“Rowan, I’m going to be gone for two days with two of my mates. I will be okay.”
Smoke plumes funneled out of his nostrils. “I don’t want you to go anywhere that I can’t keep my eyes on you.”
“And I don’t want any of my mates out of my sight, either. I also know that the Demon Capital is home to two of my mates, and I’ve never been there. I want to support them when they go back and try to convince them to join our side. You have to see things from my perspective, Rowan.”
His shoulders slumped, and the fire in his eyes calmed slightly. “I’m not going to stop you, if that’s what you decide to do. My response wasn’t fair, and I’m sorry. I don’t like that something could happen to you, and I won’t be with you.”
Damien’s shadows whipped around and slammed against the desk, denting it and scattering the paperwork, and Rhett’s letter, on the ground. “I will be with her. Rhett will be with her. We will keep her safe. We are just as capable of keeping our mate safe as you are.”
Rowan stood, his intimidating height making me step back to give him some space. “I did not imply that you couldn’t keep her safe.”
Damien chuckled darkly, a tendril of shadow snapping forward and stopping sharply by Rowan’s neck. Damien’s horns and tail were fully on display as his glare burned into Rowan. “You did. I would kill for her. I have killed for her. I would give my own life for hers, and I know damn well all of her mates would do that. I don’t give a flying fuck if you’re the strongest one of us. We can keep her safe too.”
Rowan glowered at him, setting flames to his fingers as he pushed the tendril away from his neck.
“I respect you, Rowan,” Rhett started, getting to his feet as Damien pulled back his shadows. “But Damien has a point. You should know that she’ll be safe with us.”
Rowan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I know, you’re right, but I don’t like her away from me.”
“How do you think we feel? You’re sending us away, and you don’t even want her to come with us.” Damien’s shadow snaked around my waist and pulled me back until there was a few feet of distance between Rowan and me.
Rowan exhaled a groan that sounded a lot like a door on rusty hinges, and he sat back down in his chair. He snatched up the crystal sphere from his desk and it lit up with orange flames.
The guys were silent, and we were all staring between Rowan and Damien.
“I know I have… control issues,” Rowan forced out with an audible gulp. “Being in Blezen the first part of my life didn’t give me any sort of control. I don’t mean to do the same thing to you, Wren.”
“Rowan…” My heart ached. I understood where Rowan was coming from, but it didn’t mean he could control what I did, especially if my wants opposed his. Relief slammed into me as I figured out that Rowan had realized his actions.
My anger faded.
“I’m only agreeing to this because this is what Wren wants.” Rowan’s jaw muscle tensed. “But I also want it to be known that I trust you. All of you. Including Lachlan and Kian, even though they aren’t here right now. You’re my mate’s mates, and that makes you family. I don’t remember a time when I had a family, but I know that we are supposed to trust our family. So, I’m trusting you.” His gaze shifted between Rhett and Damien. “Keep our mate safe.”
Thorn cleared his throat. “I’m not sure how I feel about this, but like Rowan said, I trust you both to keep her safe.”
Alister nodded. “Bring her back.”
Damien’s shadows unwrapped from around my waist and seeped back into himself. His eyes dimmed from silver to dark gray as he nodded. “I’ll always keep my little bird safe.”
“Wren will be safe with us,” Rhett agreed.
Rowan let out a dark chuckle as his eyes met mine again. “My palm is itching.” Heat flooded through my core. What was he insinuating? Was it what I thought it was? “I can’t deny that seeing you stand up for what you want is attractive… but it also makes me want to punish you.”
My pulse quickened under his gaze, and a raw need throbbed between my legs.
“Punish her?Oh!Iloveto punish her. Can I watch? Can I help?” Damien stepped beside me and ran his nose down my neck as he inhaled.
Rowan let out a growl, and Damien threw his head back and laughed.
The bunched up muscles in my neck relaxed as I exhaled. The tension was gone between my mates, and yet, anxiety spurred in my gut at the thought of going to the Demon Capital when I was only a shifter.
SEVENTEEN
Rhett
“Areyousureyou’regoing to be okay?” Alister asked as we ambled down the staff wing in the Fated Dormitory.
Pheromones burned the inside of my flesh as I tightened my fists, nails biting into my palms. “I’ll be okay as long as Wren is safe. I get so many fucking visions of what could have happened to her. It was my fault that she got attacked by the human in the first place, and now, with that letter… I’ve put her in danger again.”
