As I slammed the door shut behind me and hurried down the hall, I heard Sam’s voice filtering through the door.
“That went well.”
Chapter 2 - Sam
“That went well,” I said, slumping back in my chair as I stared at the closed door. On the other side of the wall, Rachel’s footsteps thundered away.
“I mean, it’s not unexpected,” Elias admitted as he rubbed his temple. “I had hoped she might see sense, but she’s got a stubborn streak in her a mile long.”
“Definitely nothing like you,” I said, flashing a grin as Elias rolled his eyes. “Completely unexpected from a Thorn.”
He let out a puff as he ignored the jab. “It’s hard to blame her. We did just drop a bombshell on her. But that doesn’t change things, and she needs to accept that.”
What he didn’t know was that the bombshell was even larger than he thought. I had never told a soul about that morning in the park, when Rachel had confessed her feelings to me. I had known what her reaction would be the second the Oracle had told me she was supposed to be my fated mate. But I hadn’t been able to warn Elias, not without telling him about that day. And I wasn’t about to put Rachel through that situation. She was going to have a hard enough time as it was.
The Oracle watched me as I stayed silent. There was something unnerving about her stare, as if she already knew about mine and Rachel’s history. As if she had known all along.
“Give her some time to come around,” the Oracle said. “I can understand how this would be a big shock to her.”
“It’s a shock to all of us,” Elias said, his voice tight. “I wasn’t exactly expecting you to come to tell me that my sister has to mate my second-in-command and my best friend since childhood.”
If the Oracle noticed the sharp, borderline acidic tone to his words, she ignored them. “I have told you before, and I shall tell you again: I do not control what I am told. I can only relay what the bones and the spirits have deigned to tell me. I do not question or try to understand their motives.”
“In other words: don’t shoot the messenger,” I said with my eyebrows raised.
The Oracle dipped her head, a faint quirk of her lips. “Aptly put, Mr. Casey.”
“Are you certain it has to be Rachel?” I asked. “Because it seems pretty obvious that she has no interest in any of this. So if one of us has to be mated, maybe—”
She shook her head, and the words died in my throat. “It has to be Rachel,” she declared.
I tried to keep my face impassive as I gave a respectful nod. In my head, I was still reeling from the Oracle’s declaration since she had told me about it this morning. It was strange enough that I had apparently been tapped for a forced mating, but adding Rachel to the mix made everything more complicated.
And yet, despite all of that, I didn’t miss the twinge of excitement in my wolf. He had liked the idea. He still did. He had been interested in Rachel long before she had ever found me in the park that day. I had ignored it back then because I thought it was best for both of us. It seemed that fate had a sense of humor.
“I have to go,” the Oracle said, pushing herself to her feet with surprising agility for someone her age. “Please let me know once she’s changed her mind and agreed to the match.”
The odds of Rachel changing her mind seemed slim to none, but I doubted telling the Oracle that would go over particularly well. But Elias and I nodded.
Elias watched as she made her way out of the room. The instant the door had closed behind her, he turned to me.
“Could this day get any worse?” Elias asked. “This, plus all the sand wraith issues…and that’s nothing compared to the fallout I’m going to have to deal with once Mom and Rach butt heads about this.”
“I could tell you that the Stone Pack sent word that a couple of shifters they suspect of several robberies and a couple assaults are on the run and coming in our direction, so we should be on the lookout for strange shifters in case they come into town,” I said, drumming my fingers on the table. “That would probably do the trick.”
He grumbled. “Joy. Yeah, send word out to patrols.”
“Already on it,” I said. “They’re on the lookout. I’ll let you know if I get word about them.”
Elias nodded his approval. “On top of it, as always.”
“The entire pack would fall apart without me,” I joked, leaning back in my chair.
Elias fell into a surly silence, a warning sign I knew all too well. Letting out a deep breath, I pushed myself upright again and leaned against the table.
“Look, Elias, I know you’re not thrilled about—”
“No shit, I’m not thrilled,” Elias growled.
