“Why don’t you come in?”he snarked.
“This is because of what happened to you yesterday, isn’t it?”she asked, raising her phone.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t be an idiot.That wasn’t a tree,” she said, waving at Ryan’s face.
“It could’ve been a tree with hands.”
She shook her head.“You’re not funny, Ryan.What actually happened to you?”
Ryan sighed.“I was cornered by two assholes.They pushed me around a bit and told me I didn’t belong.It’s nothing I didn’t expect.”
“They hurt you.”
“One of them slapped me.That’s all that happened, I promise.”He wasn’t going to tell her that something worse might have happened if Seth hadn’t intervened.She was freaked out enough as it was.
Madeleine shook her head.“Maybe coming here was a mistake.I know I insisted that we had to, but I didn’t expect this.I should have.I should’ve thought about it more, but I was scared.”
Ryan reached out to take his sister’s hand.“We did what we had to do.We kept our family safe, and we gave Alyssa a home.I don’t want you to worry about what’s happening.It was nothing.”
Madeleine didn’t look convinced, but unfortunately, they didn’t have a lot of time.They’d need to be at the biggest communal building in less than an hour.“Let’s go,” Ryan said gently as he guided the sister toward the door.“There’s nothing else to talk about.I’m fine, and that’s not going to change.”
“The alpha wouldn’t be having this meeting if he didn’t think this was serious.”Madeleine frowned.“When did you talk to him?”
Ryan grimaced.“I didn’t.I wasn’t going to tell him, but someone saw what was happening.”
“They went to the alpha?”
“Well, the person who saw this was the alpha mate’s brother, so I guess he felt he had to.”
Madeleine looked horrified.“God, I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this mess.”
“There’s no mess for you to get out of.Nothing happened.I got slapped once, and that’s it.”
“That was one too many times, Ryan.”
Ryan’s cheek agreed, but what could he say?He didn’t want his sister to worry.It was already too late for that, clearly, but he hoped that the meeting would smooth things over.
Unfortunately, there was also a possibility that it would make things worse.He couldn’t stop thinking about that as they joined their parents and Alyssa and left the house.Ryan’s mother kept wondering what was happening and what the meeting was for out loud, while his father kept glancing his way.He knew what the meeting was for.He had to.
Ryan hated this.He wished he’d thought to ask Seth not to tell anyone, but he suspected that Seth would have even if he had.He probably felt he owed it to his brother-in-law, and Ryan didn’t blame him.He didn’t blame anyone but the two idiots who’d attacked him yesterday.If they hadn’t done that, everything would be fine.Instead, Ryan and his family were forced to attend a meeting along with the entire pack.
He could feel people staring at him as soon as they walked into the building.He raised his head high as he and his family joined the other mages, who were huddling together at the back of the room.Hopefully, no one was about to get kicked out of the pack, but if someone was, Ryan hoped it would only be him.None of the other mages had been involved in what had happened yesterday.They didn’t deserve to pay for any of it.Neither did Ryan, but if he had to sacrifice himself so that everyone else would be safe, he would.At the same time, he hoped that Chance was the alpha everyone thought him to be.
If he wasn’t, well.It wouldn’t bode well for Ryan.
* * * *
AS ALWAYS, WHEN THEYhad to deal with the core of the pack, Seth stayed close to his family.They might not technically be their own pack anymore, but in his mind, they’d always belong together, more so than they did with the pack.He’d never tell his brother that, but he’d felt like that since they’d moved in, and he suspected that wouldn’t change anytime soon.It didn’t have to.Seth didn’t have to feel like he belonged to want to be here.
“Do you know what this is about?”Thomas asked in a whisper.
Seth glanced around the room.From what he knew, this building was usually used for celebrations.It was a tight fit now because of all the new pack members, but everyone fit anyway.Some people had to stand because all the chairs were taken, and of course, those people were mages.They’d gathered at the back of the room and were huddled together, visibly worried as they talked to each other.
“Because I heard that Chance is going to announce he’s about to marry Theo,” Thomas continued.
Seth snorted.“Please.As if they’d tell us with everyone else.”
