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“I won’t know until I’ve done a spell or two to work out what’s happened. Maybe Michael can help me.”
“The warlock?” The Alpha spoke up.
Xander coughed to clear his throat. “Yeah, he’s Monique’s husband. Technically. They were married the day we escaped, and it’s a long story... but yeah. He’s in my family too.”
The Alpha’s nostrils flared, then he shook his head. “And I thought having a witch mate was bad.”
“Bad?” I snapped. “Yes, it was bad. Your fated mate cursed your entire fucking town because you denied the fated mate bond and married someone else. My menloveme, accept Fate’s design, and are working with Michael to make this arealfamily. You could learn a thing or two from Xander and Kyle, I’d say.”
Silence fell on the room like a descending cloud.
A heated blush swept up my neck and over my face. But I didn’t apologize. I didn’t regret anything I’d said. This so-called Alpha had done nothing to earn my respect.
I glanced at Xander, whose lips were twisted with worry, then looked back to the Alpha. He was staring at me with an expression I’d never seen before.
Something akin to awe.
Then he looked at Xander and said, “You’re gonna have your hands full with her, but she’s right. We could all learn a lot from the family you’ve created, and if we’ve got any hope of making it to the next generation, then changes are going to need to be made.”
He pushed back his chair along the hardwood floor, the chair legs making a horrible creaking noise as he did.
Then he stood up and I jumped to my feet. God, he was taller than Xander!
“I’m going to sleep at my cabin for a few hours, but I’ll be up and about for dinner.” He turned to Xander’s dad and said, “If you need me before then, wake me up.”
Then he turned to me and inclined his head. With a small unreadable smile, he walked out of the room, and the front door closed behind him.
I slumped, leaning on the back of the chair I’d vacated, and Xander quickly came up beside me to put his arm around me. His heat and strength gave me the comfort I needed, despite the way my heart pounded in my chest.
“Well, that went rather differently than expected,” Xander’s father said, a smile tweaking his lips. His gaze, when he stared at me, held respect. “I’ve never seen anyone give the Alpha a piece of their mind like that.”
“Even though you’ve been tempted to do it,” Tania said with a laugh. “That man can be so frustrating, especially with the way he’s shirked his duties over the years.”
Now that’s the understatement of the month. I glanced down the hallway as if I could still see the Alpha, even though he’d left. Was his guilt and sadness genuine? Did he really care about his pack? Today I got the impression that he did, but his actions over the years said otherwise.
“Do you think he regrets everything that happened?” I asked. “I mean,reallyregrets it? Do you think he’d change it if he could?”
“Why are you asking?” Xander said.
I pressed my lips together, thoughts whirling inside my head. “I’m not sure, it’s just, I have a couple of ideas fermenting. There’re a lot of ways Genevieve could have done this spell. Intention. Body. Soul. And if we need to undo it, break the spell somehow, I just...” I shook my head, my thoughts still too nebulous to share. “Let me think on it. I’ll talk to Michael and see what we can come up with.”
Xander’s parents said goodbye and we began the walk back to our cabin. But, instead of going straight back, Xander led me a longer, different way.
“Where are we going?” I asked, my hand tightly held in his.
He grinned. “I was thinking of the site where we may want to build our family home. You wanna see my favorite spot?”
I nodded and clung to his hand, happiness unfurling inside my belly. At least, Iwashappy, until we walked down the main street and I couldn’t help but notice the hostile stares from people who stood on their porches, or in their front yards.
A shiver coursed down my spine. I didn’t know how I could live in a place where everybody seemed to hate me. But I didn’t have a choice. This town was the only place that felt like home now. We couldn’t go back to my coven where the high warlock was hellbent on capturing my wolves and bleeding them dry.
Our other option—to travel the world—seemed an unattainable dream while Xander’s pack remained under the curse. It just felt wrong to abandon them.
“What do you think of this area?” Xander asked as we walked past the last of the large houses and stepped up to a large vacant block. The block backed onto the forest edge, with trees and foliage nearby, and in the distance to one side I could see rolling hills which would make a beautiful vista if we were to take advantage of that with careful placement of the house.
“It’s gorgeous,” I said, my breath catching in my throat. There were a few trees on the block itself that would need to be cleared, but the surrounding area, and the peacefulness, made my shoulders drop and my body relax.
Home.
