“She won’t talk.” Tanya’s shoulders slumped forward. “I don’t understand how she got off pack property without us knowing.”
“She’s a healer with witch magic,” Lilly pointed out before Peri could.
“Dammit! The wheelers can flash.” Peri slapped her hands onto her thighs. “Volcan gave them the ability. I didn’t think any of them were using it.”
Tanya cursed under her breath and crossed her arms. “Can you keep her here?”
Peri nodded. “I can bind her.” She started for the stairs.
“Can you do it without letting her know?” Lucian asked, making her pause at the bottom of the stairs.
“Yes.” Peri nodded.
He raised a brow. “Maybe do that instead of having a confrontation?”
Peri thought about how exhausted the healer looked. She didn’t want to cause her any more stress. “Good idea. Not that I think she’d go anywhere tonight. She could barely stand. I’ll just stay outside her door while I perform the spell.”
“I should go see her.” Dalton pushed away from the wall, his large frame rigid with barely contained rage. His wolf, apparently, was winning the battle against the man’s anger.
“Why?” Peri snapped. She was pissed at the wolf for walking away from his mate, throwing a hissy fit because she wasn’t telling him what he wanted to know.
“Judgy much?” A bit of humor laced Lucian’s voice. They’d had their own fights, and Peri really had no room to throw stones when it came to anyone else’s stubbornness. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to. Jewel was a gypsy healer, which meant she was Peri’s responsibility, and she took that very seriously.
“She’s my mate,” Dalton snarled. “If anyone should check on her and make sure she doesn’t leave, it should be me.”
“Yeah, because you were doing such a bang-up job of it before,” Anna muttered. She looked exhausted, almost as bad as Jewel had. It was obvious that being in those dark places had affected her. It also wasn’t like Anna to be cruel.
Dalton’s eyes snapped to the brunette healer. Gustavo growled and stepped in front of his mate, blocking Dalton’s view. “She’s not wrong. You will not take your self-loathing out on my mate or anyone else here.”
“Who the hell are any of you to judge me?” Dalton’s teeth snapped together. “You cannot understand a man’s reasoning until you have walked in his shoes. Who among you has walked in mine?”
Jacque slowly raised her hand, scrunching up her nose. “I kind of get it. I kicked Fane out when he wouldn’t talk to me about his crap and he’d closed the bond.”
Fane cleared his throat and shifted on his feet, wrapping an arm around his mate and pulling her close.
“I walked away from Peri,” Lucian said. “I felt betrayed by her lack of communication with me. I felt as if I was wandering in the darkness alone when I needed her beside me.”
Peri felt as if she’d been kicked in the gut. Though she knew that wasn’t her mate’s intent, he was proving a point. Daltondid not deserve their judgment. If anything, he deserved their support and understanding.
“Mine and Bethany’s relationship hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing,” Drake added.
Jacque snorted. “We know, sheet king.”
“I’m sorry, Dalton.” Anna peeked around Gustavo. “My words were cruel. I don’t know why I said it. I just… I feel?—”
“The dark magic is messing with you,” Peri offered. “There will always be a residue of what Volcan did. Dark magic leaves a mark.”
Dalton sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He seemed to deflate, his shoulders slumping forward. He and Jewel had been through so much. How much more could they take before the now-fragile bond snapped? “I don’t even know if she wants to see me,” he mumbled.
“Of course she wants to see you.” Everyone seemed to listen when Zara, Wadim’s mate, spoke because she so rarely did, and usually only in response to a ridiculous statement by Jen. “No matter what you two have said or done, there’s no one you need more than her. And no one she needs more than you.”
Dalton looked at Lucian. “I’m so angry with her. I miss the hell out of her. I’m scared of what she’ll tell me if she answers my questions. How do you get past that?” He glanced at Jacque, likely because of her admission as well.
“It’s not easy,” Lucian admitted. “You have to be willing to set aside your hurt, pride, and anger so you can try to see things from her point of view. You don’t cling to the adage ‘it’s not fair’ or ‘why should I be the one to give in?’ It’s not about fairness or giving in. It’s about deciding your relationship is more important than the anger you feel. Being a mate is about loving her more than you love yourself. You can’t control her actions. All you can control are your own reactions. There is nothing easyabout it, regardless of the soulmate bond. A relationship takes work and sacrifice.”
“I can’t explain it any better than that.” Jacque motioned to Lucian.
Dalton closed his eyes and nodded. “I’ll come up after you, Peri.”
