“But you don’t need us to like him,” Anita added.“We can work together without that happening.”
“But we can’t be friends if you don’t at least tolerate my mate,” Tamsin pointed out.
They were more than friends, or at least they had been.All of them had banded together over the years.They’d all lost their clans, and they’d needed a new home and a new family.Tamsin had thought that was what they were, but maybe he’d been wrong.Maybe he was about to lose people he’d considered his siblings for so long, and for nothing he’d done.
He couldn’t help who his mate was.He wasn’t going to choose between Nic and his friends, though.He didn’t have to.It was obvious which way he’d go.
“You can’t force us to like him,” Anita said.
“No one has said anything about forcing.I just want you to give him a chance.Yes, he betrayed someone who considered him a friend, but you can’t tell me it’s not something you would’ve done to survive, too.He’s incredibly young, and he was raised by Parrish.He did what he had to in order to survive, and I won’t blame him for that.Besides, if Devon can forgive him, why can’t you?”
“Well, I don’t think it matters,” Gary said, looking from Tamsin to the other two.“He’s your mate, and I won’t ask you to choose between him and me.Whatever happens, I’m on your side.”
Tamsin gave him a grateful smile.He was relieved he wouldn’t lose everyone, but he hated having to lose even one person.Unfortunately, he didn’t think there was anything he could do about it.He couldn’t force anyone to like Nic or to change their mind about him.He didn’t want to have to try.He wanted people to give Nic a chance instead of clinging to what they thought he was like, but he could see that wasn’t going to happen.
It made him sad, but at the same time, he didn’t care because they had more important things to focus on.
Something pulsed through the shield.All of them went instantly on alert, reaching out for it with their magic.Tamsin did so, too, and he quickly realized that someone was trying to pass through the shield.
He gasped and turned.He ran, wanting to see what was happening.As long as he stayed on this side of the shield, nothing could hurt him, and he might be able to find out what was going on.He could hear the others coming after him, including Nic, so he knew he’d be protected.
Hopefully, the shield and the people he was with would be enough to protect him against Parrish because that was who he found standing on the other side of the shield when he reached the area where he’d felt the push.
* * * *
NIC WASN’T SURPRISEDto see Parrish standing on the other side of the shield.He wasn’t even surprised when Parrish didn’t leave after being found out.He didn’t care that he’d been caught.Hell, knowing him, he’d wanted them to know he was there.
Parrish liked it when people were afraid of him.He liked terrorizing them, making them feel like he had their lives in his hands.A lot of the time, he did.
“Well, look who’s there,” Parrish said, his lips curling into a terrifying smile.
Parrish was a handsome man, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t scary.In fact, Nic thought that it made him even scarier.No one should be so beautiful and so evil at the same time.
“Are you making friends?”Parrish asked Nic.“I don’t think so.They don’t trust you, do they?”
Nic crossed his arms over his chest and tried to look like he wasn’t bothered by Parrish’s words.“Clearly, they do.Otherwise, I wouldn’t be allowed to roam the village, would I?”
Parrish looked Nic up and down.“I suppose not.I don’t understand how they can trust you, though.You’re one of mine.”
“I was never yours,” Nic spat out.“And I never will be.”
“I beg to differ.I lovingly raised you for almost twenty years.Even though we’re not related, I’m your father.”
“You could never come close to being my father.”Just the thought made Nic want to throw up.“I had a father.He was so much better than you can ever be.”
“Yet he died.Are you sure he was better?”
Tamsin was still standing in front of Parrish.It was a terrifying sight, even though Nic knew they were separated by the shield.He’d seen the shield at work once before, so he knew it was strong, but they didn’t know what Parrish was up to.Maybe he was here to experiment and find out what he could get away with when it came to the shield, or maybe he was here with a specific plan in mind.Had he found a way to get through the shield?Was that why there were several Kudlaks standing behind him, apparently waiting for a sign from him?
“Him being dead doesn’t mean anything,” he said.“He died protecting me and my mother.He died because he loved us.You never loved anyone but yourself.”Nic was surprised at how calm he sounded.He was pretty sure that if Parrish took one step toward him, he’d freak out.He didn’t want Parrish to see that.It would give him too much power, which wasn’t something Nic wanted.
“I never trusted you, not even when you were a child.What did you promise for them to allow you to roam the village?What did you tell them you’d do?Give them information about me?”He looked at Tamsin.“Trust me, nothing he knows is worth letting him hurt your clan.”
“He’s not going to hurt the clan,” Tamsin said.
He looked ready to tell Parrish that they were mates, but Nic didn’t want Parrish to know.He’d find a way to use it against them.He’d find a way to hurt Nic through Tamsin, and Nic couldn’t let him do that.
“I found a home here,” he told Parrish as he stepped closer to the shield, hoping to distract Parrish from Tamsin.“And a family.”
