The entire table falls silent in the face of her declaration. We have more than enough to start a war with the Stonewood pack over Carter’s attack against Emmy. He’s given her trouble before, but always within the realm of skirting acceptable boundaries. This was too fucking far, and there’s no coming back from it. Slade and I have already reached out to the neighboring packs to bring them up to speed, because there’s no doubt this is going to get ugly when it comes to a head, but we need to be smart about it instead of submitting to the burning desire for immediate revenge. Sabrina, though?
She’s human, and we have no claim over her. If Carter tracks her down and does anything... nobody is going to lose any sleep over it. Enough people are pissed off that he tried to force a mating on one of the last eligible females in the area, especially since multiple suitors from each neighboring pack have been courting Emmeline since she came of age and are growing antsy. Yet Stonewood has yet to fork Carter over for punishment like our law demands. We aren't about to let the matter go, but if we're going to bring a fight onto their land, we need a solid plan in place so that we don't lose anyone else.
Or worse, have people decide that this never would have happened if Em had chosen her mates by now, that we're putting her in danger by giving her so much time to weigh her options. We’ve already pissed off most of them by standing our ground on the matter, and if they decide enough is enough, we could lose every alliance we've managed to rebuild over the years. Our pack is too small to take another hit if they turn against us again.
The sixty graves out back are a stark reminder that these wolves will only tolerate so much before they cease masquerading as men.
Sharing a heavy look with Slade, we’re in complete agreement on the matter without either of us having to say a word. Until this issue is dealt with, someone needs to keep an eye on Sabrina as well. Ideally, I’d put her on house arrest with Emmy; two birds, one stone. But she’d demand an explanation that none of us can give, and with as uncomfortable as she looks right now, I don’t see her jumping at the chance to stay here indefinitely with people that are little more than strangers.
“Don’t scare the poor girl,” Cin chastises his twin, swatting the back of Reid’s head. Turning back to Sabrina, he smiles reassuringly. “You’ve got good aim, and legs like those?” He whistles appreciatively while dodging the roll Emmy throws at his face. “Decently fast, if I had to hazard a guess. You’ll be fine, don’t sweat it.”
She doesn’t seem offended at his comment, lost in her head and taking another drink of wine. “Yeah, you’re right. I haven’t gone running since, but when I do, I’ll pick a different route just to be safe.”
“No.” It slips out before I can think better of it and quickly backpedal. “I mean, better off laying low for a while, just in case. Or if you insist on going, bring someone with you.”
She softens a bit, tossing a quick glance at Emmy and away before declaring with false levity, “Yeah, I’ll reach out to a couple of friends and see if I can find one that hates themself enough to get up with me at the ass crack of dawn to go running.”
Rather than argue, I bite my tongue. She was perfectly frank when Emmy and I were at her apartment that she doesn’t have any friends in the city, that she’s had a rough go of it since moving here. So if she’s lying now, it’s because she wants to save face in front of the others, so I don’t call her out on it. She’s already uncomfortable; the last thing I want is to chase her away completely.
“So, Sabrina,” Reid asks, effectively changing the depressing subject. “What do you do for a living?”
Thrilled with the new topic, she gives him an appreciative smile. “Jack-of-all-trades at Mal Tech, but currently playing the role of underappreciated secretary.”
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Reid so enthused to talk to a stranger. Dinner forgotten, he leans forward, gesturing animatedly as he starts talking about things that go way over my head. Sabrina never misses a beat, though, keeping up with him and the flurry of questions pouring out of his mouth like she was cut from the same cloth.
She suddenly scoffs, turning away to refill her glass of wine. “Are you fucking kidding me? Revenant Nine can suck a dick. Arc Seven has a way more user friendly interface, and I will die on this hill. You can pry that operating system out of my cold, dead hands before I accept that pisspoor excuse of an update.”
Well, it’s been nice knowing him; Reid’s lost to us now.
Cin’s in full agreement, beaming as he repeatedly pokes his stunned twin in the cheek. “Aww, he short circuited.” Turning to Sabrina, he shrugs a single shoulder. “Sorry, pretty girl; you break it, you buy it.”
“My god, you guys are worse than teenage boys,” Emmycomplains. “Stop hogging all of her attention.” Hopping to her feet, my sister drags her friend up with her. “Come on, we’ll snatch another bottle of wine and can hang out in my room for a while without the interlopers.”
Sabrina turns back to the table as Emmy grabs her hand, threading their fingers together and leading the way out of the dining room. Whether it’s the alcohol bolstering her confidence or the teasing air that’s overtaken the previous nervous tension of the room, her gaze lands on Slade. “Dinner was lovely, thank you for allowing me to attend. If you submit your paperwork in a timely fashion, I might have time to look over your application before sending out invitations to my place.”
She leaves without waiting for his response, Emmy cackling away and hauling her towards the nearest staircase. Once we hear their footsteps reach the second floor, Lizzie and her mates absolutely lose it, howling with laughter and pounding their fists on the table, tears leaking from their eyes. Slade ignores them, still staring at the open doorway, stunned as silent as Reid.
“I like her,” Cinjin proclaims, a dangerous glint appearing in his crystalline eyes that has a growl slipping out before I can catch myself.
“You like anyone that gives you the time of day. If she’s going to be hanging around Em, at least wait until you actually get to know her before making a move. Things are already complicated enough.”
He folds his arms behind his head, tilting back in his chair. “Oh, so we’re pretending that you weren’t sniffing her hair and glaring daggers at everyone that looked at her all night?”
“She’s our sister’s friend, not another nameless notch for your bedpost. Besides, you only met her an hour ago.”
“And you only met her the other day for all of ten minutes,” he counters instantly. “You’ve got a car ride compared to the rest of us; whoever drives her home will be on equal footing. You know, if that’s how we’re defining when it’s acceptable to declare a genuine interest in the girl.”
“Shut up, will you?” Slade snaps, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We owe her a debt, and I doubt she considers your dicks payment.”
David can’t help it, piping up with a whispered, “Suggests the only guy that made a terrible first impression.”
At Slade’s narrowed glare, David bites back his taunts, rising to his feet with the rest of his family. With several smiles and thanks, the four of them disappear from the room, beginning the long walk back to their cabin rather than risk shifting with Sabrina hanging around upstairs.
Finally recovering, Reid mutters to himself, thumbs flying across the screen of his phone. Absentmindedly, he wanders out of the room, immersed in whatever he’s searching for, and we all end up following him down the hall into the study.
The couch and recliners are all dark, soft leather that match the rich wood tones of the room, large enough for the four of us to lounge in comfortably. Windowless, the walls are made of floor to ceiling bookshelves, stocked with an assortment of old tomes passed down through the generations, to modern novels. Reid bypasses the couch and makes a beeline for the table in the back. Shoving the maps aside that are still laid out from when we were arguing this morning, he clears himself a space. The printer on the shelf behind him fires up as he rolls his chair closer, grabbing a stack of paper from the supply shelf to reload it before turning back to his phone.
Since we all know he’s cyber-balls deep digging into Sabrina, we leave him to it. Though admittedly, I take a seat at the table so that I can steal a few glances at whatever he comes up with, equally curious when I shouldn’t be.
