“I have to, baby. Bennett and Lucas need me, too.” Garridan straightened.
Sage lay his head on Garridan’s shoulder and shut his eyes, hoping the whole talk about fighting would just go away. He wasn’t going to win the argument and he probably shouldn’t. Garridanwas right. He needed to do what was best for the whole clan. He couldn’t just give Sage what he wanted as if he were a spoiled child. Sage had to remember that he wasn’t the only one in Garridan’s life.
“When is the challenge,” Garridan asked.
“Two weeks from now,” Ramsey said.
“I’ll try not to kill anyone,” Garridan said to Ramsey. It would have been funny, but Garridan was serious.
“You’re getting better, Garridan.” Sage turned to Ramsey. “He’s getting better. He really is. I can tell.”
Ramsey smiled. “We’ll see how it goes when the challenge comes, Sage.”
Sage knew what that meant. Ramsey might not announce Garridan as his beta. Sage might have mixed feelings, but he knew Ramsey needed Garridan. Garridan might not be able to stay with Sage all the time if he was beta and that really wasn’t something Sage wanted to think about.
“Bennett, we’ll train twice a day until then,” Garridan said.
“Yes, sir.” He had never heard Bennett call anyone else sir before, not even Ramsey. Usually he’d address Ramsey as Alpha or Brother, but never sir.
“Sage will train with us too,” Garridan said.
“Wait. What now?” He lifted his head.
“You will train with us. You need to learn how to defend yourself,” Garridan said to him in that no-nonsense way he seemed to have.
“Why do I need to learn how to fight if you’re going to protect me?” The alternative suggested that Garridan wasn’t always going to be with him and that was completely unacceptable. Sage narrowed his eyes. “You’re going to take the beta position and that means you’ll be away from me a lot. I’m not stupid, Garridan.” Sage stood.
“I never said or thought that about you.” That calm tone made Sage want to smack him.
He put his hands on his hips and stood there staring Garridan down. Neither one of them wanted to lose the stupid contest they started.
“It’s important to know how to defend yourself.”
“You will not leave me.”
“It’s not practical for me to always be around you.”
Sage’s mouth fell open. “Practical? Have you met me? I am the craziest person in Saint Lakes. I don’t give a shit how practical something is.”
Ramsey snorted out a laugh. “You are much braver than you give yourself credit for Sage Arach.”
“My last name is Rickman.”
“Aren’t you taking Garridan’s last name? Or is Garridan taking yours.”
“It’s not something we’ve discussed,” Garridan said calmly.
Sage hissed at Garridan and started out of the room. He wrung his hands and tried to calm himself down. He felt a hand on the center of his back, and he turned to hiss at Garridan again. “Why does that scare you?”
“It just does.”
“Stop moving, Sage.”
Sage stopped walking and let Garridan put a hand around his waist. He felt lips on his neck and made room for Garridan, tilting his head to the side. “I’m really mad at you right now.”
“Mmm, I can tell.” Garridan kissed Sage’s neck again. Sage wrapped his arms around Garridan’s neck.
“Shut up.” Sage smiled.
