“That’s enough,” Elias growled from behind me. I turned as he stood from his desk, shooting me a warning look. To the elders, he said, “I understand your concern, but you coming here and berating your alpha isn’t doing anyone any favors. If you can’t accept my leadership, then we have bigger problems. In themeantime, I think you should all leave and let us take care of business. You’re distracting us.”
For a moment, none of the elders moved, and I thought I was going to have to drag them out myself.
“You still need to keep us informed,” Thaddeus said petulantly.
“We will,” Elias promised. “Though barging into my office without an appointment is no longer going to be acceptable, do you understand?”
Silence rang out as Elias stared down each of the elders. One by one, they all glanced away.
“We’ll be in touch,” Romulus promised, the only thing he could say that would save face.
“I’m sure you will,” I growled.
The elders began to file out. Just as she was about to leave, the Oracle, who had been silent for the entirety of the meeting, tugged me to the side.
“How is Rachel?” she asked, her voice quiet enough that only I could hear.
My brow furrowed as I stared at her. Something about the intense way she stared as she asked set alarm bells ringing in my head.
“She’s fine,” I said, trying to hide the growing unease. “Why?”
“You should keep a close eye on her,” she said.
I had to force myself not to grip the Oracle and shake her to stop her being so cryptic. “Why? Is something going to happen to her?”
She pursed her lips, not in anger, but more in frustration at herself as she gave the briefest of frowns. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “All I know is that something is going to happen to make her cross paths with the wraith.”
The air seemed to rush out of my lungs, even as I tried to keep calm. There was no way in hell I was going to let that happen.
I could feel Elias’s eyes boring into us. I ignored him, too intent on finding out as much as possible. The more I knew, the better a chance I had at stopping whatever it was. I needed to keep Rachel safe.
In my mind, I was already promising myself that if I had to keep her in the house for the next year, I would make sure that she didn’t get within a mile of the wraith. I wasn’t going to let whatever the Oracle saw come to fruition.
As if she could read my mind, she gave a speculative look. “You aren’t able to fight fate, Sam. Just remember that.”
I didn’t care what she said. I would fight fate as much as I had to in order to protect Rachel.
“Do you see anything else?” I asked. The more she saw, the more I could find out, and the better chance I had at keeping Rachel safe. I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
She shook her head. “I can’t see more than that, or any details. But I know she has a larger part to play in what’s to come than any of us anticipated, particularly her.” She stared at me with those eyes that always seemed to know more than she told anyone. “Maybe that’s the reason it was time for the two of you to be mated. I’m not sure.”
Unease and panic rippled through both my wolf and me. Just the thought of Rachel being hurt drove me insane. I wasn’tgoing to let anything happen to her because I didn’t want to know what it would be like without her. Thinking it was bad enough.
“I’ll keep her safe,” I told her.
The Oracle smiled and patted my shoulder. “I know you will,” she said. “But some things are out of your control, and you should remember that.”
Something about the words sent uncomfortable chills running up my spine, and I tried to stop myself from shivering. As I stared down at the Oracle, I made myself a promise: I was going to do everything in my power to protect Rachel, even if she hated me for it. I wasn’t about to let anything hurt her, not so long as I could breathe.
“Thank you for the heads up,” I said.
She gave a warm smile. “Of course, dear.” She patted me on the shoulder, all but reaching on tiptoe to do so, then she slipped out to follow the rest of the elders.
“Everything all right?” Elias asked. When I turned, I saw with a jolt that he was watching me with maybe a little too much interest. I had to wonder how much he had overheard.
Shrugging, I didn’t let myself look away from him, knowing he could read my expressions like a book.
“Yeah. She was just asking about how Rachel and I were doing. That’s all.”
