Rys’s lip curled. “I’m not going to like it, am I?”
Max rubbed his jaw. “No, probably not. But if I’m honest, I think, all things considered, it’s probably fair.”
“Go on.”
“He’ll have his magic bound for three years. He’ll also be subject to regular random check-ups from the witches’ council and will have to wear a tracker for the length of his punishment.” Max sighed, looking as tired as a shifter could. “I know you don’t want to hear it, Rys, but he was protecting his family the only way he thought he could.”
I expected Rys to be furious. Zane had played a part, however unwillingly, in Rys and Axel’s capture. Forgiveness wasn’t Rys’s strong suit, especially when it came to pack.
Gabriel reached for Rys’s hand, slotting their fingers together, and Rys closed his eyes, then said the last thing I ever expected to fall from his lips. “I agree. It’s a fair punishment.”
I turned to stare at him, not even caring that my mouth hung open.
He met my gaze. “I can’t honestly say I’d have acted differently in his position… if someone threatened my pack, my family.” He pulled his and Gabriel’s joined hands towards him, planting a kiss on Gabriel’s. “I would do anything to protect those I love; I can’t condemn him for doing the same.”
I understood where Rys was coming from, but it might take me a little longer to get there. Some nights I still woke up to the smell of Axel’s blood in my lungs. Zane might’ve had his reasons for doing what he did, but the wolf in me would need more than a few months to get over it.
* * *
Max stayed for a while longer,catching up with Rys, while Gabriel and Axel left to go to his cottage to practise speaking fae.
The pack house was relatively empty for once, and Rys took the opportunity to ask a question he probably wouldn’t have done otherwise.
Reaching across the table, he gripped Max’s wrist, taking him by surprise. “Is everything okay with you?”
“I’m fine—”
Rys’s low growl cut him off. “Don’t.” He glanced at me, and I nodded. “We’re worried about you. There’s something going on, and if it’s pack business, you don’t have to tell us, but if there’sanythingwe can do to help, you only have to ask.”
For a moment I thought Max was going to brush it off with one of his wide smiles, but he hesitated. A split-second decision changed the expression on his face to unguarded resignation and he let out a sigh so deep it seemed to deflate his whole body. “I can’t tell you. I wish I could, believe me, because—” He stopped abruptly, and I recognised an alpha order at work when I saw one. “Fuck.” He scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Pack business?” Rys guessed, and Max nodded. “Kelson?” Another nod, and Rys swore softly.
Xen Kelson was the alpha of the Rufford Park Pack. Max’s alpha. He and Rys had an amiable relationship but nowhere near the same level of trust as Rys and Falon.
“I better get back.” Max stood, pushing his chair back. “There’s nothing I can tell you, or I would, you know that.”
Rys stood too and pulled him in for a hug. “I know this is a last resort, but there’s always a place for you here. You and whoever else needs one.”
Jake, I thought. Who else would he mean? Offering a place in his pack wasn’t a small gesture and wouldn’t be taken lightly by Kelson if it happened.
“Thank you.” Max stepped back. “Hopefully it won’t come to that.” He looked a little better than he had before, but still wore a heaviness I wasn’t used to seeing on him.
I waited until he’d got in his car and driven far enough away to be out of hearing range. “Do you think it’s that serious?”
Rys drew his bottom lip between his teeth, taking a moment to answer. “I hope not,” he said finally, expression dark. “For everyone’s sake.”
* * *
It wasdark by the time I joined Axel at his house.
Gabriel was long gone, Axel meeting me in the hallway as I came through the front door. “Hey,” he said, wrapping his arms around my neck and backing me up against the wall. “I missed you.”
I grinned at him, my hands finding their favourite place on the top of his arse. “I missed you too.”
He kissed me like he always did, slow and deliberate, tongue teasing mine enough to make me groan and press closer, needing to feel him everywhere. Then, as always, it evolved into something hotter, more intense, as our magic combined in a subtle ebb and flow.
With no need to rush, we took our time, Axel with his back to the wall now and me caging him there.
