Chapter 6
The sun was setting as we returned to West Pack, but with the thick pine trees all over the territory, it looked even darker. Cool winds brushed against us as we made our way towards Eric’s house.
Crystal stood on guard outside the doors in her wolf form. As she noticed us approaching, she ran over with an expression halfway between worry and relief.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” she said, her fur fluffing up. “Any later and Eric might’ve sent out a search party.”
“A search party?” I said. Irritation nagged at me again. “For what? I told him where we were going.”
Crystal shuffled her paws. “Yes, but--”
“Matheson!”
Eric’s voice boomed, sounding louder as it echoed through the glass house. He stormed outside. The dark bags under his eyes looked even darker than they did this morning, if that was possible. Had he slept atallthe entire day?
“Where have you been?” he snapped.
I took a breath to snap back, but Ramsay interrupted me before I could reply.
“Dude, we were at the island training with Noro,” Ramsay said. “You knew that.”
Eric ground his teeth. “And didn’t I say to return before nightfall?”
“It’s late afternoon,” Ramsay said sardonically, pointing to the deep pink sky.
Eric growled, his wolf voice intermingling with his human one. “Don’t piss me off, Ramsay.”
Now Ramsay was starting get annoyed with him, too. He stalked up to Eric with his hands thrust into his pockets.
“I’m just telling you to relax,” Ramsay said. “There’s no need for all this drama, all right?”
For some reason, that made Eric explode. His eyes widened and another growl erupted from his throat.
“There is no drama! This isn’t a game! I’m trying to deal with my responsibilities, and you’re all off gallivanting at the beach until dark when I told you to get here before sundown!”
My heart raced and I knew they would have lunged at each other’s throats if Colton hadn’t gotten in the way. He moved swiftly, inserting himself between them and pushing them apart with one motion.
“Stop,” Colton said coolly. “That’s enough.”
Ramsay growled and shouldered Colton’s hand away, backing off. Eric just stood there and kept glaring at Ramsay.
I didn’t know which who to be more upset with--them, or myself. Maybe I should’ve interrupted them sooner, but part of me wanted to see Ramsay win the argument. It felt like he was taking my side, unlike earlier when he seemed to side with Eric, and that stirred a petty, self-satisfied feeling inside me.
Then I felt guilty for even thinking that. What was wrong with me? Ramsay and Eric were both my mates and I loved them equally. I shouldn’t have wanted them to fight, especially not for my sake. I could stand up for myself.
“Let’s just go inside,” I said, trying to dispel some of the tension.
I didn’t miss the sideways look Eric shot me, as much as I didn’t want to think about what it meant. Was he still annoyed with me? Had he spent all day thinking about our argument like I had?
I dodged his glance and trudged inside the house, then slumped on the couch with Ramsay and Colton on either side of me. After a long day of failure and suffering a bad mood, I was ready to sleep it off. But even with my fatigue, I wasn’t sure if my mind would let me rest. Nightmares from all the stress had begun pestering me again, which made sleeping and waking a horrible cycle.
“So what did you do with Noro all day?” Eric asked stiffly. He stood in the living room with his arms crossed, like he wasn’t allowed to sit on his own couch.
“Practiced magic,” I mumbled in reply. I pulled out the little leather pouches and tossed them on the coffee table.
“And?”
I frowned. “And what? Nothing happened.”
