AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You happy?” I ask.
He smiles. “It’s right. It’s early but I already know it is. Even if it’s complicated. But it’s right; I know it in here.” He thumps his chest. “You will too if you let instinct lead instead of letting emotions screw with you.”
I sigh.
He keeps talking. “There’s a reason the birth order between the Brennan sisters got sorted out with magic so they’d wind up with who they belonged to. There’s reasons for what happened to you and my cousin Erica seven years ago. I don’t know her. Not at all. Nor her sisters, but through my conversations with them so far I feel a connection with them. And based on my conversation with Vivica, Erica needs your time after spending seven years working hard to be the kind of woman who could earn your forgiveness for her fuck up.”
“What’s that mean?” I ask.
“All I know is she was forced to hide from you and it’s not what she wanted. The rest? That’s for you to find out. But bottom line: she fucked with magic before she knew what she was doing and got into a tight spot. She wasn’t allowed to fix it and Vivica says she’s suffered for it every day since. Seven years of suffering. I’m telling you more than I’m supposed to tell you, but I’m giving you all the information I have because this is you and me here. Family comes first. They’re blood, but you’re family. Maybe they’ll feel like family soon, but you? You’re part of me. You’re part of all of us. And you need to give this a shot so you’ll know why it happened this way and so you can decide what to do about it. You can’t just keep struggling like this. We’ll lose you. You’ll lose yourself. And you’re too important to us, so we’re trying to help here.”
“He’s right, Riley,” Ty says. “How about if I come with you to pack a bag? Then I’ll drive you to the cabin. Someone can drive her to you. I’ll ask my Ivy and the other women to make food in the morning and we’ll drop it off to last you the week.”
“Ty,” I mutter, backing away, feeling the urge to shift, to flee. “I’m not-”
“You’ll have time to work on it. It’s happening, Riley,” he says, leaning forward.
I look to the sky for deliverance.
The earth shifts beneath me, nearly knocking me off my bare feet. My eyes snap to meet Tyson’s. His eyes go reflective and he partly shifts. It snaps back inside him before fully emerging. There’s a staticky energy coming at me from all six of them. Something in our bond. They’re exerting this over me. And it makes part of me angry. The human part of me. But something in the animal part of me retreats and tilts his head to bare his throat enough to show I respect our pack bond. Our pack bond snaps my resolve.
Our bond has been stronger than ever since Tyson joined us. This is who we are. This is my pack, my team.
I do need to do this. Not because I want to. Because of them. Because they believe in this so strongly, that I’m compelled to do this if I’m part of this pack. Our bond is that strong, has that much influence over each of us. This strong connection to one another is how we mentally stopped Tyson from killing Mase in the town hall dance that night. And it’s how they’re compelling me to do what they believe I should do right now.
It goes without saying that as a pack, we’d only do this if absolutely necessary, and I know I’m sunk.
I’ve only got the time it takes to round up some shit at my house to come to terms with the fact that I’m about to be locked in a small cabin for seven days with Erica Young.
17
Erica
I’m sitting on the couch between Cicely and Bailey when Lincoln and Jason come back inside. Bailey’s eyes hit Jason, whose leg has already healed after he shifted. It’s obvious she’s worried about him. I was, too, but they said the bullet just nicked him and shifting healed him up a hundred per cent.
Bailey was shaking with panic when I recounted what had happened to me tonight. They’d arrived just minutes after we did, Cicely bringing a bottle of booze, saying she was fine, that it was just a bit worse than a bitch slap and had healed after just one shift. She was more pissed off about what happened than anything, that someone dared put their hands on her that way. She showed genuine concern for my wellbeing. In all this, I guess I’d sort of forgotten Cicely is a wolf shifter, too.
Bailey arrived carrying two tote bags filled with snacks. I had a shot of rum, but didn’t touch the snacks.
