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20
Calvin
Ivy’s been quiet since our shower. She hasn’t been sullen. Not really. She’s been stuck in her head, mulling things over on her own that we could be discussing together.
I remind her of exactly that when she folds one of Leo’s shirts and tucks it into the duffel bag we found in his hall closet.
Her shoulders lower as she sighs. “I know. And thanks for the reminder. I guess I do that—get too in my head when I’m stuck on a puzzle.” She motions to her midsection. “I’ve got a sick, unsettled feeling in my gut, Calvin. I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s not good.”
I nod, wishing I didn’t know what she meant. “My stomach is knotted, too, and I fed before we got in the car.” I go out on a limb and voice the thing I’ve been thinking. “This isn’t going to go well—Leo telling his pack about the tether. I’ve been certain of it the whole way here. But he can’t not tell them. It’s not the kind of thing that can stay secret.”
Her head bobs while she packs up more of Leo’s clothing. “That’s what I’m trying not to worry about. I don’t want anything bad happening to him. His pack wouldn’t hurt him, would they? I mean, he’s still their Alpha.”
I shrug. “I’m not terribly familiar with the code of conduct when a shifter turns his back on finding a mate among his kind and turns to a different race altogether. I mean, that’s never happened before. It’s illegal, for one. Hopefully Leo’s just sticking to the tethering, and not telling them the sordid details of our affection.”
She shoots me a withering look. “Hello, I’m not his mate. That’s not a thing.”
I quirk my eyebrow, my tone mocking hers. “Hello, that’s exactly what’s happening. Do you need to examine our tattoos again?”
Her hip juts to the side, her chocolate waves falling over her shoulder. “That has nothing to do with mating, and you know it. That’s a pack thing.”
I fold my arms over my chest and straighten the items atop Leo’s narrow dresser, so they have some order to them. “Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean I’m wrong. He’s mated to you. Tell me you can’t feel him. You know he’s anxious and that he might be walking into a bad situation because you’re his mate.”
She harrumphs at me. “Which again, is impossible. I’m feeling all the same things you are about this. Are you Leo’s mate, too?”
I didn’t consider that. “I… I don’t know.”
“Well, I know that shifters can’t mate outside their own kind, so let’s deal with one impossibility at a time before we lose our heads to what ifs.”
“Okay, okay. Then best-case scenario, we’re part of Leo’s pack, and that’s why we’re protective of him.”
She nods once, her mouth in a firm line as she takes his gym shorts out of the drawer and folds them into the duffel.
“Nice of you to pack Leo an overnight bag,” I comment, trying to ease the tension.
She nods again, keeping her eyes on her task. She’s packing far more clothes than he’ll need for a night or two, and I’m not going to try to stop her. Truthfully, I wouldn’t mind them staying with me for far longer.
My body shivers at the notion of sharing my life with the two of them. I don’t know if it’s a good idea or a bad one, but either way, my body has an opinion about it.
When Ivy moves to the dresser again, she hisses when she stubs her toe on the leg of the solid bedframe. “Ouch!”
My hand is on hers in the next second, lowering her to sit on the bed so I can inspect the source of discomfort. She’s not bleeding, thank the stars. One crisis at a time.
The sting of her toe seems to set her worries loose. They spill out of her unbidden, as if she has been teetering on the edge of her nerves, and this small incident has pushed her one step too far. “I don’t know what I’m doing here!” she frets. “Something is wrong, Calvin. Leo shouldn’t be here! I know he needs to talk to his pack, but…”
“But something is wrong?” I repeat, leaning so I’m in her eyeline.
She nods frantically. “And a thigh tattoo? That’s not part of a witch’s tether! A witch can’t orchestrate who is in a shifter’s pack. How is this possible?”
I massage her foot lightly. “I wish I had answers, little snack. I’m working with the same tossed-out rulebook as you, and none of it is making a lick of sense to me either. I…” But my words still when I feel a tearing across my chest. It’s a phantom pain, but even as I glance down to verify that nothing has happened to me, I realize that I am not feeling an assault aimed at me, but an echo of one that is currently happening to Leo.
Ivy’s hand moves to her chest, and I know she felt it, too. “Leo!” She is off the bed and racing down the steps to the front door with me following on her heels.
Only I don’t want her going out there. I don’t want her to see Leo hurt, and I definitely don’t want the shifters to catch a glimpse of the woman this controversy is centered around. I grab her arm and draw her to the side of the entryway, so she doesn’t burst through it and run straight into trouble. “Stay inside!” I warn her. “I’ll handle this with Leo.”
“What? No! I’m not leaving the two of you to fight this while I sit here and do nothing!”
I don’t have time to break the news to her gently that she won’t be more than a liability in this situation. “What use will you be in fighting off a pack of bears? Get his things and wait right here. I’ll come for you when it’s safe. Lock this door behind me and do not open it for anyone but Leo or myself.” I grab her face when she opens her mouth to argue. “Do you understand?”
