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“Oh, come on.”
His big hands are hot and heavy as he lays them on my upper arms. They’re a brand on my skin, his fingertips digging in just enough to realize that he’s still super serious. This isn’t the Alpha trying to pull rank on me. This is Ryker being vulnerable with me again. Open with me.
Honest.
“I went too long without you. I finally got you back.” His voice goes low and throaty as he bends his knees, putting us on the same level. I’m lost in his gaze, his unblinking stare locked on my face. “I won’t let anyone get between us, sweetheart. Especially not Trish. Not again.”
Oof.
That one hurt.
And I know perfectly well that that’s not what Ryker meant to happen. Maybe last night, after I went to see Aleks without telling him, he wanted to land his punches. But now? He’s just trying his damndest to make me see why he’s so adamant that I give up on her.
But I can’t.
I can’t.
I lift the invitation. “It doesn’t say I can’t bring anyone with me. How’s that for a compromise? You come with me, we both stick our middle fingers up at Walker, and we leave with Trish. Then you won’t have to worry about me getting into trouble, and I’ll have you watching my back.”
For a moment, I think I might’ve convinced him. Either that, or he’s regretting the hurt that escaped down our bond for I could stop it.
And then he sighs. “That’s a really great idea, and I wish it would work. But it can’t. I’m the Alpha, Gemma. If I leave, who will protect the rest of Mountainside?”
Is that all he’s worried about? “Warren can do it. He’s your Beta.”
Ryker gives his head a quick jerk. Another no, but something about this one has my stomach tightening.
Uh-oh. What don’t I know?
“Why not?”
“I didn’t get the chance to tell you last night, but that was what I had to deal with when you went down to Muncie. The emergency pack meet? Warren came to me and told me that he’s stepping down at Beta effective immediately. There is no Beta right now.”
Great. Our temporary Beta wants out and there’s no one in line to take his place. Ryker’s right. He couldn’t come with me to California even if I wanted him to. And a pack without an Alpha or a Beta is just begging to be attacked.
And how much do I want to bet that Walker is waiting for a situation just like that?
I’m not giving up yet, though. Not yet.
“What if…” A brilliant idea hits me. “What if I bring a couple of my guards with me? You already trust them to watch over me. You stay here and keep the rest of the pack safe while me and a couple of the guys fly out west, grab Trish, and bring her home. We’ll be gone one, two days tops. Then we can put this behind us. What do you think?”
“You would do that? Willingly bring Jace or Dorian or any of the others with you?”
Moving into him, I grab his shirt, clutching the material as I tilt my head back to look up at him. I have to make him understand. “He won’t stop. You know that. I know that. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants. But the thing is… I don’t know what he wants. Going there could change that. We need to be prepared.”
What I don’t say is that, if we’d been prepared, this never would’ve happened. Trish would still be in Accalia, and we wouldn’t be having this argument.
Ryker exhales softly. I know then that the ‘no’ has become a pretty shaky ‘maybe’.
“Let’s bring this to the pack council,” he says at last. “You’re right. This isn’t just about me and you. We’re the Alpha couple. This is a pack issue. Let’s see what the council says about your idea. Deal?”
Lifting up on my tippy-toes, I press a kiss to the underside of his jaw. “Deal.”
