He holds his hands up, his palms facing me. “Just hear me out, okay? It’s a simple solution to the wholeI’m human and therefore forever in danger of losing all my memoriesissue.” He gasps a little at the end, talking so fast that he forgot to breathe.
“Spit it out,” Donovan grumbles, dropping his hand from his shoulder so he can cross his arms over his chest.
As Felix stumbles over his words, Nolan sighs and then simply states, “He wants to be made into my thrall.”
“That.” Felix points with one hand while touching a finger to his nose with the other hand.
I blink at them for a stunned moment, my mind stuttering over what I know about thralls and then applying that to Felix. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot, and it solves a bunch of problems. I’d be supernatural adjacent enough that my memories would be free and clear. No more lying, which you know I’m bad at, and no more having to figure out where to stash the human when you all have important supernatural stuff to do.” He rubs the back of his neck again while looking at me with pleading eyes. “And I wouldn’t be anyone’s thrall. I’d be Nolan’s thrall, and we already hashed out what that would be like.”
Compassion and understanding cross Kaleb’s features. “Felix’s fears are certainly not unfounded, especially with theincreased attention we’re all getting. Are you sure this is what you want?”
Felix nods his head, clearly relieved that Kaleb isn’t fighting the idea. “Nolan walked me through all the terms and conditions. I know what I’m getting myself into, and it’s worth it to me so I can stay with all of you and make sure I never forget you.”
“If it’s what you want, then I support you,” Kaleb states, which is odd for him, considering he is usually very big on examining all potential issues before endorsing one of our crazy plans.
Donovan raises one of his heavy brows. “How exactly do you all plan to get the coven to agree to Nolan taking a thrall? Especially after all they went through to cure him, making it possible for him to drink bagged blood again.”
“My grandmother should be able to provide medical justification. She believes all vampires should consume fresh blood when possible. However, convincing Mildred to allow it…” Nolan drops a weighted gaze onto me.
“You wantmeto convince my nan to allow ‘James’” — I finger quote with my free hand— “to be made into a thrall because your grandmother says so?”
Felix’s eyes turn sad puppy round, and he puts his hands together. “Please.”
Usually, the sad puppy eyes don’t work on me—I have more than enough experience with the wolf version—but on Felix, it’s impossible. I have a hard time denying him anything, especially since I’m heavily responsible for him being in this predicament in the first place. “Fine, I’ll do my best to convince her.” I point at Nolan. “Get me something good to help my case,because ‘his grandmother said so’ probably isn’t going to fly on its own.”
He nods, while Felix shoots his arms into the air. “Yes!”
While my thoughts migrate to how I’m even going to broach the subject with my nan, with an amused grin, Mei comments, “Lunch is always interesting with you guys. I used to read books alone while I ate. Now, I have my own soap opera playing every day.The Young and the Restlesshave nothing on you all.”
She absently trades Rand a mochi for another cookie. He excitedly bites into the rice candy, clearly pleased with the exchange of food. If she isn’t careful, she’s going to end up with a smitten wolf dropping off a freshly hunted deer on her doorstep so her parents will know what a good provider he’ll be. I’ve seen the offerings while on pack land and made sure Connor was very aware that Mildred wouldn’t appreciate any dead animals on her doorstep.
I release Nolan so I can bury my head in my hands. To think, I was expecting calculus to be the most challenging part of my day today. Speaking of… “You two are doing all my homework for the next two weeks.”
Felix and Nolan agree without argument. They are both scared of Mildred, and my homework is far less terrifying than the huge task they just dropped in my lap.
Chapter 7
Connor
The fresh scent of cedar from my new desk fills the recently renovated alpha’s office, offering a hint of calm to the extremely painful experience of going over the pack’s financial reports. I hate paperwork, and math frustrates me, but even though we have someone directly responsible for tracking our finances, I have to sign off on every weekly report. Sam, my second, has made it clear she’ll come for my balls if I dare to sign something without reading it first. She’s right, of course, but mierde, this whole process is exhausting.
Using my finger to follow the lines of color coded numbers, I notice a lot of red and the steady depletion of our savings. It’s concerning, but definitely not surprising, because supporting two packs takes a lot of resources. Sighing, I sign the bottom, approving the payment of goods and services we can’t manage ourselves. The sheet goes into the completed pile, and I groan when the next report I need to review is about our depleting inventory reserves. Apparently, we’re going through concerning amounts of fresh produce, leaving less for the canning and preserves we’ll need in the winter.
There’s a muted conversation outside the door that I try to ignore when Sam barges in without knocking. She has a frustrated gleam in her blue eyes, and her black, pixie short hair pokes out in wild directions. I wave off the two betas who guard the door, their expressions clearly distressed about not stopping her abrupt entrance. Being second means she has more authority than they do, but I made it clear I wasn’t to be disturbed. Paperwork is hard enough without constantly being interrupted.
The betas sigh with relief and then close the door behind them. It’s going to take a long time for the mental scars my father left on the pack to fade. Once they heal, hopefully they will trust that they won’t be punished for things outside of their control. Sam is a force of nature I’m grateful for, but even I have a hard time standing in the way of what she wants.
She strides forward until my desk is all that stands between us and plants her fists firmly on her hips. “So did your mate talk some sense into you?” She points to the stack of paperwork in front of me. “The numbers don’t lie. We’re running out of resources to support our own pack, and the reports don’t account for the increasing unrest. It’s your job to do what’s best forourpack, and forcing us to support these freeloaders is doing the opposite. Patience is wearing thin, and you need to do something about it now.” She grips her hair with both hands and gazes up at the ceiling. “Look, I know it’s hard with your mom, but she doesn’t have to be here for you to reconnect.” She drops her hands and looks at me. “Honestly, some space might be good for both of you.”
I flash her a tired smile. “You done?”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she leans her weight onto her back foot and narrows her eyes. “Do you want me togo on? Because I can. There are a lot of fires I’ve had to put out because of what’s happening. I’m happy to give you specifics.”
Holding up the inventory report, I reply, “I get it.” As I put it back down, myreina’swarning echoes in my thoughts. If I don’t listen to Sam, Callie will solve it her way, which I doubt would end pleasantly for the visiting pack. With a sigh, I add, “You’re right.”
“I know I am.” She holds my gaze without a shred of fear.
