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I got dressed and put on my shoes, then jogged upstairs to the master bedroom.
Mathias was standing at the window staring out at the gray sky. “She shouldn’t have taken that risk. I didn’t ask her to do that.”
“I know.” I snagged his cane off the dresser and carried it over to him. “But you had a fever that wouldn’t break, and she was worried you hadn’t picked a second to lead the pack.”
His gaze met mine. “How do you know all that?”
“I talked to her last night.”
His eyes widened. “You were at the hospital?”
“I took her crystals back over to the shop when Ruby got the text that Lillian was in the hospital.” We were getting into dicey territory now. I couldn’t lie to my Alpha, but I also promised my mate I wouldn’t tell anyone about my wolf recognizing her. “I went with her…for moral support.”
Confusion lined his forehead. “Wasn’t the rest of the coven there?”
“A few were.” I concentrated on keeping my heartbeat steady. Because of our heightened hearing, we were like living, breathing lie detectors. Any jump in someone’s pulse could reveal a lie. “But I didn’t know that. Ruby was upset. I thought she could use a friend. That’s all.”
He took his cane, studying me. “Don’t get too fond of this witch.”
“Why?” This was the first I’d ever heard of any warning about befriending the coven members. Ruby had told me about Lillian’s rule, but I wanted to hear Mathias’s side of the story.
He leaned on his cane and looked outside again. “I only became Alpha because my Alpha had been bedding a witch from the Coven of Light. Their union produced twin werewolf boys with witch blood in their veins.” He shook his head. “No one can make that mistake again.”
“Was there something wrong with the boys or…”
His blue eyes focused on me again. “No supernatural should have as much power as those boys had. They were dangerous.”
“How so?”
He sized me up for a few seconds, narrowing his eyes. “Keep your distance from the witch, Zeke.”
I ground my teeth, fighting the urge to tell him Ruby was my mate. “You’re friendly with Lillian. What’s the difference?”
He got in my personal space, his whisper almost a hiss. “Lillian is not my mate. She is my friend. Nothing more.”
“What if you weren’t the Alpha of this pack and she weren’t a witch?”
He broke eye contact and went to the door. “I don’t wander down the path of what might have been. It’s too easy to lose your way.” He looked back at me. “Best you don’t, either.”
I followed him out without telling him how far down the path I’d already gone. Ruby was my mate. This wasn’t just wishful thinking; it was a fact.
If witches and werewolves weren’t supposed to be together, why had Fate marked her to be mine? Could it really be a cosmic mistake?
That would fucking figure.
I helped Mathias into my truck and headed for the hospital. I almost made it there before he finally asked, “Have you made a decision about being the new Alpha?”
I adjusted my grip on the steering wheel and kept my eyes forward. “If I say yes, it could tear the pack apart.”
“If you think they won’t respect your leadership, you underestimate yourself.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “Kiefer has already talked to the pack about what’s going on. He claims he’ll leave if I become the Alpha, and I think Jaron and Jackson might follow him.”
“I’ll talk to them.”
I rolled my eyes and glanced over at him. “I don’t want pack members to stay because they’re loyal to you. If I’m the Alpha, they’ll need to trust me, not you.”
His lips curved, and the lines around his eyes deepened. “Spoken like a true Alpha.”
