Abby and Stephanie exchanged a glance. “It doesn’t really matter which story he believes,” Abby said. “The real problem here is that you know about shifters. You’re a huge liability, both clans are going to be worried that you’ll expose them.”
“But I would never do that, I don’t understand why Alex even said anything,” she said, shaking her head. “Now what’s going to happen? What can they do to me?”
The other two women exchanged another glance. “That’s why we came to get you,” Stephanie said. “You need to be down there if they’re deciding your future.”
She got dressed, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair back in a ponytail in record time. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said, coming out of the bathroom. “You two are coming with me, aren’t you?”
“We’ll be right by your side,” Abby said, linking arms with her.
“Sisters all the way,” Stephanie said, stepping up on the other side.
“Now I’m really scared,” she said. “But let’s go, I should have a say in my own future.”
When they walked into the kitchen, there was a brief silence, then Ryan jumped to his feet. “Paula, there you are,” he said, walking over and putting his arm around her. “I’d like you to meet Marcus Reynolds. He’s on the clan council and hopefully here to help us.”
A pair of blue eyes studied her coldly, making her suddenly self-conscious and she suddenly had the urge to run away, but kept her feet firmly planted and stared back at the man. He was the first one to look away and she counted it as a small victory, but she kept her face blank, reminding herself she knew how to play the game. Ryan helped her into a chair, then sat down next to her, more nervous than she’d ever seen him.
“I understand you know our secret,” Marucs finally said. “How you learned about it is immaterial at this point. I would like to know what you plan to do with the information.”
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything with it. I care about these people; they’re my friends. I would never do anything to jeopardize their lives,” she said, meaning every word. “I realize that you have no reason to trust me, but I promise you that your secret is safe with me.”
Marcus didn’t say anything, just studied her with his cold eyes. She didn’t look away, even though she was trembling inside, and held her breath waiting for his response, the feeling that her entire future rested in his hands settling over her. He finally got up from the table, looked around the room, then shook his head before heading for the door without saying a word. She could tell that she wasn’t the only one confused by his response, but no one said a word as Marcus walked away.
When he got to the doorway, he turned to look back at them. “Nothing has changed, you have until tonight to make up your mind,” he said, then shook his head. “I don’t want to turn her over to the council, but I won’t have any choice unless you make the pledge. It’s the only way. I had really hoped one of you boys would have chosen within the clan, but I suppose we still have two chances. Let me know what you decide. I need to know right away; the council would like to get this settled as soon as possible.”
He was gone without another word, and they all sat in silence until they heard the front door slam. Then she turned to Ryan. “What was he talking about?” she asked. “What pledge are you supposed to take?”
Ryan looked around the table, then back at her. “Maybe we should talk about this alone,” he suggested. “Let’s go back up to my room.”
“Just tell me right now,” she said. “You’re freaking me out.”
“It’s just a pledge to protect you, it’s not that big of a deal,” Ryan said, but she could tell there was more and waited silently. “We might have to get married to make it official, that’s all.”
She just stared at him for a second. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” she asked. “I don’t think I heard you right.”
CHAPTER 16
***RYAN***
Everyone sitting at the table with them suddenly had other things to do. In a matter of seconds, the room emptied out, leaving just the two of them. “I guess that wasn’t the right way to ask, but I’ve never done this before,” he said. “Paula, will you marry me?”
She just stared at him for several heartbeats, then began to shake her head. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked, but when she saw the serious look on his face, she shook her head again. “Ryan, we’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, you can’t honestly think this is a good idea. Marriage is a big step; we haven’t even been on a date yet.”
“Yeah, we would kind of be doing it backwards, but we can still go on dates if you want. That would be fun,” he said, then shrugged when she just stared at him, not finding any humor in the situation. “It’s the only way that I can guarantee your safety.”
“That can’t be our only choice, what are the other options?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him. “You’d better not be leaving anything out. I don’t understand why you’re not more upset at the idea. I thought guys hated the idea of marriage.”
“The other option is to turn you over to the council, where they’ll spend hours grilling you and might end up turning youover to Alex’s clan just to keep the peace,” he said. “I’m sorry, Paula, this is what I was trying to avoid, but if we just get married, that will solve everything. You’ll be part of the clan, and they’ll have to offer you protection then.”
She sat back in her chair, then looked over at him. “This isn’t the way I imagined things would go,” she said. “Why aren’t you freaking out? Why am I the only one who thinks this is a bad idea?”
“Because you don’t have all the information,” he said, leaning closer to her. “We’re meant to be together, Paula. I was hoping to give you more time to figure that out, but it looks like we’re going to have to rush things a little bit.”
“A little bit?” she asked, shaking her head. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of an understatement?”
“I’ll admit it’s not ideal, but your safety is the most important thing,” he said, thinking he was getting through to her.
“I’m not marrying you because we have to, that’s not the way I imagined things,” Paula said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re supposed to be in love when you get married, there’s supposed to be a connection…”
