I took a deep breath, then let go of her arm. “I kind of…defected. Unofficially. But I didn’t know I’d be starting such a shitstorm.”
“Damnit,” Jace mumbled, and Knox gave another low growl, not of aggression, but of…displeasure.
I was starting to feel distinctly unwelcome.
Abby frowned. “What does that mean—unofficially?”
Titus exhaled, as if he were fighting for patience. “She snuck into my car and hitched an unauthorized ride out of the Southeast Territory. To see you.”
Jace scrubbed one hand over his newly short brown waves. He met Titus’s gaze. “We have to send her back.”
“I’m staying.” I sucked in a deep breath and met each set of eyes in turn. “They’re trying to marry me off. I heard them. Your dad said that wouldn’t happen, but Iheardthem!” I told Abby.
“I tried to tell her they won’t do that,” Titus said. “Faythe would never let that happen. Your dad would never let that happen.”
“They didn’t ‘let’ Jace get exiled, either, yet that happened,” Drew pointed out.
“Technically, they can’t make Robyn get married,” Abby said, and though normally I hate being discussed as if I weren’t present, that probably wasn’t a good moment to start complaining. “But there are enough old-school Alphas left to make her life very difficult until she does what they want.”
“Even with your brother on the council?” Titus asked. “Won’t he take your dad’s side?”
“Isaac might swing the other way just to show he’s not biased. Either way, he’s a pawn,” Jace growled. “The council only accepted his Alpha status after they exiled me because they knew they could manipulate him.”
“He’s a good man in a tough position, Jace,” Abby insisted. “You’re holding a grudge because he got your sister pregnant.”
Drew chuckled, and Knox gave an amused feline snort.
Jace rolled his eyes. “Good men can be pawns, Abby. Especiallyyounggood men, with no leadership ability, who have an intense desire to please their elders and safeguard their own status.”
Abby shook her head with a glance at me. “He wouldn’t—”
“If he thought making waves would endanger his position or make things rough for Melody, he would.”
She frowned at Jace, but clearly had no argument for his point.
When an uncomfortable silence fell over us, I glanced from one face to the next. “So, I can stay?”
“No.” Jace shook his head. “They’ll come after you with everything they have.”
“We can’t just put her out on the street,” Drew said, and Knox bobbed his muzzle. I gave them each a grateful smile.
“This is temporary.” Titus clicked a button on his key fob, and his car locks thumped. “Drew, go tell the others that we have a guest, and I’ll introduce everyone in the morning.”
Drew nodded, and he and Knox took off into the huge house.
“Titus…” Jace’s tone sounded like a warning, and Titus’s bearing stiffened almost imperceptibly in response.
Two Alphas in one house.I betthat’sa laugh a minute…
“She’s going to call Faythe and tell the council that she ran on her own,” Titus said.
“That won’t absolve us,” Jace insisted. “If we don’t send her back, they’ll have a concrete reason to turn down our request for formal recognition. Then they’ll come in and take her.”
Titus’s eyes narrowed. “It won’t come to that.” But he was obviously as angry at the thought of his territory being invaded as he was at the thought of them hauling me into captivity.
“Okay, clearly we need a plan. Let’s eat while we talk.” Abby tugged me up the steps without waiting for a response from either of the toms. “It’s okay,” she whispered as we crossed the threshold into a three-story foyer crowned with a giant chandelier. “We’ll work this out.”
When the guys followed us inside, Abby pushed a mass of red curls from her face and forced a smile. “I’m starving. Let’s make sandwiches.” Then she took off down a central hallway, assuming we’d all follow.
