I blink at him. My lungs aren’t getting quite the amount of air they’d like, so talking isn’t too high on the priority list.
Remy stops. “Are you okay? You’ve gone a little pale.”
My mouth opens and closes, almost involuntarily. Remy says something to Dante and Dante continues down the hallway at a fast pace while Remy walks toward me. He places a hand on my arm.
“Why don’t you sit for a minute?” He gently tugs me down to the floor so we’re sitting side by side with our backs resting against the wall. “This is a lot to take in, right? Your entire life just got flipped upside down and you’re overwhelmed.”
“Yeah,” I squeak out.
Hesitantly, Remy places his hand on my back. When I don’t push him away, he rubs small circles between my shoulder blades. “Things look bad right now, but—”
“What if he dies?” I blurt out.
“Julien?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not going to happen.” He smiles. “For all that he’s somewhat socially inept, my brother knows what he’s doing.”
“But you said…”
“I said that was what Rossi was hoping for, not that it was going to happen.” He pauses. “Besides, all that needs to be done to throw Rossi’s plans off is for Julien to claim you. I’m not sure of the exact process, but there are plenty of other Alphas here who could bear witness to you two being fated mates.”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, that’s all? I only need to permanently tie my life to an Alpha I just met in order to prevent another Alpha from killing me.”
Remy’s hand pauses. “Julien would never force you to do something you weren’t comfortable with. If you want to wait, he will. We should probably get out of Chicago if that’s the case since—”
“No, it’s not that.” I sigh. “This day has been like a whirlwind and my head’s still spinning. I haven’t evenshowered.” I hold out my arm. “I’m still covered in body glitter for fuck’s sake.”
“I know.” Remy chuckles. “I’m pretty sure Meredith thinks you’re a stripper. Her pack’s going to be finding glitter in that backseat foryears.”
I huff out a laugh. “So glad I had a chance to give her the herpes of crafts. Serves her right for… I don’t even know.”
“She’s a bitch,” says Remy. “Unfortunately, the pack elders really wanted Julien to try for a mating alliance, and he tends to go along with them to avoid rocking the boat.”
“Pack elders?” I echo, unfamiliar with the term.
“I don’t know how things were in your pack, but a lot of packs these days have a sort of council of elders who advise the Alpha,” explains Remy. “In our case, because Julien took over so young, some of the elders tend to push the boundaries of their power. The situation is definitely not ideal, but things were a little unstable when my brother became Alpha and the elders did a lot to make the transition as painless as possible so he feels indebted to them.”
“If they were pushing for a mating alliance, how are they going to take it when he comes back with me?”
Remy shrugs. “You’re his fated mate. They’ll have no choice but to accept you. Meredith was available and her pack’s resources were tempting, but Julien would have been miserable with her. I was never going to allow my brother to end up mated to her.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he says. “Her brother Cameron has been sucking up to Rossi since they arrived, so I’m pretty sure any mating alliance would somehow benefit Rossi more than Julien. I was keeping a close eye on the situation.”
“Good,” I say, then glance at Remy from the corner of my eye and sigh. “Sorry about all the… drama. I’m normally much better under pressure than this. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
He shrugs. “Part of it is the mating bond. It’s not happy you and my brother can’t manage to stay in the same room for longer than twenty minutes.”
“And the other part?”
“The other part is the uncertainty of it all. The situation. Your status. Your future. No one, least of all me, expects that this won’t be an adjustment for you. From what I can tell, you’ve spent a long time on your own not allowing yourself to trust anyone. Those instincts aren’t going to magically disappear.”
“Thanks,” I say.
“No problem, that’s what friends are for.”
