Chapter 2

TWO

Rinan

"Well, what do we do now?" I ask as I glance over the room full of upset shifters.

Garrick is peering out the balcony window looking like his world has been shattered, which makes me wonder just how attached he already is to Tara. Or if it's more about the alliance. It's hard to tell with a damn bear shifter. Arlys looks lost in thought, although he's actually probably trying to figure out a way to fix things with Tara while not wearing his heart on his sleeve. And Drogo? He's frozen in place. Probably reliving everything that just happened and wanting more than anything not to care about hurting Tara.

But he does.

"We need to fix this," Garrick says, his words tense as the massive man crosses his arms in front of his huge chest.

"Obviously," Arlys responds curtly, his long, dark hair falling in front of his face as he bows his head slightly. Tension sings through his body.

Garrick takes a step toward the door. "I should go check on her…talk to her…"

Every muscle in my body tightens. "We all agreed to give her space."

He swears angrily under his breath, making his feelings clear. I know he wants to check on her, but so do we. None of us likes the idea of Tara upset, alone somewhere. Maybe even crying.

Just the idea of it makes my body feel tight, my heart feel heavy.

Gods, I hope she's not crying.

"The best thing we can do for her is come up with a solution," Arlys says, sounding more confident than I know he feels.

He's right. The problem is that until we all have sex with Tara, the alliance can be broken. We don't want the bear to have sex with her and be left out of the alliance, and the bear doesn't want us to have sex with her and be left out of the alliance. And Tara? I'm pretty sure she doesn't want any of us right now, which we absolutely deserve.

But more than that, on a deeper level, we feel an attachment to Tara. She's beautiful, and smart, and absolutely amazing. If I'd known enough in my younger days to picture my perfect woman, it'd be her. The last thing I want to do is share her with a bear… or lose her to one. So, what are we supposed to do?

My mind starts working, and I decide to just start spitting my thoughts out. "We can't… all have sex with her tonight." Although, on paper, that would be the simplest solution.

Arlys flinches and gives me a look, like he's wondering if my head is screwed on straight. "Of course not, she's a fucking virgin. She deserves more grace than that."

I lift my hands in a show of agreement. "I wasn't suggesting it. I'm just thinking out loud."

"You better be," Garrick mutters.

I keep thinking. "Maybe it should be in order of size, spread out over days?"

Arlys gives me another look. "You want us to measure our dicks against one another? Who would be the judge? Would we call in the maids for an official measuring?"

I scowl. How helpful. "I don't see any of you coming up with ideas."

Garrick sighs and runs his hand through his short, black hair. "You also forget, Tara likely doesn't want any of us near her. Hell, she may never want us near her again."

My heart aches at just the thought. I need Tara near me. I don't know why. It doesn't make sense. I've just never felt this way about a woman before, and I hate to think I've caused her so much pain. I get it – we fucked up, and we've made her angry. Tara doesn't deserve that.

"She's surprisingly forgiving," I say, rubbing my chest to try and soothe the ache.

It doesn't work.

Garrick gives me a look. "How often do you require her forgiveness?" The question holds an accusation.

"What are you implying?" Arlys asks, anger in his voice.

"Just that I suspect you three often leave her crying," he says, all cocky as fuck.

Even though he's right.

Arlys draws his shoulders back and takes a step toward the bear. "You want to say that to my face?"

Whoa. Since when does Arlys get mad?

"Enough," I say, feeling frustrated. "This isn't helping anything. Tara is off somewhere feeling like shit, and we're all still arguing. I understand that technically the alliance isn't in place until we have sex with Tara, but do we care more about the alliance or Tara?"

To my surprise, Drogo, Garrick, and Arlys all answer at once. "Tara."

The look on Drogo's face suggests he spoke without realizing what he was going to say. Which kind of makes me happy. Deep down, he does care about her, no matter how much he fights it.

"What if we came to a gentleman's agreement of sorts?" Garrick suggests.

"A gentleman's agreement?" I repeat, not adding on that he'd need to be a gentleman to make that work, because that wouldn't do anyone any good.

He nods, a small smile playing on his lips. "Yes."

As he runs through the plan, all of us draw closer, intrigued. It's not perfect, but it might be our only solution right now. And with everything going on, a temporary solution is better than no solution.

After we agree, shaking hands all around, Garrick takes off to arrange everything.

I'm feeling good, hopeful for the first time in a while, when Drogo turns to us with a smile. "You know what this means?"

I stare in confusion. "No, what?"

Did I miss something?

There's something unreadable in his face. "We've just been given more time to come up with a solution. We still have a chance of getting out of this."

My stomach drops. "But… I thought we agreed? Consummating the marriage is necessary."

Drogo glances at Arlys. "Remember, the best thing that can happen is that we dissolve this whole mess and go on to find our true mate. Right? The one we can feel through our connection. The one we share emotions with. The person we can't live without. We deserve that. Don't we?" When no one responds, he presses on. "Imagine not being tied to the witches or bears. Imagine not having to sit around and wait for them to betray us. Our people will be safer. It'll be better for everyone."

Arlys hesitates, but then nods. "Right. So, we're back to the original agreement. No one touches her." And his tone betrays him, because he sounds nearly as disappointed as I feel.

Which is really damn disappointed.