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But you came to the dorms and still stayed away.
“I did.” He reached for my hand and linked his fingers with mine. “It was a lot of years of resentment and took a little time to get past. But if you’ll let me come home, I promise I’ll never leave again.”
If you do, I’m sending the wolves to bring you back.
“Deal.”
Chapter Eighteen
We had about a week together where things were pretty good at our house before the alpha summoned us. Dean was still a little edgy, but slowly our family was connecting. When we closed the door at night, I felt whole. And for me, that was a new and welcome sensation and one I never wanted to end.
It wasn’t about sex, although that was spectacular with each of them. At this point, while I slept with one or the other each night, in an unspoken schedule of taking turns, sex only happened when I was alone with one of them, and that was fine. We’d be in a bigger house eventually. And privacy would be a good thing.
I opened my door that morning to find Jerad standing there. “Alpha wants you.” He’d sent a beta all the way out here? Something terrible must be wrong.
I grabbed a sweater and my bag and stepped outside, closing the door behind but he reached over me and opened it again.
“All of you.”
That was truly peculiar, but my mates were ready to leave for work anyway, so we all trooped off to the compound to find out what Fate had in mind to mess up my hard-won peace and joy.
We had to wait outside his office, of course. As usual, but when we were finally admitted, the grim expression on his face made me want to turn and run. As did the pity in his tone when he waved me to a seat. “All of you. Sit. We’ve had a communication from the high council that relates to Jillian, and therefore all four of you. At least, I assume you’re all together now?”
Nods…but no words from any of us for once.
He moved behind his desk and settled into his high-backed black-leather executive chair. The desk itself was an heirloom and at least eight feet across, gleaming wood that always made me feel like I was in over my head even being here. He riffled some papers until he found the one he wanted. Somehow that made me feel a little better. If it was so important, wouldn’t it have been right on top?
“Ah here.” He smoothed out the wrinkled single sheet. “It’s not long, so let me paraphrase then I can answer any questions.”
I pulled out my whiteboard. I had a feeling there would be a lot of questions.
“Okay, so it seems Jillian’s former pack wants her back now. Years ago, when they left her out for the real wolves, they had other plans, but now they seem to regret that choice and want her to come back.”
“What?” Shane was on his feet. “They treated her that way and now they expect her to come skipping back?”
“The answer is no.” Creek was upright as well, fists clenched. “Who do they think they are?”
Dean’s eyes blazed. “They can’t do that.”
“Unfortunately they can.” The alpha waved the paper. “This isn’t from the pack. It’s from the high council. Anticipating a negative response, they took the matter right to big shots who recognize the political necessity of agreeing with them. Or maybe they just don’t want to see Jillian lose her birthright.”
Birthright? To go back to people I didn’t even remember and leave the pack that was gradually starting to accept me? How much had they hated me to abandon me to die? A little girl. No wonder I had no memories. Was that the trauma that silenced me?
No.I filled the whole board with two letters.
“You heard her,” Dean bit out. “She says no.” Heard me…having mates was helping me to be heard. That felt good. The alpha’s next words felt awful.
“Yes. If we don’t send her, the high council will penalize the whole pack. I understand that she does not want to rejoin them, but even if it were not the law, I’d have to suggest she make the appearance. It’s important that she understand what she’s refusing and see if they will even allow it.”
What do you mean?
He rubbed his chin. “I can’t discuss the details with you. When we took you in, and learned the story, we had to promise not to share anything about your past with you. To prevent a situation I’d have to give you the details of in order to explain.”
I was getting angry, face heating and my arms shaking a little when I wrote,This is unfair.
“Yes it is. But it was what I had to agree to when you were very little and very scared. We did what we had to, and that included making sure nobody but the high council ever knew you were even here.”
But what about…
