“What do you mean, why am I here? I’m here to take you home. I can’t believe Father allowed one of Fraser’s pranks to go this far.”
I shook my head, confused. “What are you talking about?”
He rolled his eyes, irritation flashing across his face. George was never a man of abundant patience. If I didn’t understand him the first time, he got annoyed with me.
“I was visiting home when Father told me what he’d done. When I asked for proof, he said he had none but sent you off anyway. It is shameful to our family to have one of my siblings here as tribute. Especially my brother. They’re treating you like a woman, and I won’t allow it. Now, let’s go. We’ve found someone else to take your place, so the treaty stands.”
He gestured to a disheveled and tearful woman on his horse who looked absolutely terrified. Whoever she was, she clearly hadn’t agreed to be here. She shouldn’t have been dragged here in the first place.
“Fraser wasn’t lying, George. He stabbed me in the back by telling Father, but he didn’t lie.”
“Of course, he was lying,” George snapped, studying me again. “You are only punishing Father by pretending. It is a disgrace to think that way. None of our family has ever been tainted as such.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out slowly. I’d heard that mindset all my life. It had made me scared to live. I hid away so people wouldn’t catch on that I wasn’t like them. That I was an abomination in their eyes. But having the truth revealed turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to me. Here, with the clan, I was truly myself, and they accepted me that way. Nothing could convince me to go back. Ever.
“Then I guess it’s lucky that Father disowned me. I’m not part of your family anymore. And I’m not leaving.” I reached out, taking Rath’s hand and lacing our fingers together. “Fraserwasn’t lying. I am attracted to men. I’ve fallen in love with one. And this clan accepts me the way I am. This is my family now.”
Disgust swept over his face, along with a healthy dose of disbelief. He still wanted to believe that I was lying to punish my father. But that wasn’t what was happening. And I wasn’t interested in arguing about it. If he wanted to force me to go, I had an entire army of barbarians at my back. He’d have to go through them to get to me.
“So you’d rather live in sin and taint yourself like this instead of coming home? You had such a terrible life that living with these… animals… is better for you?”
Lifting my chin, I glared at him. “Yes. This is my clan. My family. And you’ll never come close to their level. Go home, George. Today is my bonding day, and you’re not welcome to join.”
Never in my life had I felt confident enough to stand up to my brothers. If I tried, I’d get a beating for the insult. Being with the clan made me brave. And when George took a step toward me, his fury evident, the clan pressed forward, surrounding me, putting a literal wall of muscle between me and my past. Even he wasn’t stupid enough to challenge that, not when he and his two companions were vastly outnumbered.
“Fine. If that’s what you want, then you’ll need to live with the consequences. Once I leave here, I won’t ever come back to save you. You’ll spend your life on your knees just to be a brat.”
I didn’t respond to that. Partially because I knew nothing I could say would make him accept me as I was. But also because I knew what he was referring to, and I absolutely wanted to get on my knees sometime soon. Rath seemed wild for it, lying in bed. I wanted to know if I could make his knees weak if he was standing.
As he approached his horse, the woman he’d brought with him slid off the other side, darting away to escape him. Afamiliar man, the one who’d held back the woman who attacked me the other night, caught her in his arms and tucked her behind him, shielding her from George. He scowled, but paid no mind to it. She wasn’t worth enough to him to fight for. He mounted his horse, raising his eyebrow and giving me a significant look, like it would somehow sway me. Maybe before I would’ve jumped to follow his order to keep him and my family happy, but not anymore. I kept my chin up and didn’t waver an inch. He sneered at me and turned his back, steering his horse away.
“Wait!”
Surprised, we all turned to see the woman from last night. She had her hands tied, and she was disheveled. She’d obviously snuck out of where she was being held again. A few fighters moved to stop her, but she screeched at them and ran toward my brother, putting her hands up pleadingly.
“Take me with you! Please! I do not wish to stay here!”
From the look on George’s face, he wanted to refuse. He’d always been selfish, and he never did anything for others unless he got something out of it. Bringing me home wasn’t about rescuing me. It was about removing the stain from our family name. I should’ve seen that coming the minute he showed up here.
“She’d be a good match for Fraser,” I called out, catching his attention again. “She comes from an influential family.”
That was a lie. Maybe. I didn’t actually know. Or care, really. I wanted her gone, and I wanted Fraser to suffer. Being married to a bitch like her would probably do it. Or they’d be perfect for each other because they were both horrible down to their cores.
The woman nodded furiously when George shot her a questioning look. “Y-yes, yes! My father is very influential. The only reason I am here is because we held a raffle in my town, and I was chosen. He was honorable enough to be forced into sending me.”
I didn’t believe it for a second, but George apparently did. He jerked his chin at one of his men, who scooped her up onto his horse. Without another glance in my direction, they left, and my shoulders slumped with relief.
“Uh… Care to tell the rest of us what that was about?” Verus asked, raising an eyebrow at me. That’s when I realized none of that was in their language. They didn’t know what George said about me or what he wanted. They stood by me anyway. It warmed me to my core, and a smile broke out over my face as I nodded.
“Sure. Where do you want me to start?”
Twenty-One
After Finn explained what his brother wanted, I was furious, but he proudly told everyone he sent the man away and he wouldn’t be coming back, so I was forced to let that go. Still, I kept him glued to my side until near when the ceremony was set to begin. Then, he was stolen away by Zoya to get ready, while I went with my brothers to set up our tent for the night. Not my tent, which they would be expanding to better suit a couple while we were gone, but a tent further from the village where we would have privacy as a newly bonded couple. They teased and joked about what we would do there, but all of my brothers took a moment privately to congratulate me for finally finding someone. They knew how badly I wanted this.
After the tent was set, I returned to my own tent to get ready, picking out my finest garments to wear. I was just finishing when a familiar voice called for me.
“Do you plan on being in there all night?” he teased.
