Harry hands me what looks like one of those silly button pins with a smiley face.
“Press this and we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
“What about the enforcers?” I ask.
“Childs play,” Cal smirks. “We’ve seen how they train. No one’s tried to go up against your parents in a long, long time. They’ve grown complacent. We can take them.”
I swallow and nod. “Okay. I think I’m ready.”
Jax smacks his hands together and whoops. “Let’s hope for a clean, easy, boring mission. We could really use one of those.”
We file out of the office and climb back into our vehicles. The wolves drive behind us and they’ll park some place else and come in shifted. There are a few wolves that live in Hawk Ridge,at least there used to be, so they shouldn’t raise an alarm just by being here.
There’s a shimmer over the truck as we drive through the barrier. Instantly, ravens flank us.
Perry takes my hand and holds it to his chest. “We have you. You’re safe. No one is taking you away from us.”
“I’m sorry.” I breathe deeply a few times. “You probably shouldn’t be in such a stressful situation. It’s not good for the baby.”
“Squirrels, like hawks, are resilient. Don’t worry about the baby. They’ll be strong and healthy.” He kisses my knuckles again, and it soothes me.
I squeeze my eyes shut. Everything is going to be fine. My parents have no hold over me. Hawk Ridge has no hold over me. I’m free to love my mates. This is just a formality. Show them they don’t own me.
Buckle parks the truck, but instead of moving to leave, he grabs my face and kisses me so deeply I can’t breathe. When we part, he nods. “Nothing is going to get you.”
I nod and squeeze his hand. I turn to kiss Perry. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Buckle slides from the truck, and I follow. Perry meets us and takes my free hand. We might look silly hand in hand, but I don’t care. Out of the corners of my eyes, I sense the wolf pack. They’re following, but not in a way that seems intentional to anyone but us.
Anya shifts in front of us. She spits at my feet. “Traitor.”
“I can’t be a traitor. I was kicked out. Banished until I was needed.” I let go of my mates’s hands and stomp up to her. “You can’t have me now.”
“So why did you come?”
“Because there’s this pesky tie to Hawk Ridge I need severed and if I hadn’t of come, you and my parents would haunt me forthe rest of my life. I’m sure my parents are still scheming a way to marry me off to some unsuspecting partner that doesn’t know I already have Fated mates.”
Anya sneers as she looks from Perry to Buckle. “They smell like prey.”
“They smell like my mates and you’ll treat them with the respect they’re due.” I step around her and make my way through the door and down the hall to the throne room of my parents.
My courage lasts as longas the hall. As soon as I get to the threshold of the throne room, I stop. The ravens guarding the doors glare at me, but push the huge doors open.
A crowd mills around. I’m not sure if they knew I’d be here and want to witness the spectacle or what, but I march my way towards the twin thrones. Towards taking back my future. Perry and Buckle warm my back. They’re so close. Neither tries to stop me.
When my mother sees me, she holds up a hand. Father claps and the soft music from the small orchestra in the corner stops. They’d always been so theatrical. So stuck in ways they’d conjured up in their own dreams.
“Ah, son,” mother’s cool voice says the word and I snarl.
“Who are you calling, son? You threw me away for being a Beta.”
“Yes, well, it was to be expected. But we’ve found a match that doesn’t care that you’re a Beta and she’ll bring crow magic to the Kettle. We’ve been missing crows.”
“No! Fate blessed me with two mates, and I will not betray them for a marriage I don’t want. I will not play your games anylonger. I’m a free man. And I’m sure you haven’t forgotten that I’m gay.”
Mother tips her head and examines me. “She’s the only one willing to marry you, despite your flaws.”
I grind my teeth. “Those are not flaws.”
