I arch my brows at that. In general, I try to stay out of the political side of things. My focus is my pack, and their safety. I don’t have the head for court intrigues and keeping such and such minister happy so he’ll vote the way we want when the time comes.
“Jail time,” Court says, before anyone else can guess.
“Technically, it’s a hefty fine and if you can’t pay, then you get jail time.” Forsythe pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Well, technically the fine is so ‘hefty’ that most packs won’t be able to pay it, not per person, which means your grandmother is sentencing countless people to jail for following their instincts,” Thayer adds.
“It’s never going to be enacted,” our prime says through gritted teeth. “The people are protesting enough, she’ll have to roll it back.”
I let out a harsh laugh. “Right. Of course she will.” I shake my head. “Sythe, mate, she doesn’t give a fuck about the country.This law is another way to control you and Lizzie, to preserve her legacy through you.”
“She could throw Ren in jail,” Piers says, quietly. “If any of you bond her, let your instincts get the better of you. If she goes into heat and you go into a rut and you come out of it bonded? The queen,” he meets the prince’s eyes steadily. “Your grandmother could put her in jail, lock her away for essentially not having any control during a heat.”
No one has any control during a heat.
Forsythe pales the slightest bit, like he’s realizing just how fucked up the situation is. I’m sure he knew it on an abstract level. But now Piers has framed it in a way that would personally affect him, affect all of us. “She’s not a Bravonnian citizen.”
“Like that’s ever stopped a country from throwing a lawbreaker in jail.” Thayer shakes his head. “Even if she doesn't, the queen could extradite her, refuse her entry into the country ever again. Maybe… maybe we shouldn’t go back.”
My stomach lurches at the thought and I don’t know if it’s because I like the idea or because I hate it. Bravonne is my home. It always has been. I’ve never considered living anywhere else, first because I was too poor to imagine that kind of jet setting life, and then because I bonded to the royal pack.
But I would do it. I realize, leave Bravonne if it meant I got to have Ren. If that was the only way for us to be together? Hell yes, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But I know she would never ask that of me. Ever.
“We have to go back,” Sythe growls. “We have a duty-”
“Fuck duty,” Courtland snarls. “Growl at me all you want, Sythe, but I mean it. Fuck duty. Any other pack that found their fated mate and it wouldn’t even be a question. They’d be loved up and halfway to bonding. No one would fault us for choosing her. No one.”
“My grandmother will. And what do you think she’d do when she realizes? Who do you think she’d go after? Us? No, of course not. She needs us. She’d go after Ren. After the people she cares about. And I can’t let that happen.”
“None of uswouldlet that happen,” I tell him. “Jesus, mate, it’s like you’ve forgotten who we are. Not one of us would let anything touch Florence. You have to know that.”
“It’s not all on you, yeah?” Thayer adds. “We’re a pack for a reason.”
Our prime’s jaw tenses and releases, like he’s considering how to respond, and swallowing down words. “We can discuss it later. Right now, Florence has agreed to go to Bravonne with us, and so that’s what we need to do.” His amber gaze moves to me. “Her safety is the number one priority. We’ll put her in the Albert Street flat. And I want six guards on the building at all times.”
Fuck, I want to argue with him, make him see that even if Florence agreed it’s not necessarily what’s best for her, for us. The only reason she’s doing this is to give Piers a chance to change his mind about staying with her, breaking our pack in the process.
She’s doing this for us, not herself, because that’s who our fated mate is.
“I’ll need some time to set it up,” I tell him, not being entirely honest. “The security system on the building could use an upgrade.”
His lips press into a hard line like he knows I’m full of shit, but I don’t care, if it buys Florence another day with her family then I’ll stall for as long as I can. He doesn’t waste breath arguing. “Let’s make a list of the things she’ll need, the food we’ve seen her eat and enjoy-”
“The things we want to take her to see and do.” Court seems to be warming up to the idea now. “We should definitely takeher to the Royal Ballet. She’d like that, right? Or do you think it would be hard for her to watch?”
“No,” Forsythe’s voice cuts through. “No, we aren't going to take her anywhere. She needs to stay safe until we can figure out how to neutralize my grandmother.”
The four of us stare at him. “So we’re going to lock her away, keep her a secret, just like she was worried about us doing.”
I feel sick.
He shifts on his feet, swipes a hand over his beard. “It’s just temporary. Nothing long term. This way we’ll have her close. She won’t get sicker and we can keep her safe.”
“You keep using that word,” I drawl. “Safe.Like whatever we do doesn’t matter so long as it’s in the name of her safety, but you know that isn’t true, right? There are things she will never forgive us for, and I think this might be one of them, yeah? Locking her away, keeping her hidden, like a dirty secret?”
“If you insist on going through with the bonding with Isadora, it’ll only get worse,” Thayer informs him, in a clipped voice. “Because then she’ll know it wasn’t for her safety, Sythe. It’ll be because you’re too bloody cowardly to choose her.”
His jaw ticks, his hands clench and I swear he might throw a punch at us, at me. I almost hope he does.Give me a reason, I think.Give me a bloody reason to beat you to a pulp. Mess up your pretty face for the cameras.
