ashwood pack, I don’t assume Victor is done with us. No matter how much stronger we might be than him, he doesn’t seem like the type to stop when he’s ahead. We all know we haven’t seen the last of him. Or Harlow, especially not after Pike’s display with Serena. I can’t imagine the slap in the face she felt knowing Pike did all this for her and still chose her, even over Storm.
It’s deserved, but fuck if it won’t be a problem. Harlow is always a problem.
“She won’t like it,” Blair says matter-of-factly before he runs a hand through his short hair, messing it up further. It’s the only sign he shows this wearing on him, but it makes me feel better knowing we’re all facing this decision together. “But it is our best bet, her best bet. Figure it out, and we can bring it to her, together.”
“We can’t make it seem like we’re doing it just to keep her safe. She thinks we’re giving up our lives, our chances at happiness for her, and that we’ll regret it.” Storm scoffs, rolling his eyes.
It’s ridiculous that she would think that. She knows we don’t think of her as a burden. Yet she still can’t seem to imagine a world where we would want to be tied to her forever. It doesn’t help that most of these assholes couldn’t explain why they would want to until Garrett came along.
Not that I can say much. Even knowing how I felt, I’d never had the balls to tell her.
“We’ll figure that out after I get everything together,” Lyle says, heading around the couch and down the hall. He's clearly done with this conversation and no doubt gone to bury himself in research to try and fix everything.
Pike stands and disappears next, and Blair leaves a moment later. Neither says a word. Pike’s so lost in his head that I’m surprised he doesn’t run into the wall. But Blair pauses before he leaves, looking at Storm momentarily before he turns to me. It takes effort not to shrink under the weight of his gaze. Even after being friends for so long, it still feels like he’s looking right through me into my fucking soul.
I turn to Storm, curious why he’s still waiting around, only to find him still looking up at the ceiling.
“Storm!” I call.
He takes a second, but when he finally looks my way, I feel like I’m looking at a stranger.
He has dark circles under his eyes that tell me he probably hasn’t been sleeping well, if at all. Storm is usually standoffish, but right now he lacks his usual go-fuck-yourself face. Instead, he looks blank, as if he doesn’t have any emotions at all. He only looks my way for a second before his eyes flick back toward the ceiling again, like he thinks if he just stares hard enough, he might see her through the floor.
He’s losing it.
But why?
Is it because of what happened tonight? I don’t think so, or at least, that’s not all of it. Things have been going sideways a lot the last few weeks, but we’ve dealt with shit in the past, and I’ve never seen him like this before.
Is it the bond?
I’ve never heard of an accidental bond or one that wasn’t fully formed. Maybe it’s taking a toll on him.
Before I can think of a way to ask him, he pushes to stand in a rush.
“I need to go do something, keep myself busy.”
His movements are almost jerky as he steps around me toward the hall.
“Wait!” I shout, my voice louder than I intended, as I rush after him.
“Storm…” I trail off, unsure how to ask him the question that’s been eating at me for days now.
