“Oh, but I just can’t help it,” I say sweetly. “Yourbigfucking head is just an enticing target.”
Maverick’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise as Cade gives a feigned, wounded look.
Lex’s body shakes with silent laughter, clearly enjoying the fact I’m cuddled up to him. “We’ll circle back to this conversation later,” he murmurs. “But yes, big day. I’ll be heading off with Knox and Beau in an hour.”
That jolts me back to unpleasant reality. Shit. In my morning bliss, I had momentarily forgotten that the alphas were making their way back to the packs. You know… war and all.
“Beau’s going with you?” I ask quietly, gazing up at him.
Lena’s friendly face comes to mind and it’s even more confirmation that I’m doing the right thing by staying behind in Shadow Creek. It didn’t even occur to me that others may be in the same position.
She and Beau have barely been apart since her birthday, and now, she’s about to face the same worrying situation as me.
Lex nods once. “We need to check in on our mother. She’s aware of the situation, of course. But I’ll be busy preparing everyone and given we don’t know what will come of everything once we deal with Orson…”
He trails off and my heart breaks. His face is tense,almostunreadable. But I can see it—the unfinished words, the worry.
The fact that some of his pack might come to Shadow Creek and never return home.
Including people like Beau…
And others too. Families might get ripped apart, mates lost. And suddenly, I find my head turning in Maverick’s direction.
He locks eyes with me, face expressionless. But I know he can read my mind, even without mind link.
“It will be okay,” he says confidently. “Everything is just a precaution to be on the safe side.”
Fuck.
If Maverick of all people is attempting to comfort me, it’s just an even more indication of how serious and bad this is.
We both know that it’s not okay. Nothing about this is. Multiple packs have already vanished, legacies lost. And if anyone knows how devastating it is to lose a mate and the consequences, it’s Maverick.
He watched his own mother be murdered by another pack, the result killing an alpha from pure heartbreak.
And then it hits me. All at once.
I never thought I’d hope that the three men in this room wouldn’t love me, but now, I secretly beg that they don’t. At least… not enough to kill them if something happens to me.
“You’re going to die, young wolf.”
Four packs stand to lose here. Three of them have alphas directly tied to me in every way imaginable.
The silence stretches on, and I’m taken aback when Maverick sighs, putting down his water bottle. He walks over to where Lex and I are standing, his hand brushing the side of my face.
“Nothing is going to happen, Nyx. We just have to be prepared from all angles.”
“Promise me if anything happens to me that you will be okay,” I say quietly, wishing that it was just the two of us having this particular conversation. Even though I’m aware Lex knows the intimate details too, this isn’t our story to share. Though from what we’ve been told it’s fairly common knowledge, other wolves putting the puzzle pieces together. Still, knowing the story and living it are two different things.
Maverick’s eyebrows furrow. “Stop it,” he replies sternly, voice cracking slightly. “You’re going to be fine.”
“I mean it,” I answer. “I need to know right here and now before you go that no matter what happens, you’ll fight for your packs—our packs.”
I look around at Lex and Cade, silently insinuating that this applies to them as well because that’s the sad reality… Itisour story now. Just hopefully with a different ending this time.
Emotion crosses Maverick’s face, almost making me regret my choice of words. But I don’t care. I need them to know that if I die, if Lydiana’s prophecy is true, that they will survive.
“We’re all going to be okay, Red,” Lex murmurs softly. “Trust us.”
