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Derek bowed his head and closed his eyes, trying to gather the strength he needed to persuade Iris out of her decision.
“Look,” he said, his head still lowered. “Last time, you remained here, and everything turned out fine. You were able to defend Ava and all of the members of our pack.”
He raised his head, meeting her fiercely defiant and burning green eyes.
“I need you to do that again, Iris. Can you do that?”
She laughed. “I’m the Luna of this pack, isn’t that correct?”
Jost leaned against the wall uncomfortably, turning himself away from the conversation. Mason stared blankly out the patio door.
“Technically, you will be the luna after our mating ceremony, but that hasn’t happened yet,” Derek said, anticipating her argument. “So for now, what I say goes.”
Jost turned himself around very reluctantly, looking at Derek over his shoulder.
“Actually, sir,” Jost said before meeting Iris’s eyes. “With all due respect, I think she should come along.”
“You do,” Derek said, meant partially as a statement and partially as a question.
Jost nodded.
“I’ve seen her fight. She’s pretty damn good.”
Derek pursed his lips, turning his head to Mason’s blank stare. His eyes drilled into Mason’s head until Mason finally looked at him, breaking his trance. With the exaggeration of a cartoon character, Mason tried to look away, realizing that he had locked eyes with a conversation he hoped to avoid.
“Is that how you feel too, Mason?”
But Iris interrupted. “Last time, you failed to catch Cyrus, right? What if I’d been there? What if my being there means the difference between our success and our failure?”
“It will still potentially mean the difference between your death and your survival,” Derek replied. “And I can’t live with myself for taking that chance.”
“So you just want to keep me in a box?” Iris asked.
“If that’s what it takes.”
Iris shook her head. “This is ridiculous.”
She stomped back upstairs, reaching the top stair before she shouted down to the three of them.
“I’m getting dressed,” she said. “If Mason or Jost are still here, I’m coming with you regardless.”
The door slammed.
Derek tried to rush out the door but was immediately stopped by Mason and Jost.
“Where are you going?” Mason asked.
“To take out Cyrus.”
“But you don’t know the way. We do.”
Derek paused to think. For Iris’s own safety, he couldn’t allow her to face Cyrus.
“You really think Iris should join us in a warzone?” Derek asked. “If she does, she could die.”
“She could die staying here, too, Derek,” Jost replied. “All due respect. You’ve got to let her make her own choices. None of us are invincible.”
Derek puffed up his chest. He wanted nothing less than to lose Iris, the woman he was fated to be with.
