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“Clay mentioned you skipped dinner last night.” Ryan held out the toasted everything BLT bagle. While Jace carried a fruit smoothie.
“So we thought we’d bring you something to start the day off right. May we join you?”
“Well, it is your house.” She offered Ryan a wan smile before gesturing to them both to sit.
“It is but if you wanted to be alone we wouldn't bother you. We do need to talk though.” Ryan said as he settled next to her.
Jade managed to hold back her groan but just barely. After she’d gotten Clay back up to their room he’d been a mess and he’d argued with her until his throat was raw. It didn’t matter how much he pleaded with her she didn’t have a choice.
“Guys I really can’t take another emotional beating, not if I have any hope of pulling this off tonight.” She needed to start focusing on succeeding rather the feeling that she would fail and going another round with them would only make that harder.
Ryan cleared his throat and Jade could tell he was choosing his words carefully.
“Jade the last thing anyone wants is for you to feel emotionally beat up, but we would be negligent if we didn’t admit that Cay is right if it was Sara or Kelly in your place we wouldn’t allow it any more than Clay is willing to.”
Jade took a bite of her sandwich before answering him. she patted his knee reassuringly.
“Yes, you would. You’re the Alpha of this pack and you’re responsible for making sure that they prosper. You wouldn’t want to put your mate in harm's way but if it was the only way you’d make the tough decision.”
“I’m humbled but I think you have more faith in me than I do. I love Kelly as Clay loves you and I couldn’t live without her. Now that we’re mated being unable to feel her through the bond would eventually kill me. It’s very dangerous what you’re attempting if it were to go wrong and kill you it’s possible, even likely that we would lose Clay too.”
Jade drew a deep breath trying to ignore the sharp pain that sliced through her chest where the bond should be at the thought of anything bad happening to Clay.
“We haven’t been mated long and the bond is severed, Clay will be fine. If something happens to me you all will take care of him.” She made it a statement not a question. If she did this even if she failed that was her price. They would make sure Clay was ok because she needed him to be even if she wasn’t. “Besides, I have to do this. Whatever this spell is it comes from my line of magic. I can feel it tugging at me every time I touch it as if it recognizes me. I don’t know what it was intended to be in the beginning but now it’s dark and twisted. It can’t just ignore it. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t try to fix it.”
She took a drink of the smoothing draining half the contents before speaking again.
“If something does happen to me you need to go to the witch's council and get them to fix this it might be the only hope you have of preventing the extinction of lycans. They aren’t unreasonable. Generally there’s no malice towards shifters. They will help if they can.”
“If you think they can fix it why don’t we do that now?” Jace asked making Jade want to laugh at how naive he was being.
“They won’t help me. They are angry and they can be petty when they are upset. If you go to them now they will use me as a bargaining chip and they will strip me of my magic. Maybe I’m selfish but it’s not something I ever want to experience first hand and the result would be the same it would kill me just slower than if I try this spell . If the spell goes wrong. If I die then go to them. They will help fix it because restoring balance will be necessary for the coven's craft. If they leave it as is it will eventually poision them starting with any in my bloodline.”
“We want you to know we’re here to support you in whatever way we can. We need you to pull through this not only in the hopes that it fixes the fertility problems but also because Clay needs you and you’re part of our family now.”
When Clay came outside he looked sad. Jade had a moment to wonder if he would sulk and ignore her but instead, he seemed to ignore his cousins. The thought that she’d driven a wedge in the family upset her. if something did happen to her he would need them and the support of his Alpha and pack.
For a moment she was angry that she hadn’t met Julian and hadn’t seen his pack or gotten to experience what their life would be like beyond their whirlwind courtship, then she reminded herself that half the battle tonight would be won in staying positive so she pushed the negative thoughts aside as best as she could.
If she went in distracted or thinking that she would fail then her energy would manifest that outcome. So instead she focused on grounding her energy and a favorable outcome.
She pictured the baby she’d have with Clay and wondered if their child would be able to shift. She realized then she hadn’t asked anyone if they could recall what Adian looked like when he shifted. That was an important piece of the puzzle that she could solve right now.
“Jace, what does Adian look like when he shifts?”
A smile lit up Jace’s face before he answered. “He’s still fairly small and he looks a bit like a cross between a raccoon and a skunk in coloring.”
“You’re sure? And you didn’t have any pain when telling me?”
“No, not at all. it was nothing like when you asked about Sara.”
“Ok, that’s good. I think that means that a hybrid child can shift even if Sara isn’t shifting when she thinks that she is. It should mean that Lycan and humans can have normal healthy babies that can shift when we fix this. Of course I’m sure it doesn’t mean that all will shift. Genetics will play a factor and I’m sure that there will be different strengths and abilities depending on that.” She turned to Clay with a smile on her face. “It means our children might be able to shift too.”
He smiled at her but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“You have to be alive for us to be able to have babies.” His anger and resentment were barely contained and had Jade trying to defuse the situation that felt more like a bomb about to go off than a simple conversation on the back porch.
The look he gave his cousins was scathing and the disappointment in his eyes when he looked at her tore her heart out.
