“Why were you at my house?” I asked him after I’d ruminated for over an hour in silence.
Dave side-eyed me for a second before switching his attention back to the road. That look said a million things. “Because Hudson couldn’t be,” he answered.
That’s what I thought. “He doesn’t trust me.”
“He trusts you. It’s everyone else he doesn’t trust.”
“Oh shit,” Sebastian muttered from the backseat.
“The Principal has misjudged this particular move,” Harry agreed.
“Who?” Caleb asked.
I shook my head. I really didn’t need the peanut gallery weighing in on my relationship.
“You are the Consort Royal,” Dave said by way of explanation. “You agreed to the mating last night and by now the entire pack will know of the happy news.” His tone implied the news was anything but happy.
“You agreed to what?” Sebastian asked.
“This is most certainly news we should have all been aware of,” Harry said. Since when did I need to publicize my relationship status? This isn’t a democracy. I ignored my friends and focused on Dave.
“How does that translate to me needing a babysitter?”
“Not babysitting, protection.”
My hands ball into fists. Hudson had seen what I could do. There wasn’t any need for protection. Unless it wasn’t protection for me, but against me. “Am I under threat from the pack?” I checked.
“News of your nuptials has caused a ripple of uncertainty in the pack. There are purists among us that don’t believe he should be mating outside of the pack.”
I hadn’t agreed to marry Hudson, but mating was considered a lifetime deal. If one of the mates died, the other would not take a new mate. “How did Hudson respond to that?”
Dave smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant one, and if I had the room, I’d have taken a step back. “He explained that his choice of mate wasn’t any of their business and they were welcome to take their leave if they no longer desired to be part of the pack that he had brought together.”
I blinked. He’d basically told them to suck it up or become loners. Wow. I unclenched my fists and forced my hands to relax while rolling my shoulders. My gaze darted over my shoulder to Sebastian, and he met my stare with a raised brow. That’s right, I hadn’t explained to my best friend that I’d agreed to Hudson’s claim. If the pack was pushing back now, they had no clue who their Principal had let into their midst and who she brought with her. But Hudson knew, and that was the important thing.
“That explains the protection detail,” I muttered.
“You need to call him,” Dave instructed. “He plans to return to your house later today and will not be too happy that we’ve disappeared.”
I opened my mouth to decline. Being part of a pair was going to take some getting used to. Dave beat me to it and instructed his fancy ass car to call ‘The Principal’. The phone rang once, twice, three times from the car speakers and I had high hopes I was going to escape with a hasty voicemail. Reality struck true and hard once again.
“What’s wrong?” Hudson answered.
“Who answers the phone like that?” I wondered.
“Cora? Why do you have Dave’s phone?”
“Well, you left Dave protecting me—and we will be discussing personal boundaries later—but right now, I’m on my way to Peach Tree because Caleb, a spirit, turned up and informed me that everyone is dead.”
The silence that coated the car was thick with tension. Saying it out loud seemed to make my actions more ridiculous. “Just to be clear,” Hudson drawled. “A dead guy told you to go to his town where he claims everyone is dead and you didn’t question it?”
“He’s dead, it’s not like he’s lying about that fact. It’s pretty hard to fake.”
“Who sent him? How did he find you?”
I glanced at Caleb and sighed. “He’s not got clarity yet. He’s clear a man sent him, but he’s a little lost on the details.”
Dave smirked and I rolled my eyes. I didn’t have to explain to anyone where I was going or why.
