I should discuss this with the rest of my coven. The ones I shared this part of the forest with at any rate. Even though I’d been kind of forced on them at the start, they’d taken me in and we were close now. I had a good idea what their thoughts would be on this though, and I needed to understand what it all meant before I brought it to them.
I needed someone with paranormal legal knowledge to look over the documents I’d been sent before I made a decision.
Luckily for me, I knew just the person.
* * *
An hourlater I parked outside the main Dark Forest Pack house. Gabriel Mason, my best friend and soulmate to the alpha was already walking out of the front door to meet me by the time I got out of the car.
“Hey, Mase.” I grinned at him as he came over to give me a hug. “Long time no see.”
Mase laughed, patting me on the back before letting go. “Yes, two days is a lifetime.”
“Is Rys in?” I glanced behind him.
“Yeah, he’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”
“And you’re sure he doesn’t mind?” Rys Calder and I hadn’t got off to the best of starts. Before Mase arrived here, I’d never had much to do with him. Never had the cause to. And now?
Well, once he’d realised I wasn’t after his soulmate and they’d completed their bond, we were all good. And the fact I’d helped Max and Mase take down Tombs hadn’t hurt.
Mase rolled his eyes. “No, he doesn’t mind. I told you he’s sorry for acting like an arse to you before.”
I barked out a laugh, couldn’t help it, because we might be okay now, but Rys Calder was an alpha wolf, and no way would he apologise for getting possessive over his soulmate. “I call bollocks.”
Mase grimaced. “Fine. He doesn’t want to eat you anymore.”
Now that was more like it. “I get it. And as far as I’m concerned, the past is the past. I really appreciate him taking the time to see me about this, so let’s not waste any of it.”
I followed Mase inside to the huge kitchen where Rys sat on a stool at the long oak table. He gave me an assessing gaze, the alpha in him easy to see as he struggled to school his features. I smirked, because yep, a part of him still wanted to toss me back outside away from Mase.
“All right, Rys?” I offered him my most polite smile, because as much fun as it was to mess with him a little, I really did need his help.
“Good to see you again, Nick.”
I snorted because in no way did his expression match his words. “That had to hurt, right?”
“More than you can imagine.” He smiled back, teeth just that little bit too sharp to be human, but his shoulders relaxed and the tension in the room eased.
I took a seat at the table opposite him. “Thank you,” I said, hoping my sincerity was obvious. “I really appreciate this.”
“Want a drink, Nick?” Mase interrupted, glancing between us as he walked over to the kettle.
“Tea, please.” If nothing else, it’d give me something to do with my hands. Whether it was the subject we were about to discuss or being in the pack house, I felt unusually nervous and ill at ease.
“Rys?” Mase asked, the warmth in his gaze as he turned to his soulmate gave me shivers.
What would it be like to have a connection like that? Crazy? Intense? Amazing? I’d yet to make up my mind.
“No thanks.” Rys looked up and met my gaze. “Did you bring everything?”
“Yeah.” I snapped back to the matter at hand, reached into my bag, and pulled out all the documentation I’d received that morning. “This is what they sent me.”
Rys picked up the top sheet of paper as Mase set my drink on the table in front of me.
“Thanks,” I said, smiling up at him. He looked like he was about to leave us to it, but I narrowed my eyes and gave a tiny shake of my head. Rys and I might have got over our differences, but that didn’t mean I wanted to be alone with him.
Mase grinned at me before picking up his own mug and walking towards the door. “I’m just popping upstairs. Be back in a bit.”
