Chapter 12: Gavin

Chapter 12: Gavin

My bad mood and having to hide Muriel made me isolate myself from Catrina and Dalesbloom more than usual. Catrina reacted by insisting on seeing me, asserting that now it was more important than ever to mark each other. Every time I told her I had too much to think about, she suggested I don’t think and just let her distract me, but I knew she’d seduce me into doing something I’d regret. I just had to focus on keeping Grandbay safe from those dragons. I checked every day if the scent of dragons had gone stale, but every time I trekked across the borders shared with Dalesbloom, the dragon stench was fresh, leaving my nerves frayed.

In addition to that, I spent extra time patrolling the passage to Eastpeak on the chance that I might uncover evidence of the Mythguard. If they were here, they were most likely looking for Muriel, which meant I’d have to transport her sooner rather than later to a new shelter. Too many people knew where she was now, including David.

Returning to the pack house on a cloudy evening, I relieved Oslo and Niko from guarding Muriel. The older woman was usually sleeping or reading a book or preparing food—strictly vegetarian dishes—and yearned to be outside in a way that reminded me of Billie. That evening, Muriel gazed out the kitchen window and I imagined the Jesper runt doing the same thing for the past eighteen years. My heart was in chronic unrest since I’d seen that side of Billie.

Muriel glimpsed me in her periphery. As rain patted the window, she turned and beckoned me closer. “Any word on the dragons?”

Raindrops slid from my damp hair down my temple and off my jawline, darkening my shirt collar. I stood beside her in front of the window. “No. They’re still there.”

“Has there been any more bloodshed?”

“Not that I can tell, but I don’t know what’s happening inside Dalesbloom territory.”

“And Billie?” Her voice softened.

I ran my hand through my hair. “I don’t know. I’m sure she’s fine.” She wasn’t my problem. I shouldn’t waste time thinking about her. I didn’t want to, or else it would lead me down another rabbit hole of obsession.

“Is there a chance David could be conspiring with the dragons?” Muriel sought my eyes with a glint of sorrow that she’d had to suggest such a thing.

“I was hoping not, but he might… Even if he is, we’ll move you soon, then we’ll keep trying to take care of the dragons.”

“You mentioned another pack, didn’t you? Eastpeak? Could they help?”

“Not if we don’t want the Mythguard involved.”

Muriel’s silence suggested she’d been considering it as much as me. I wished I had an ally against David, but I  couldn’t risk Everett becoming a threat.

“What are the dragons planning to do with you, exactly?” I’d been wondering if she knew.

The way her gaze searched the rain seemed as though I’d struck a nerve. “You know that certain rituals can be performed using the body parts of other shifters’ beasts. Werewolf fur, dragon scales… unicorn horns.” Muriel’s demeanor darkened. “Our horns are a well of magic that some shifters can tap into to strengthen themselves. Certain rituals supposedly incur the blessings of the Gods, who can bestow that magic on us so we achieve our highest potential. We can become a hybrid of our human and beast forms, accessing each body’s strengths; they call it the Lycan form. I believe that’s what they’ve been hunting me for. Their leader, Lothair, tried to catch me for a ritual during the summer solstice, but I escaped before then.”

A Lycan form to become even stronger…? Weren’t they strong enough? It sounded like the dragons would go to great lengths to get a hold of Muriel. They might go far enough to proposition David, and if they did… David might entertain them if there was something in it for him. Something that would damage me. “Fuck,” I muttered.

“You wouldn’t want dragon lycans running around these mountains, Mr. Steele. They’ll kill and eat everything they see. Your pack will starve if the dragons don’t kill you first,” Muriel added.

“I need to get a hold of David,” I said. “If he hasn’t chased them off yet, it’s for a reason. I can’t let him make the wrong choice.”

Who was I to determine what choice was right or wrong? I barely knew how to be an Alpha, but I knew  that dragon lycans would surely be bad news. I couldn’t confront David directly though; he had too much power over me. But Catrina, maybe, I could learn more from without giving too much away. I just had to pretend to let myself get distracted by her.

Sharing a glance with Muriel, we both seemed to accept the stakes that were intensifying with every day David allowed the dragons to stay. I went to one of the spare bedrooms and sat on the bed, thinking carefully before texting Catrina. ‘I’m free tonight. Want to do something?’

She replied quickly, ‘I’ll come over.’

‘I’m at my apartment in town.’

‘Be there soon :)’

Which meant I had to hurry home. I didn’t want to leave Muriel, but a quick text had Aislin turning up at the house shortly after I left, reporting that Muriel was still safe. I could focus on Catrina.

The second floor suite I called my own was hardly a glamorous home for an Alpha; it was one of three apartment buildings on the main street in town.It was not necessarily the nicest one. The drive took me five minutes. I arrived to a cool darkness in my apartment and changed into a black tank and grey sweats, hoping she wouldn’t notice from my lack of scent that I’d only just gotten home. I only had a couple minutes to tidy my living room before a knock at my door marked Catrina’s arrival. Preparing myself, I unlocked the door and brought her in, facing a hurricane of emotions. I was nostalgic for her affection, but these days it had become bittersweet knowing most of her tricks were to manipulate me. She hovered in front of me, hands already on my chest as she kissed up my neck.

“Wait,” I said, gripping her arms. “I want to talk first. What’s been going on with the dragons?”

“I thought you wanted to take your mind off it.”

“I do, but I need peace of mind first.” I needed to know the truth.

Catrina trailed a finger along my collar bones. We stood together by the door as I waited for her to say anything reassuring, but she just sighed. “It’s a work in progress. They’re not easy to move, Gav. My packmates are risking their safety for some stranger you’re trying to protect for no reason.”

“I’m doing it because it’s the right thing,” I argued. “You think I want to see dragon lycans around here?”

Catrina leaned back, her eyebrows high with amusement. “Dragon lycans? You’re not serious, are you?”

“It could happen if they get a hold of that unicorn. I’m not letting her fall into the wrong hands. The longer your dad delays getting rid of the dragons, the likelier it is that someone’s going to get hurt. Wouldn’t you rather help me, Cat? Instead of cover for David and let someone get hurt—or even die?”

Catrina’s hands left me. She stepped back and looked at me like she was seeing me in a new light. “I’m helping you the best I can by keeping you safe from dragons. If someone has to beef it for me to keep you off their radar then so be it; I don’t see why it’s such a problem for you.”

“I don’t like the idea of condemning someone to death,” I snapped.

“Even if it means risking your packmates’ lives instead?  Nobody would be in danger if you just handed over that unicorn,” said Catrina.

“Is that what David’s saying?”

She made a face at me. “It’s just logic, Gav. I’m thinking about my packmates. You’re prioritizing a stranger over yours.”

“Is that why David hasn’t chased them off yet, to teach me a lesson?”

“Has it occurred to you that the dragons could be a stronger ally than a single unicorn?”

If I could spit steam from my nose and ears, I would. “What could the dragons do for me that would make up for the role they played in my parents’ death, Cat?”

Maybe she’d forgotten that dragons slayed the former Grandbay Alphas, or maybe she just didn’t care. She looked like I’d caught her off guard with the question, then smiled pitifully, making up the lost ground between us. “I wouldn’t expect you to forgive them, but it’s not like these are the same dragons.  Remember that the intruders your parents fought died a little past the perimeter? These people, what if they’re just looking for shelter? What if that unicorn is responsible for killing some of them? You could be harboring a murderer; do you want that sort of reputation with them? Can you imagine befriending shifters as powerful as them instead of making enemies? Dalesbloom could have connections in dragon clans,” Catrina explained, brushing off the moral obligation of protecting the unicorn as if Muriel was little more than a con in a sea of pros. Her argument hinged on the idea that the dragons were somehow in the right, and although I’d considered that Muriel could be lying to me, I found it much more likely the dragons were just trying to poach her. There was nothing dragons could offer me that was worth my integrity.

I shook my head at Catrina, keeping distance. “What David is doing doesn’t sit right with me. He’s putting stress on our alliance when he could just choose Grandbay over whatever deal he’s been making with the dragons. Our alliance should come first, Cat.”

“We could be stronger and have more resources with the dragons by our side,” she maintained. “If you cared so much about our alliance you would have signed all of Grandbay over already. We wouldn’t be fighting if we were one pack.”

“The alliance is supposed to benefit us both, not give David a monopoly over the Gunnison area,” I growled.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?” Catrina met my eyes. “To inherit the power of Dalesbloom? You have to give a little first, Gav.”

“I wanted to take some responsibility off my shoulders, but I see now I can’t trust David to take care of my pack the way I need to.” I stood taller, trying to bring myself above Catrina, reminding her of my dominance as Alpha. Maybe not her Alpha, but an Alpha nonetheless.

She countered my challenge with a firm sneer. “Oh, please. Don’t pretend you’re suddenly the wisest guy on the block, Gavin. The sanctimonious good guy act doesn’t suit you. Stop trying to make decisions for yourself; you have no idea how to make investments into your pack like a real Alpha. My dad knows what he’s doing.”

“I don’t care if it’s an investment. It’s wrong.”

“That’s why Grandbay’s falling apart,” Catrina said scathingly. “Because you lack the initiative to take chances for your pack. You think anybody’s gonna listen to an Alpha that talks big but can’t back it up? Why can’t you be as aggressive about your pack as you are to my dad’s little underlings?”

“I don’t like getting aggressive, Cat! I don’t like losing my temper. But you’re making it harder not to.”

“So it’s my fault you’re an asshole? When did you become all bark and no bite?”

I knew something between us had gone wrong once Catrina started nurturing my bad temper rather than soothing it, so I sighed, fed up. “This isn’t working.”

She had the audacity to laugh. “What? What do you mean?”

“You and me. I can’t sit by while David walks all over me, and you—you just let him. I feel nothing but anger when I’m with you, Cat. It’s not working anymore.”

Her sneer faded. “You’re talking about our relationship?”

“Yeah.” My heart pounded as the weight of what I was saying struck me. It wasn’t just three years of a relationship I was jeopardizing. It was our alliance, it was my future as Dalesbloom’s Alpha. But I realized lately that these losses weren’t as devastating as they used to be. I didn’t need Catrina and Dalesbloom; they weren’t going to stand by me when it came time to defend my values, so why should I give them anything? “You say I should put my pack first, well—I am. Tonight you’ve shown me that David doesn’t have Grandbay’s best interests at heart. I’m looking out for my pack, and I can’t do it with you here.”

The Hexen heir raged quietly behind her unmoving stare, as if all that held it inside was her disbelief. She didn’t want to break in front of me. I didn’t want my temper to get any more out of hand than it already was. We both recognized that it was better to accept the circumstances than fight them, but I knew Catrina wasn’t going to surrender gracefully. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. “You’re going to throw everything we’ve built away,” she said. “Why? Because now you know you’re supposed to be with Billie?”

“Believe me, Cat. She has nothing to do with this.” I circled around her until I reached the door, then opened it.

She knew what that meant. I was done with her.

Without taking her eyes off me, Catrina pushed past, funneling all her wrath into those couple seconds when she was closest to me. She would have ripped out my throat if she could. Instead, I just wanted her gone; I didn’t watch her as she stormed down the hallway.

Alone in my apartment, I realized how hollow the argument had left me—but at the same time, how liberating it was too. Catrina wouldn’t be able to control me, and I wouldn’t have to tread carefully around Dalesbloom anymore. I was on my own, but I didn’t need David’s help. I could protect Grandbay without him.

I just… hoped I hadn’t fucked things up for my pack even worse.