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30. Drew

Chapter thirty

Drew

Meeting Kieran at the Council. Be back later.

I read the note a couple of times before I climb out of bed and grab some clothes. The flat is empty as I shuffle through into the bathroom, and I turn the water on in the shower with my eyes still half-closed. It's past midday, but we've been awake such weird hours that I'm not surprised I've only just woken up.

Standing under the spray, I make up my mind. I'll talk to Sam and Adam when Adam comes by tonight. Kieran, too—he's the one who brought me here, after all. I owe it to him to warn him about any danger.

For the first time, I really think we can solve this. I climb out of the shower and wrap a towel around my waist, rubbing at my chest. It feels a little sore, which is strange, because—

Steam has fogged up the mirror, but I don't need to see my reflection to know how pale I've gone.

That's not—It's not possible, is it?

I've only been here a little more than a week.

I grip the edges of the sink, careful not to break anything. My breath comes in shallow pants. No, I know better. Mating bonds can snap into place at the first glance. That's what Dad said, anyway, the few times he felt nostalgic enough to talk about it.

I knew your mother was mine the first time I saw her.

The question is not whether or not I've formed a mating bond.

The question is who I've formed it with.

I bite the inside of my cheek so hard I taste blood, fighting back tears that burn the backs of my eyes. Mating bonds aren't especially common, and I've never heard of them forming between three people, which means—

Oh, God. Oh, I can't do this.

I scrub my hair with the towel and snatch up my clothes, almost ripping them in my haste to pull them on. Coming here was a mistake. Running away was a mistake. I should've stayed with the pack and given in and just done whatever I was told to do.

At least then I'd be the only one hurt.

I throw my towel in the vague direction of the wash basket and stumble back through into Sam's room. There's never been a better opportunity for me to leave. No one else is here, and I know Sam and Kieran are busy. Even if Sam feels me go through the wards, he won't get back in time to stop me.

And the bond… It'll fade, given time. At least Sam and Adam will have each other, and I'll never have to know which one—

My phone rings as I'm shoving clothes back into my bag, and I jump, heart thumping against my ribs. A whimper passes my lips. I can't—I can't answer it if it's Sam. He'll know something's wrong; I know he will.

But if I don't answer, he'll worry.

I suck in a breath and grab my phone, sitting gingerly on the edge of the bed. My hands shake when I see the name on the screen.

It's Hale.

My finger hovers over the button for a few seconds before I answer and lift it to my ear.

"Well, well." Hale's voice is a lazy drawl, like there's nothing wrong at all. "I was beginning to think you were avoiding me, little prince."

My stomach turns over. "What do you want?" Can he hear that I'm upset? He'll probably just think it's because of him.

"What do I—" Hale laughs, but it's edged with anger. "I want you to come outside and have a conversation with me, Andrew. I want you to stop avoiding me."

"Ou-Outside?"

I stand on numb legs and make my way out into the living room. There's no point in hiding that I'm up here. Hale's probably been watching the flat all morning. He knows I'm alone.

Besides, as soon as I get to the window, I can see them. Hale and his betas, standing on the pavement, plain as day. They're well away from the wards, but Hale's eyes are fixed on the window I'm standing at, and he waves when he sees me.

"There you go," he says, voice menacing. "Come on out, now. I just want to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you." Fuck, I don't . I don't know what I want to do—I just want a second, a minute , to decide.

"Well, you have two choices, little prince. You come out here and talk to me now, or we wait until your brother and that little witch come back. I don't know about you, but I've got all day."

"You—You can't…"

"I can do whatever the fuck I like." Hale snarls. "You think I couldn't smell you all over him? The vampire, too? The depths you've sunk to, honestly. Your father will be so ashamed when he finds out."

I don't care about that. About Dad, anyway. But if Hale knows about Adam and Sam… He'll never give up. Never.

"I-I'm coming down."

"Good boy."

I hang up the call with a shudder. I have enough sense left to move out of sight of the window before I lean back against the wall, burying my face in my hands. What can I do? I can't stall until Kieran and Sam get back. I don't know how long they'll be. I could call Kieran, but there are three of them, and I know Sam's been stretching himself, and—

I could just talk to Hale. He can't touch me through the wards. I know that. Maybe I can convince him to leave.

Yeah, okay. I can try.

I run my hands through my hair before I walk over to the door and pull on my shoes. My hands are only shaking a little as I tie them and I take another breath, centring myself. I can do this. Hale can't get to me. Dad taught us never to show our fear.

If I've been trained to kill vampires, I can face him.

I let myself out into the hallway and only pause again once I reach the front door of the building. The three of them are a little closer, but it's clear they don't know exactly where the wards reach. Good. Having the smallest amount of the upper hand allows me to square my shoulders.

How would Kieran handle this?

He'd probably try to punch Hale in the face.

Sam might, too.

What about Adam?

I rub my chest. Whoever I'm bonded with—and I'm not willing to look at it closely enough to find out—I hope they can help. Even if they don't know it.

I step out into the weak afternoon sun, and Hale's head snaps up. He watches me like the predator he is, making my skin crawl, until I stop a foot or so away from the wards.

"Nice of you to join us, little prince."

Hale's not as big as I am, though that doesn't matter at all. He's alpha of a small pack and he carries all the arrogance that position implies. My eyes slide to Kurt and Jett, his betas. Kurt's massive and brutal, and I try not to wilt under the glare he's sending my way. Jett looks bored in comparison, though that doesn't settle me any. He's quick and vicious, and I've been on his bad side one too many times for my liking.

"What do you want?" I aim for indifference and miss, but Hale's eyes spark in fury all the same. There's silver in the grey of his irises. His wolf is way too close to the surface.

"You know what I want," Hale says. "I want you to stop fucking around and come back with us. I want you to take the position you're supposed to. And you're going to do it!"

Heat prickles my skin when he yells the final sentence. There's nobody on the street right now, but we're not far enough from the building that I can pretend we have any privacy.

"Hale…"

He growls. "No. Enough, Andrew. I understand you got scared—being an alpha mate is a frightening prospect. So much responsibility… I can overlook you fooling around, but only if you come back with me."

Alpha mate.

We both know we're not mates, but it's not a requirement for the position. It's just the partner of the alpha, someone who the pack can turn to for support, for comfort… I swallow.

Only, now I have a mate. A true mate.

"I can't."

Hale's face twists in fury. He's handsome, of course, but now he pales in comparison to the way Sam looks when he tells me what to do, or the way Adam's face lights up when he smiles. I clench my hands into fists at my sides.

"You'll come with us," Hale says, "or we'll kill both those little sluts you've been fucking around with."

"Y-You can't."

"Can't I?" Hale raises an eyebrow. "We know there's something going on, Drew. Everyone in this city is running around in circles. They're way too busy to worry about a couple of wolves they don't know. And I can be patient if I need to."

"I'll tell them. Warn them."

Hale's eyes gleam and I realise my mistake. He knows I haven't told them yet. "You think your brother can take on a full-grown alpha, little prince? I know your father trained you both well, but he's still human. And fucking a vampire, too. Disgusting." Hale shakes his head. "Anyway, none of you know what's coming. I can protect you from it. I've made sure of that."

Except…

Except Elliot already told me he can't.

I fight the urge to laugh hysterically. Do I really believe the mage who's trying to kill Sam over the wolf who wants to trap me as his mate?

I suppose it's a no-brainer.

"I won't. I can't." I don't want to , I don't say because I know the wards will keep Hale out, intellectually, but my eyes are telling me there's nothing between us.

"We'll see, little prince," Hale says, and I blink at his sudden shift in tone. "How about an ultimatum, hmm? You've been giving me the runaround for a while. You have until sunrise tomorrow to tell me what you plan to do."

"I'm not—"

"Don't push me!" Hale's eyes are almost entirely silver now, and I take a step back. Kurt and Jett haven't moved at all, watching this entire conversation play out in silence. "If you don't get in touch, I'll kill everyone you care about, starting with your brother."

When I just gape at him, he shrugs.

"It's not like your father would care, is it?"

He smiles after that little parting shot, and Kurt and Jett follow as he walks away. I stand there for a while, only coming back to myself when I realise I'm shivering.

I trail back up to the flat, feeling numb. The door closes with a click behind me, and I collapse onto the sofa, burying my face in the cushions.

I have to tell them. God, I have to tell them before Adam leaves the clan house tonight. I don't trust Hale as far as I can throw him, so I wouldn't put it past him to attack Adam before the deadline hits.

Whining, I rub my chest again. And this, on top of everything else. Sam and Adam both know enough about magic—and enough about mating bonds, thanks to Kieran—to know what they're feeling. Whoever it is, he'll know, and the other…

A tear slides down my cheek and I curl in on myself as sobs wrack my body. It can still be the three of us, can't it? If we're thoughtful and careful…

But I have to tell them I lied to them, first. I have to explain everything with Hale, including him thinking we should be mates, including the fact that I led more danger right to our door, and—

I climb off the sofa eventually, and as I'm pulling myself together in the bathroom, I hear the front door to the building open and close. Sam's and Kieran's voices drift up towards me and I take a deep breath. I look at myself in the mirror. I've lied to them. I don't want them feeling bad for me; I don't deserve that. We just need to come up with a solution—even if that solution is me leaving.

The door opens and their scents reach me even through the closed bathroom door. "Drew?" Sam calls. There's worry in his voice.

"Yeah, just a minute."

The concern that spiked in his scent subsides at once, but I try not to breathe too deeply and discover more. I really don't want to know who I've bonded with, not until all this is over. I turn the tap on and off like I'm washing my hands and then slip out into the living room.

Kieran's shrugging his jacket off by the door and Sam's already in the kitchen, flicking the kettle on. Three mugs are lined up on the counter and he smiles when he sees me. He looks tired, a little harried, but it melts away when his eyes meet mine.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," I say. I slide onto one of the chairs at the counter. "How did it all go?"

Sam and Kieran exchange a look and fear skitters down my spine. Do they already know? Sam knows there are wolves after me, of course. Has he told Kieran? Are they going to—

"There's something I need to talk to you about," Kieran says, voice grave. He pulls out the chair next to me but doesn't sit, instead pacing the small patch of floor in front of me. Sam finishes making tea, and passes me a mug, leaving Kieran's at the edge of the counter. He doesn't sit next to me either. He watches Kieran instead.

"W-What is it?"

"I haven't told you something," Kieran says, unusually hesitant with his words. "And I know I should have, I'm sorry, but we weren't certain, and I didn't want to scare you off—I wanted you to be safe here, Drew, and I think I've fucked it all up."

I frown. This can't be about Hale, then. "What's going on?"

"I told you about Tristan, the vampire who was trying to kill me?" He pauses mid-step, looking at me, and I nod. "Well, we think he was kind of talked into it by someone else."

"Who?"

I look between Kieran and Sam, but Sam shakes his head. He's letting Kieran take the lead on this one.

"Another vampire," Kieran says. "An older vampire. I-I thought it was impossible, but now it seems like it's true."

Fear gathers at the base of my spine, filling my brain with a strange, distant buzzing. My wolf trembles, knowing just as well as I do that something is very, very wrong. "Kieran. Who sent Tristan after you?"

Kieran's eyes meet mine. "The vampire who killed Mum."

The world tilts sideways, and I grip the counter, even though I haven't moved at all. "You—What?"

"I haven't seen him. I don't—I think it's him, though. I think he's after me again, but all this seems targeted at Vasile too, and I don't know why—"

"How long have you known?" I ask. My words come out clipped and cold, and Sam jerks forwards in the corner of my eye.

"Nothing's certain." Kieran frowns, running a hand through his hair. "But for a while. We picked up the scent of an old vampire standing outside the building a couple of weeks ago."

We picked up the scent, except sure, Kieran can sense magic when it's being used, but he can't pick up a magical signature.

I look at Sam. "You picked it up."

"Yeah, I did." Sam doesn't wilt under my stare. "I'm sorry, Drew."

"Sam wanted me to tell you," Kieran says, but I'm already shaking my head. This can't—It can't be possible. Kieran doesn't have a wolf, but he has a mating bond, and his blood is poisonous to vampires.

"Is Tristan still dead?"

"Yeah," Kieran says. "It's just—That's why I wasn't certain. I know that fucker died, Drew. I watched it happen."

And does it still haunt him? I don't remember that night, even though I was in the room just like Kieran was. I was too young. Still, the thought makes me shiver.

I get to my feet. I can't talk to them about Hale now. I can barely think for the way my wolf is howling and whining and desperate to keep everyone safe—including me. "I-I can't—I need—"

I don't have space here. I need to be alone; I need to decide what to do, and I can't do that when they're standing here watching me.

"Go into my room," Sam says softly. "You can have it for as long as you need, okay? Space."

I nod, not looking at either of them, and head for the door.

"Drew," Kieran says. "If you don't want to stay—"

"I need to be alone."

I close the door behind me and lean back against it, breathing hard. The curtains are still closed in here and I don't bother turning on the light.

How could he keep this from me? Not telling me about the vampire doesn't protect me from him. Kieran has to know that, right?

Not telling him about Hale doesn't protect him, either.

I sink to the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest. If the vampire is alive… I don't know how it's possible, but there's power involved, somewhere. I know he was dead. It's the one thing Dad ever talked about when it came to that night. It was what gave him hope for so long that Kieran would have a wolf. The vampire drank from my boy and died. Then we took its corpse and dumped it in the woods, and when the sun rose, there was nothing left.

Nothing? Like he just got up and walked away?

My phone digs into my hip and I pull it out, turning it over in my hands. Sam knew about this, too. Would he have ever told me? Does Adam know?

They can't deal with Hale on top of everything else. That's not fair. And going with him now… I don't have to stay with him forever. I'm a wolf, after all. We live for a long time.

My wolf digs in his heels, but I ignore the thumping in my skull as I unlock my phone and open all the messages I've received from Hale.

Tears blur my vision as I type. I have to do this. If this is all I can do to keep them safe, I have to try.

I'll come back with you. Tell me where to meet you. It'll have to be near sunrise.

The message sends and I rest my head against my knees again. I really hope I'm not making a huge mistake.

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