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I shrugged. “She is spending time with her, Patrick.” At the moment, I hated that guy. We were in the midst of an attack, and they were out there, doing whatever they wanted.
“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“You can’t tell me that nothing is wrong; you look like you’re about to lose your shit. What are they doing?”
“It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t need us right now. She is being taken care of.”
Eddie’s face probably mirrored mine when I saw them together.
“Looked like they were having sex. Out on the ridgeline at the edge of the ranch.”
Eddie’s face crumpled and he nodded like he understood. I didn’t understand it at all. Why was this something that I should have expected? It wasn’t.
“Why are you so calm about it? Didn’t you hear me? They are screwing right now.”
He shrugged. “Well, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
I was still lost. “What the hell was are you talking about?”
“She needs to break the bond with Amos, and the way to do that is to make a bond with someone else. The moon is full and it’s a great time to do it. We are fortunate that she did it now and he won’t be able to track her anymore. I hated the idea of that, so I am glad.”
“Glad? You really have lost your mind.”
“It is a good thing, Calvin, even if you can’t see it now. Once that bond is broken, he won’t be drawn to her. She’ll be free.”
I tried to see it his way, but all I really saw it as was someone else touching her and I hated the idea of it. Couldn’t he see that there was something more going on between the two of them?
“Why him and not one of us?” I asked. To me, that was the real question.
“Maybe it’s easier because they are in the same pack. I don’t know. Don’t let it get to you, Calvin. She’s ours, don’t worry, even if we have to share her.”
I grimaced; I was already doing that. I didn’t know if I could stretch that even more. It was a lot to ask, but I loved her, and I already knew that I would do what was asked of me. I couldn’t help it.
* * *
When we sawEliza and Patrick the next day, I was angry. I shared her with Eddie, we both were in the same boat, but now she had pulled another guy into the mix, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
I went up to Eliza, telling her that we’d missed her, and gave her a kiss. I needed it so that I could be assured that she was still mine. I wasn’t prepared to give her away. I heard growling next to me, but it didn’t make me stop.
“Get your hands off of my mate!” Patrick said.
I pulled back and turned to Patrick. “She is not your mate! She is ours! We have been here together for a month. You don’t get to pop up out of the blue and claim her.” The idea that this guy was going to come and change everything was laughable, and scary, all at the same time.
“We bonded and mated last night,” Eliza explained quietly.
I couldn’t believe she would do such a thing. It felt like a betrayal. This guy was not going to come and take her away. Eliza was not going back to the Bransom Country. She was mistreated there, and I didn’t want to think about her having to go through any of that again.
“I am sorry, Calvin. I was going to tell you about it today.”
I huffed, not wanting to hear how she was going to tell me something and make it all better. I didn’t feel like anything she said was going to make anything better. “Why would you go with him? He did a shit job of keeping you safe before. I have seen all of the scars and marks on you. He doesn’t deserve you. Eddie and I would never let anything like that happen to you. We will actually keep you safe.” I was trying hard not to let emotions come out, but I was failing miserably.
Patrick looked offended by my words, but that didn’t matter to me. I didn’t care how he felt about any of it. He was the guy who had come in and made our situation even more complicated. I just wanted him to go away. Eliza deserved to be safe, and Patrick wasn’t the guy.
We were in the midst of fighting, about to come to blows, when there was a screeching sound coming from the barn, and I knew there was nothing we could do right now. Something was in the horses to make them sound so nervous. It was early morning, not quite sunup, and it made the hairs on the back of my neck go up. Someone was here, and if I had to take a guess, it would be the Bransom Country clan.
Two were injured when we got in there, and Eliza was able to save one. I told Patrick to stay with her while Eddie and I went to go see if we could find those troublemaking wolves. We shifted into our true forms to access our superior senses and followed the scent to the Bransom Country clan. There were only a couple of them, and we attacked simultaneously. The death of two wolves from our enemy’s pack wasn’t anything that was going to keep me up at night. The next attack wouldn’t be so small and inefficient. I had faith that the next one would be far worse.
