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I didn’t ask for any of this. All I wanted to do was find a way to be free of Uncle Clint. Somehow, I managed to get myself caught up in a different kind of prison.
“Gentlemen!” Elder Jihoon booms in a voice much stronger than I ever expected out of his mouth. The man is small and lithe, so withered a brisk wind could probably knock him off balance. Yet his boom nearly shakes the walls.
My eyes blink open and I gape at the old man in the sudden silence. He hasn’t moved—hasn’t even lifted a hand—but all three shifters have stopped speaking over one another. This man is an elder for a reason more than just his age, apparently. All the men seem to have great respect for both elders, and so did the people back at the barn. They must carry a special status amongst the pack.
“Ultimately,” Elder Jihoon says firmly, “Sable’s wolf will be the one to decide which of you she forms her bond with. When her wolf is ready to come out, she will make her choice.”
“Is there a way to bring her wolf out?” Trystan asks.
“No, we cannot force her out.” Elder Jihoon shakes his head, looking a bit scandalized by the idea. “She will emerge in her own due time. However, putting her somewhere safe and secure with her possible mates could help coax her out. Being alone with you would help the wolf decide.”
I’m too tired and my nerves are too frayed to complain, though I’m tired of being talked about as if I’m not even in the room. Do I get a say in this? The Sable that isn’t a wolf—doesn’t her opinion matter?
Because right now, I just want to go curl back up beneath the covers on Ridge’s bed and pretend none of this is happening. And I definitely don’t want any of them trying to force out a wolf I’m not entirely ready to face. One I’m not sure I even believe exists.
I’ve spent enough of my life having no say in my fate. I don’t want to be at the mercy of any man, no matter how sweet he is.
None of those thoughts make it past my numb lips though, so the conversation continues unabated around me.
“Not to mention,” Elder Barton says, “it’s safer for a new wolf on the verge of bonding to be separated from the rest of the pack. Is there a safe way to achieve that?”
“The mating cabin.” Ridge glances around the room. “It’s empty right now.”
Elder Barton lets out a long, low whistle and shakes his head. “You know I respect your authority as alpha, but I’m not so sure going to a remote mountain cabin is safe for any of us right now. Not given the recent witch activity in the area.”
“We wouldn’t be alone,” Ridge points out, tilting his head in Archer and Trystan’s direction. “The three of us can handle trouble.”
Elder Jihoon chuckles. “The three of you together, alone, would be trouble. You would need a chaperone.”
Ridge shrugs. “If we’re all three committed to pursuing a bond with Sable, it’s our only option.”
Straightening from his position on the couch’s arm, Archer nods. “Then it’s agreed. We’ll take her to the cabin and spend time with her there until her wolf emerges and chooses its mate.”
“We’ll keep her safe,” Trystan agrees, though he doesn’t make a move to step away from the wall.
Then every gaze in the room turns to me.
I freeze, still slouching in the corner of the couch as if I could sink beneath the cushions and hide. They’re looking at me expectantly.
“Um. What?” I ask, my voice small and tinny.
Ridge touches my knee, dipping his head a little to catch my darting gaze. “Do you agree?”
“About going to a remote location with three strange men?” I clarify, hoping they’re all smart enough to hear the madness of that statement. If the words don’t get them, maybe the note of hysteria in my voice will.
But nobody even blinks.
They’re serious.
I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what any of this means.
I can’t deny I’m drawn to them. The way my body reacted of its own accord back in the council’s barn shocked the hell out of me. And to be honest, the strange pull I feel toward each of them is the only reason I haven’t leapt to my feet and made another run for it.
Something is there inside me. Something that senses them. That knows them.
But my self-preservation instinct currently has the floor. The longer they stare, unblinking, unmoving, the more the panic finally presses through.
My heart kicks up its pace, and I’m on my feet before I even realize I’ve thought about standing. I back away from them, even as it occurs to me that I’m backing in the opposite direction from the door.
