I shake my head, not wanting to talk about it. I need to tell him about Ghost, but at the same time… what if he tries to make Ghost stay?
I don’t want Grayson to have to convince my fourth mate to stay.
Instead of explaining, I deflect. “Have the wolves ever worked with witches before?”
Gray slows the truck, then pulls off to the side of the dirt road, and we idle. Likely to give us more time alone. Downtown isn’t very large, and we’ll be there in less than a minute, but here, there’s nothing on either side of the road but trees.
“Yes. Witches and shifters have gone through periods where they worked together, then against each other, and so on. It’s always been this way. Same as humans. One side or the other always clamors for more power, eventually.”
“More power or subjugation?”
Grayson shrugs. “Is there a difference?”
I don’t like that answer, even if it’s honest. “I’ve never heard of someone like Ghost… being half-shifter, half-witch… is that common? Or is it just because the two groups don’t mingle?”
“It’s not common. Both, because the groups don’t mingle, and also because it shouldn’t be possible. I’ve heard of it happening before, but it’s one of those urban legends… you know someone who knows someone… Ghost is the only shifter I’ve ever actually met that is half-witch. I didn’t even know that until you were kidnapped. Kendrick eventually admitted to me and Orion his parentage.”
That makes sense, given what I’ve learned about him. “Do you know anything about his parents, or where he came from?”
Grayson eyes me like he can see right through my question. His brows furrow. A strand of dark hair, which had fallen from the leather strap holding his hair back, falls in his face.
The way the light catches his features makes my breath catch for a moment. As if he can hear my thoughts, he smirks, but answers my question. “I know very little about the man. You probably know more than I do, having been on the road with him for days. He was at the compound, infiltrated the witches. He was there and dropped their ward, which allowed us to break in and save Lily. By then, Deidre had already escaped, but Ghostwent with her and Silas, still undercover. Then… I guess you know the rest.
“I know Ghost isn’t very old. Like, sixty, seventy or something. He grew up in Kendrick’s clan, but never accepted his land as his home. When there are issues, Kendrick sends Ghost in to assess and report back, or eliminate the problem. He has the nickname because he either leaves no one alive, or because he—apparently, now I know uses magic—cloaks himself so he’s never seen.”
That isn’t much more than I could have guessed. None of which explains why he doesn’t want me. God, I’m so fucking full of myself. Everyone tells me I’m an omega and I’m special, so why wouldn’t he want me?
He does want you, Beep says.It isn’t about you.
What does that mean?I ask her. Silas said the same thing.
Not everything is about you, she replies haughtily. That sure is funny coming from the same wolf who told me my mates should grovel and bow at my feet.
Beep, hearing my reflective thoughts, elaborates,He wants you, but he doesn’t know how. He’s not ready. Give him time. He will not leave you. But keep trying. Do not give up.
Grayson is smiling. He’s used to it now, me talking to Beep. He says my expression changes. He can tell she and I are arguing because I look more annoyed than usual.
“I spent days with Ghost, and I still know nothing about him. He’s smart. He likes to read. He likes history, to know things. And he’s strong. The ward he built around the cabin kept us safe through the worst of it.”
“The worst of it?” he asks cautiously.
Then I remember. He doesn’t know. “My heat,” I say quietly. A little ashamed.
Dawning lands. “That’s why you bonded,” he says.
I nod.
“Silas took care of you?”
I nod. Tears prick my eyes. Silas may have accepted me, but I still forced him into… I suck in a breath. Gray’s fingertips gently coax my chin, and I turn to face him.
“Are you okay?”
I shake my head frantically. And as my emotions bubble up, I can feel Silas there, in our bond. Orion, too. Soothing me. They don’t know what’s wrong, but they can feel my anguish. I try to hide it, but it’s like my omega has a mind of her own, because she only stretches her pain wider, further, so they can all feel it. Grayson soothes me, tucking me close to his chest in the cab of his rusted truck, for the second time in an hour. His purr calms me, but I still feel so bad about what happened.
“Tell me,” he says gruffly.
“My heat came on. The magic, from when they took me, kept it at bay, but once the magic burned off, my heat came on so strong. Silas was there. And he didn’t want to have sex with me, didn’t want to bond. But it happened anyway, because I couldn’t control myself, and I forced him, and how can he want to be with just another person who took without permission—”
