“You do it,” Logan huffed. Hopefully he was speaking to Calan, because I didn’t want to go into it. “I’ll get too angry if I have to say it out loud.”
Thankfully, it was Calan he was speaking to. “This arrived an hour ago.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw him hand the paper to Finn. The letter that accounted for Logan and Calan’s foul mood.
But not mine. Mine was solely due to a five-foot-four man who’d flipped my world up on its head.
Finn was quiet as he read it. “The Clarkson Clan is declaring war because we killed Clyde?”
Okay, so maybe part of my bad mood was due to that, but only because it might affect Reid. I wasn’t worried about the clan.
We knew how to protect ourselves.
“Appears so,” Calan said.
Finn blew out a breath in frustration. “But he broke the treaty. His life was ours to take.”
“Bingo,” Logan said. “See, this is why we’re the dominant clan. The brain cells over there are severely deficient.”
I’d known that for a while. Since discovering that they’d been stupid enough to look the other way while their alpha abused an innocent child.
Finn swore. “This is going to be a clusterfuck to sort out.”
I could hear Chester’s gulp from here. “Are they going to invade tonight?”
“What? No,” Finn said. I turned my head away so I didn’t have to watch him comfort Chester. So I wouldn’t be reminded of how I’d comforted Reid so similarly just a few hours ago. “That’s not how it works in shifter conflicts. This is basically the opening shot in a diplomatic war that’ll likely last years. It won’t escalate unless they’re really stupid.”
Logan hummed. “True. They are stupid, but notreallystupid. Our warriors outnumber theirs three to one. Plus we have Danny. He’ll come back if needed.”
I let myself zone out as the others discussed getting hold of our former alpha. He’d come back and fight for us—there was no question of that. The issue was tracking himdown, something that was going to require Finn travelling to Southampton.
Finn saying Reid’s name had me tuning back into the conversation. “I need the three of you here to keep the clan safe. And Reid. I know Clyde’s dead now, but I don’t trust any of them. Whatever plans he had for his son, I’m willing to bet they’re still in motion.”
My wolf pushed at my skin. I was willing to bet they were too.
“Wait a minute,” Chester said suddenly. “When you said ‘devastated humans’ earlier, did you mean Reid?”
I laughed bitterly but didn’t bother turning my head. “Turns out Reid was more cut up about losing his dad than we thought he’d be.”
“You shouldn’t have killed him…I really wish you hadn’t.”
I cracked my knuckles. “We can just add it to the list of shit he blames me for. At least this one I won’t lose any sleep over.”
No, I’d be losing it over the way I’d allowed myself to comfort him. Over the memory of how it had felt to make him feel good. A sense of power and fierce joy I’d never forget.
Even if I wished I could.
“I can watch over him,” I continued. “He’s got a warrior out there now, but I want to take over.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Finn asked cautiously.
I finally looked away from the window, meeting my leader’s gaze coolly. “I insist. If I’m going to keep fucking up where he’s concerned, at least I can make sure he’s safe while I do so.”
Finn studied me for a few moments before nodding. “Okay, but if you need to switch out at any time, just say.”
The bright flare of relief nudged at the edges of the darkness, but it wasn’t enough to penetrate it. I let it sweep back in as I turned my attention back to the window. To the forest that spanned the miles between me and Reid.
I didn’t listen to the rest of the conversation. I’d let them worry about protecting the clan.
