As I moved to sit where I stood between Lo and Lincoln, Drake shook his head at me and pointed at the spot between his legs.
Here.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that it wasn’t fair for me to show any favoritism while I was with them all. But it hit me that while I was trying so hard to make things equal I was denying myself moments with each of them simply to keep the peace.
I’d been afraid to show affection toward one of them at a time out of fear. They’d shown great strides in learning to share, so maybe it was time for me to stop holding myself at arm’s length when they were all around.
Striding over to Drake, I plopped down where he indicated and leaned against his chest.
Letting my feelers out, I checked on Lincoln and Andrei’s emotions. There seemed to be a small part of each of them that wanted to be the one holding me, but what they were feeling wasn't an unhealthy dose of jealousy.
I was proud of them.
Drake’s voice rumbled out from behind me, “Shall we begin?”
And just like that, any lighthearted energy that remained was doused.
Chapter14
ALINA
“Let’s start with why we were sent to Jeoffrey’s manor to extract Serena,” Lo said, taking control of the conversation while she stood in front of us.
I was so relieved that she took control of the conversation and directed it. There was so much to talk about, and I didn’t know where the hell to begin.
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and rested my chin on top as everyone’s attention drifted to Andrei. While Lincoln and I knew everything, and Drake probably sensed or heard it in part through the bond now that they were in the same room, it still wasn’t our story to tell.
A darkness shadowed Andrei’s eyes as the lighthearted energy he’d shown fizzled out. “Long story short,” he started, before taking a deep breath and blowing it through pursed lips, “my dad is an abusive, narcissistic, evil asshole. My entire life he’s used my mom as leverage to make me fall in line and do what he demands. If I don’t, he hurts her.”
Lo’s pacing halted, offering him all of her attention as unbridled fury flashed in her gaze.
Andrei’s eyes fell to the floor. “As of yesterday, he now knows that Alina is my mate and is trying to use her in the same manner as he had my mother. However, he’s made it clear that my mother is expendable if I choose Alina.”
His sorrow and guilt flowed through the bond freely as our gazes met, making me feel sick at the reminder of what I already knew.
“When I told him about Alina and how I could never hurt her, he slipped up in his rage and said things that led me to believe he’s planning to launch a coup to take over the board.”
You could have cut the tension in the air with a dull butter knife, it was that bad.
“He said he needed me on the board to have a majority, but now that he likely knows that I’ve chosen Alina, I don’t think he’ll wait to make a move. As much as it pains me to say, he’s a smart and cunning man. There’s no way he hasn’t assumed that I would be telling you everything by now.”
Drake’s body tensed against me, and Lo’s fangs snapped out.
“Majority?” she hissed, swinging her face toward Drake and me. “Who the hell would follow that bastard in such a mission? I’ll gut them one by one, in front of each other.”
Hell hath no fury like a sister scorned, and I was right there with her. A coup meant they would have to kill Drake to take over because there was no outcome in which they could leave him alive and tell him to just ride off into the sunset and never return. Sanguis was his baby. He’d built it from the ground up to provide a sense of community and a way to protect his people.
Drake’s voice dropped to a deep timbre that I’d never heard before, sending chills down my spine as he spoke. “I don’t care if he has everyone on the board besides myself, Lo, and Alina. We’ll destroy them if they even try to step out of line.”
“I believe that,” Lincoln murmured, glancing between us all until his eyes settled on me. “But I want to make it clear that just because I’m not on the board, doesn’t mean I’m going to stand on the sidelines. I will fight.”
“As will I,” Andrei echoed, lifting his chin and letting his determination bleed through in his gaze and tone.
A sense of approval and pride flowed from Drake at their words, matching my own feelings. This was the team I was hoping to see us become, and I was glad to feel Drake accepting it.
“How do you want to handle the board, Drake?” Lo asked, crossing her arms against her chest as she narrowed her eyes. “We can’t leave this to fester.”
After silence stretched for a few minutes, I turned to look at him and found him in the depths of what seemed to be deep contemplation. His brow was scrunched with a tightness present through all of his features.
