Chapter 24

Gentry

“You don’t have to do this,” Myla told Blythe.

My intuition sizzled like a pot of water, ready to boil over.

Myla’s panic slammed down on our bond, and I knew I wasn’t going to like whatever came out of her mouth.

“Myla, it’s okay, really—”

Myla shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me. But I’m not going to sit back and allow you to give up a future with your sister because you think it’ll help in a war that shouldn’t be happening anyway.” She looked at Alpha Wynn pleadingly. “Just give me back. We can avoid all of this if I—”

“If you what?” Silas seethed. His face contorted with anger. “If we let him take you, he’ll lock you in a room to be punished and bred like a sow.” Myla winced. “What would that solve?”

Silas rarely lost his temper. Even now, I saw what this was: fear. The possibility of Alpha Wynn agreeing with Myla made him see red.

She lifted her chin defiantly. “It would stop a massacre.”

“It would prolong one,” Silas said. “Do you expect us to give you up? To sit here and forget about you as if you weren’t our anchor?”

I placed my hand on Silas’s shoulder. His muscles strained against his skin, and I pushed comfort through our bond.

Myla looked unsure, her eyes darting back and forth. “I figured—”

“You figured you could spare us, but you can’t,” Silas growled. “Not without breaking us.”

Myla whimpered, her brows drawing together.

“That’s enough,” I told Silas evenly, keeping my gaze on Myla.

“The situation is bigger than this fight,” Alaric said. “You were just one of the many potential catalysts, but honestly, if Alpha Kane is growing his numbers, then it’s for a reason. The more I think about it, the more I realize your escape was an act fueled by the Goddess. If you hadn’t run away when you did, we wouldn’t be facing them now, when we actually stand a chance of winning. Your arrival forced them to reveal themselves. It stopped their growth.”

Alpha Wynn nodded. “And I would never allow you to be taken from your mates—not from Theron, who would lose his mind; or Bowen and Silas, who would go after you without question; or Gentry, who would probably sabotage the trade before we made it. I wouldn’t allow it because you are pack, and we take care of each other. We fight each other’s demons regardless of the army they arrive with.”

Myla’s teeth sank into her lower lip. “But Blythe—”

“Will be with our new allies,” Alpha Wynn stated. “And she will always have a place here if she should want it.”

“Save your worries for Alpha Declan. He has no idea what he just asked for,” Blythe said cheekily.

“Damn right. We’re definitely including visits to Silver Fang in the terms as well,” Brielle said, folding her arms.

“Whatever you want,” Valor said, rubbing her tense shoulders.

Alpha Wynn ended the meeting by asking Blythe to meet him in his office in the morning to draft the terms before contacting Alpha Declan.

Though Blythe remained composed, the enormity of what she was giving up wasn’t lost on anyone. She had just started to find her place in Hidden Creek, and she was sacrificing the life she’d always wanted with her sister for the sake of our pack.

She possessed a rarely seen but wildly needed selflessness. She had given Hidden Creek a fighting chance, and the Silver Fang pack now had the opportunity to prove they were more than the rumors claimed.

I wouldn’t forget what she’d done. When she left Hidden Creek, I’d ensure she always had a way to contact us.

As we walked back to our den, I nudged Myla with my shoulder. “Don’t worry so much. Blythe might leave with them, but she won’t be alone.”

I pulled a nano-tracker out of my pocket, and a glimmer of relief shone in her eyes.

“You’re sending friends with her?” she asked.

“Rule one of negotiations: always have a backup.”

***

Silas was significantly calmer by the time we told Bowen and Theron about the meeting.

Myla had gone to bed early, so we conversed in Silas’s home office.

“You know you were kind of being a dick, right?” I asked Silas.

He blew out a harsh breath, letting his head fall into his hands.

“I know,” he groaned. “I have no idea what came over me. Scratch that—I do know what came over me. It pissed me off to hear my mate dismiss our mating as if we could just give her up and get over her.”

Bowen snorted. “I wish I could have been there.” Silas gave him a deadpan look, and Bowen held his hands up. “I’m just saying it would have been good to have some proof that you fuck up like the rest of us.”

“Shit, Bo. You really know how to rub it in, don’t you?” Theron said.

“It’s one of my many admirable qualities,” Bowen said, leaning back on the couch and folding his arms behind his head.

“You know that’s not what she meant, right?” I said to Silas. “Myla wasn’t trying to deny or reject anything. She was scared and didn’t want to cause trouble.”

“I know,” he admitted. “But try explaining that to my brain when it’s hyped up on wolf hormones. I mean, how many times do we have to explain to her that she’s not at fault? What else can we do to show her that we want her? Her being by our sides is the only outcome we will accept.”

“It’s going to sound crazy coming from me, but it’ll just take time,” Theron said. “As much as she’s opened up, it takes a lot more than a month to rewire the triggers our brain creates from a lifetime of abuse.”

“He’s right,” Bowen added. “Until then, we just have to get used to showing her and saying the words she needs to hear for as long as it takes.”

Silas scrubbed a hand down his face. “I guess this means I have to apologize.”

“Only if you want to move past this.” I smirked. “If not, you can see how it feels to be the ass of the group.”

Silas snapped his teeth at me, and I laughed.

It was easy to forget that our bond with Myla was new. We had much to learn about each other—including how to deal with conflict.

The strength of our bond was astounding but no less shocking than the speed at which I fell in love with her. I knew my unit also loved her—I felt their emotions as if they were my own.

If this was just the beginning, I couldn’t imagine what our bond would feel like in a year or two.

“How’s the weapon construction coming along?” Bowen asked, turning toward me.

“It’s going,” I replied. “We have a rough design, but we need to run some tests and ensure the current is strong enough to temporarily block their magic.”

“Well, shit. How are you going to do that?”

“Shiloh and Leighton have orders to collect the white witches as soon as the battle with Blood Moon is over. The witches have already agreed to be our test subjects.”

“That should clear up any questions about loyalty,” Theron said flatly.

“Even if it doesn’t, whoever has a problem with the witches will just have to suck it up. We need them, and they need us, regardless of the feelings involved,” Silas said.

Silas was right. In a perfect world, shifters and witches would always put aside their differences and band together against a common enemy. But the reality was different. We had a bloody, painful history, and it would take work and consistent nurturing to overcome our past.

We had to try. The consequences were too dire not to.

***

The following morning, we sat around the kitchen table for breakfast.

“So . . . ah . . . Myla,” Silas started.

She looked up from her plate, her eyes subdued.

“Yesterday was . . . it was a lot.” Silas picked up his spoon and pushed around food as he organized his words. “I’m sorry for losing my cool like that. It wasn’t deserved.”

“It’s okay,” Myla said softly.

“No. It’s not. I don’t ever want to make you feel like you aren’t allowed to make your own choices or that you’ll be the target of my frustration.” He met her eyes. “I won’t make excuses, but I want to offer an explanation. When you offered yourself up like that, all I could think about was you putting yourself in harm’s way. I couldn’t stand it. The thought of you back with the Blood Moon made me want to hurt anyone and anything that would try to take you from us. So, I was an ass to you because I was scared the Alpha would agree with you.”

“You were an ass,” she said. “But I forgive you.”

They smiled at each other, and the tension in the room melted away.

“Well, now that’s over with, how about we figure out what we’re going to do today?” I said cheerily.