Cade looked at Gray, who gave Rocky a rundown of the events. Rocky appeared shocked as well. “So this mage guy, who is the same guy who saved the cubs in the first place, comes back and saves the alpha-heir again?”
“That about sums it up,” Cade grumbled.
Rocky shook his head and sat down in the chair beside Cade’s. “You guys are in some deep shit here.”
“We know,” Gray said. “We’re waiting to hear from the Pack Council, but this seems to be something that hasn’t happened before.”
“That’s the understatement of the century. We’ve lived peacefully with the Others for as long as I’ve heard. My grandmother used to tell stories about the Others, the mysterious mages that we were to avoid, and how dangerous demons and the like were.”
“Our elders say the same thing. No one has ever heard of a demon attacking a pack before, and certainly a mage has never come to a pack’s assistance.”
Rocky turned to Gray and seemed to have something to say but didn’t speak.
“What is it?”
“Alpha, I don’t want to question your judgment, but are you sure it’s wise to keep the mage so close? It seems really suspicious to me that he conveniently showed up right when you needed him, that he was there to ‘save the day.’”
Gray didn’t want to admit Rocky had a point. Looking at it from an outsider’s perspective, it did appear questionable. But there was something about Simon, something Gray trusted even though he couldn’t explain it. He said as much to Rocky.
Rocky nodded, his expression unchanged. “And that doesn’t bother you?”
“What?”
“That you just trust him like that, for no real reason. He came out of nowhere, Gray. I know you don’t want to hear this, not after what he did for Garon and the other cubs, but I don’t trust him. I don’t know what his motives are, and I hate to say it, but I’m not sure that he hasn’t done something to you to get you to feel this way.”
Gray leaned back in his chair, his thoughts racing. He’d seen firsthand what Simon could do, how he’d used his abilities to control the humans who had kidnapped the cubs.
Cade slammed his hand down on the arm of his chair. “Enough. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You weren’t there, man. You didn’t see what Simon did to save Garon. I did. He would have died, killed himself to save our alpha-heir, for no reason other than it was the fucking right thing to do.” He jumped up and went to Rocky, getting right in his face with a snarl. “Don’t question us on things you know nothing about. If you had seen what he did, you wouldn’t be saying this shit.”
“Cade, enough.” Gray’s voice was sharp, and Cade turned, raising his fist to the wall. He reconsidered and put his hand down before he struck.
“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” Rocky added. “Look at how quick Cade is to defend him, how angry he is. You’ve all just taken him in, and, yeah, I get that he saved the cubs.” He paused and looked back and forth between them. “But since when are we so trusting to outsiders? I’m not trying to be an asshole here, but you have to admit the whole thing is weird. Why would he do that? He’s not pack. Cade just gave a perfect example of how the mages aren’t like us. So what does he gain from helping you?”
“Nothing,” Gray answered.
Cade let out a breath, still looking away from them and at the wall. “That’s not entirely true.” He turned and locked eyes with Gray. “He got some of your magic.”
Rocky took in a shocked breath, his eyes wide. “What do you mean, ‘he got some of your magic’? You left that out.”
Gray stood up and paced behind the desk. “When he saved Garon, he depleted his magic. He was going to die, so I treated him like he was an injured pack member and tried to get him to heal.”
“What the hell were you thinking?”
Cade growled, spun around, and stalked toward Rocky. “Do not speak to my alpha that way.”
Gray didn’t stop him. He was beginning to get pissed as well. “I was thinking that the man had just saved my son’s life at the sacrifice of his own. I was thinking that he’d done nothing wrong.” Gray stopped and came around the desk. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Cade over Rocky. “And I was thinking that I wasn’t going to let him die.”
Rocky lowered his eyes and tilted his neck to the side. “I’m sorry, Alpha. I didn’t mean to be insulting. This whole thing is so far out of my experience.”
Gray huffed out a bitter chuckle. “Your experience? How do you think I feel? I see what you’re saying, Rocky, and I appreciate it. But here’s the thing. I trust Simon. My son trusts Simon.”
“We all trust him,” Cade added.
“Bottom line, he’s now a friend of the pack. He’s hurt because he helped us, and we need to find a way to help him.”
“Hey, he said he was going to go through his grandfather’s books to see what he could find. So that’s good, right?” Cade sounded so hopeful that Gray laid his hand on Cade’s shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze.
“Yeah, that’s really good. We’ll figure this out.”
