“I’ll speak to Chief Inspector Thornton regarding this matter,” Sarhin said. “If Blake isn’t the one selling it on, then we need to find out who is. And how they’re getting it out through the gateway.”
Max didn’t make any obvious signs of annoyance, but I knew his tells. The slight tick in his jaw and the way he stood told me how welcome that news was. Axel had a similar look, and I wondered what that would mean for both of them.
“Rys?” My dad gestured for me to accompany him outside. “A word?” His gaze drifted to Gabriel and I didn’t much care for the way his eyes narrowed.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Gabriel shot me a curious look and I wanted nothing more than to grab his hand and tug him out of there to someplace where we could talk. I had so much I wanted to ask him, and not being able to left me more than a little on edge, already yearning to have him close again. Too many scents swirled around us, and I couldn’t smell him on me as clearly as I could before.
I suspected my dad could, and that was the problem.
With a last look at Gabriel, I followed my dad outside and away from the cottage.
“So that’s him?” He gave a pointed glance back at the front door. “The one you ran away from when you were seventeen?”
“That’s him.” I fidgeted under his scrutiny, feeling less and less like the alpha I was and more like the inexperienced boy he’d left behind.
“You never said he had fae blood.”
“I didn’t know.” I expected him to have something to say about that, but his only reaction was raised eyebrows and a nod.
“You’re together now?” he asked instead.
“It’s complicated.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “It doesn’t smell complicated.”
Lovely, just what I wanted my father to notice. Obviously spending so long beyond the gateway hadn’t dimmed his senses.
“Does he know?” he asked, and I knew exactly what he was referring to.
“He does.”
“And?”
I threw my hands up. “And what? I told you it was complicated. We haven’t exactly had time to talk with all this going on.” I waved a hand at the cottage where the others were starting to emerge.
“Does he want the bond?”
I sighed. “I don’t know.” A pang of longing caught me unawares, and I rubbed my chest without thinking. It didn’t go unnoticed.
“Do you, Rys?” he asked softly, sounding more like my dad than he had since he’d got here.
“I don’t know that either.” I was a liar and he knew it.
Slipping an arm around my shoulders, he pulled me close, and I hadn’t realised how much I needed it until his warmth wrapped around me. “I knew my pack was in capable hands, Rys, or I would never have left. Whatever happened between the two of you, it looks like you’ve resolved it, no?”
“We have.”
“Then trust what’s in here.” He tapped two fingers over my heart. “I know you think otherwise, but your instincts have never let you down. Follow them now.”
I caught sight of Gabriel coming out of the cottage, once again keeping his distance from the others, and I wanted to go to him, shield him from whatever it was that made him wary. Not that he’d appreciate me trying to protect him. I’d learnt that much after last night at the club. Gabriel was feisty.
My wolf stirred, approval obvious.Yeah, me too.
Before rejoining the others, my dad, leant in to whisper, “I might not be around all the time, Rys, but I’m always available if you need me.”
I closed my eyes, basking in his scent for a moment longer. “Thank you.”
* * *
