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“Everyone in our pack knows what Tyler did to you and your brother, Sariel. You don’t have to force yourself to like us.”
I breathed out slowly, more than a bit embarrassed that my trauma was well-known in her circle. The anger that tried to burn through me was easier to stifle than it would have been a few months ago.
I gave her a look, unable to resist the correction that followed it. “Not just Tyler.”
“No, not just him,” she sighed in agreement. “But the others are either dead or with Azazel still. Thank you for not taking it out on all of us.”
I nodded, knowing damn well that before Aria, I’d have been beside myself if they’d been anywhere near me, much less looking for me to protect them. Even though we’d spent these last few months together, I hadn’t managed to shake my aversion to the fallen-bloods entirely. It would take longer than that to wash away all of my issues; I figured not being an asshole at every turn could be a good start.
“It’s not your fault you were saddled with a bunch of assholes,” I finally managed to choke out, and she laughed.
“I guess you’re right.”
Pursing her lips, she stared at the kids playing for a long moment. “A lot of us didn’t agree with what they did to you, but nobody was brave enough to stand up to Tyler over it. Just like how we didn’t stand up to him over what he did to his brother. Everyone knew he was going feral, but he was one of the strongest wolves in our pack—our Alpha. We all owe you an apology, so… I’ll be the first.”
Small, dark hands wrapped around one of mine as she shifted to stand in front of me, making sure to look me in the eye. “I’m sorry, Sariel.”
It’s a genuine apology. Regret was written within every line of her face. I was suddenly nauseous to be standing there with her.
“It’s fine. Thank you.”
I left Tiana with a gruffer goodbye than she really deserved, suddenly eager to finish out my rounds so that I could do anything but be alone with my thoughts. The sick feeling lingered even after I’d snatched my hand away and scurried off with my tail tucked between my legs, wishing I wasn’t so fucking damaged that the barest of kindnesses threw me into a spiral.
I didn’t stop feeling seconds from puking until I was halfway through my patrol, where I paused long enough to breathe through another wave of dizziness that seemed to be a twisted farewell from whatever malfunction I had with basic decency. Reaching for the bond, I was relieved to feel my mate on the other end, which staved off another upset and gave me the strength to keep going.
Holding onto her, I breathed out slowly, letting myself bask in our bond. It had become my rock ever since I’d come back from Hell, holding me together, if only barely. After spending so long without it, I couldn’t stand how it felt to be completely alone.
Maybe that was its own issue, but I’d deal with it when I had to.
After digging a little deeper, I smiled to myself.
Aria was giggling away with Reese as I neared the end of my route. While I didn’t have the full scope of the conversation, her joy and embarrassment were cute. It was like a balm being smeared across my wounds, knowing that she was happy and safe here.
Thatwecould be happy and safe here.
Kiran was more than happy to relieve me, giving me his usual friendly greeting, and I nearly forgot I’d wanted to ask him about reading more of the stories from the book Atlan had shown us. I was a bit embarrassed by my own interest, considering he’d made it sound like nothing more than a bunch of love stories; obviously, he’d written them off as unimportant in the long run.
“Wait, really?” Kiran seemed surprised, then laughed softly.
“Yeah, Aria was curious about them.” I was too, but his grin had a distinctly mischievous edge that I’d learned not to trust, so I knew better than to let on. “And Atlan said you might be willing to translate.”
“He hasn’t let me touch that damn thing since he brought it home,” he mused.
I frowned. “Wait, he went and got it himself? I thought for sure someone had brought it over for you two.”
Kiran was shaking his head before I even finished, looking somehow more amused than before. “Absolutely not. My brother is a bit of a control freak, you see, so when Aria came calling for some help with the bond, he decided he’d have to go collect the information for her the moment he got some free time.”
If I didn’t know better, it might have bothered me how invested the twins were in my mate. Luckily for all of us, they were equally interested in me, and for some reason, that seemed to balance my hindbrain out nicely.
“Well, that was… nice of him.”
Kiran shrugged like this wasn’t unusual for him. I was a bit hung up on the fact thatAtlanwas the one who’d gone out of his way to do something like that; Kiran had always struck me as the more friendly of the two.
“He’s a softie,” he said. “Don’t tell him I told you that, though. Have a good night, Sariel! I’ll catch you two the next time I have a free moment and see about having a little story time for you both.”
Waggling his fingers, he spun on his heel and headed off, whistling to himself.
Rubbing at my chest, I willed the uncomfortable warmth that had settled there away just as Aria came into view, heading down from the training fields.
