~ RONAN ~
She still hasn’t said a word aside from staring at with those hazel eyes, as though she can’t quite believe I’d actually co to her rescue. I can hear the frantic thumping of her heart, each beat gradually slowing as she tries to calm down.
We should have introduced her to the pack. This wouldn’t have happened if we’d done that. Or at least we should have sared her with our scent, punk, Kael whines.
I know. We should have. But she was still recovering, and I didn’t think she’d want to step outside. I couldn’t exactly introduce her to everyone while she was sick. I didn’t—
She takes a step back, and I notice her heartbeat has finally returned to normal.
"Were you looking for Celeste or Elias?" I ask.
Sothing I can’t quite na flashes across her face before she lets out a quiet sigh.
"Yes, I was..."
She trails off, as though she’s not comfortable explaining herself to . Hell, yeah, I’m being a prick right now. She’s not a prisoner and she doesn’t owe an explanation for every step she takes or every decision she makes. If that’s the story she needs to give right now, then that’s the story I’ll take. I’m not going to corner her and rip the truth out of her.
I nod, even though I still can’t shake the thought that I could have lost her. She could have been seriously hurt. Worse, she could have been torn apart by my own pack wolves.
"Okay, but next ti..." I pause, forcing myself to rein in my temper. I don’t want her to hear the anger creeping into my voice. I’m furious with myself and not her.
I take a slow breath before continuing.
"If you need anything, or if you’re looking for soone, you tell first. Or tell Celeste or Nikolai." I pause, making sure she understands I’m serious. "You don’t go wandering off alone without letting soone know, until the pack knows your face."
The words co out firr than I intend, but the image of those wolves circling her is still fresh in my mind. My chest tightens at the thought of what could have happened if I’d been even a few minutes later.
She stares at , and fuck... It’s only now dawning on how strict I sounded. How much I sounded like I was barking orders at her.
"I’m sorry," I say imdiately, dragging a hand through my hair.
The apology leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
"I didn’t an to raise my voice. That wasn’t..." I exhale heavily and shake my head. "I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at myself for not handling this sooner."
A muscle in my jaw ticks. "The pack should have known who you were before you ever set foot in that hallway."
For a mont, neither of us says anything.
The tension in her shoulders eases, and so of the wariness in her eyes fades.
Relief loosens the knot in my chest. I lift a hand and point down the corridor.
"The quarters in this wing all look the sa. Sa layout, sa corridor design. It’s easy to get turned around if you don’t know the system."
I nod toward the east end of the hall.
"Elias works out of the dical wing, two corridors over. Celeste has a room on this floor, four doors down."
My gaze narrows back to her.
"I was going to show you all of this properly." I gesture around us. "Give you a full tour of the pack house, the grounds, the territory."
I’m being careful with my tone this ti. "I was waiting until you were stronger."
She nods. "If you don’t mind, I can show you around the main area for now."
Her hands co up imdiately. "No, I don’t... I... I don’t feel strong enough."
The signs are hesitant, her fingers slowing midway through the sentence as if she’s struggling to put the feeling into words.
"It’s fine if you don’t want to. I’ll just take you back to bed."
Before she can protest, I close the distance between us, the mont I reach for her hand, and scoop her off the floor, her entire body goes still.
Her eyes widen, and hell...
Even though I know she’s aware of , even though we’ve touched before, my heart still does sothing stupid in my chest.
A little flutter. Her gaze drops briefly to where our hands are joined before lifting back to mine. For a second, she looks startled, then, slowly, she relaxes.
I can’t help the quiet chuckle that escapes .
"There you are," I murmur.
Keeping my grip gentle, I lead her back down the corridor. By the ti we reach her room, so of the tension has drained from her shoulders.
I push the door open and guide her inside. The familiar scent of the room wraps around us imdiately, without thinking much about it, I walk her straight to the bed before helping her settle onto the mattress.
"Thank you." She signs.
I lean closer and lift my hand, pushing the hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear the way it keeps falling forward.
Her breath catches. "You don’t have to be scared of ," I say quietly. "I know I keep saying that. I’ll keep saying it until it sticks."
She looks at for a while, then she nods frantically before quickly looking away.
Standing to my feet, I nod toward her.
"I’ll call Celeste to keep you company. I need to get back to business, but I promise I’ll co back when I’m done."
She nods, and I head for the door, already mind-linking Celeste.
The mont I step into the hallway, I spot two pack guards standing nearby.
"I need you to guard my bride’s room," I order. "Nobody enters that room without explicit permission from , aside from Elias and Celeste."
The two n straighten imdiately.
"And Mara doesn’t co within twenty feet of this wing. If she tries, you remove her. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Alpha," they answer in unison.
I’ve barely made it to few turns when Nikolai falls into step beside .
"Council moved the hearing," he says without preamble. "Rescheduled, apparently the elders had sowhere urgent to be." The dry edge in his voice tells exactly what he thinks of that.
"Warren left with them."
"Of course he did."
"I think they got scared of Kael. You should try turning that guy down a little, don’t you think?"
"I would have, if I hadn’t mind-linked you to check on Roselle this morning, only to go there and find Mara instead."
His face falls imdiately.
"I’m sorry, Alpha. I think I was still half-asleep and didn’t quite hear you properly."
I shake my head. Of course. Nikolai has a fucking terrible sleeping habit.
"But hell, yeah, you’re right. You did rattle sothing loose in there." He rubs the back of his neck. "Whatever you said about the math not adding up... it doesn’t. I do find it suspicious."
"I need you to look into everything."
We keep walking, but this ti my destination has changed. My office.
I need to straighten things out with Caius. The impromptu eting wasn’t part of the plan, and the fact that it was held in my own pack without my knowledge until the very last minute of it doesn’t sit well with .
Opening the door to my office, I step inside, Nikolai falling into step behind . "When’s the wedding?" Nikolai suddenly asks, yanking from my thoughts.
I glance at him. "What?"
"The wedding." He says it like it’s a perfectly reasonable question at a perfectly reasonable ti. "The ceremony. When are you marrying Roselle?"
I face forward again and walk toward my desk.
"I’m not."
The silence that follows is the kind Nikolai uses when he’s deciding whether to push.
"I’m sorry?" he says at last.
"You heard ."
"Ronan." He steps in front of , stopping .frok going dithet in my.office. He’s one people in the world who can do that without losing a limb and he knows it. "You brought her here, and she’s in your pack house. The council has been filed. Kael has practically tattooed her na on the inside of your skull." He stares at . "What do you an you’re not marrying her?"
"I an exactly that."
"Why?"
I look at him, and I watch the answer land on his face before I say it out loud.
"Six brides, Nik." My voice cos out level, though it costs more than I’m willing to show. "Six won. I watch all of them. I watch what the curse does and how fast it moves and how little any of it matters—how strong they are, how prepared, how determined." I pause. "I am not putting Roselle through that. I am not watching the curse take her. I would rather—" I stop. Exhale. "I’m not marrying her."
Nikolai stares at for a long mont.
"What if she’s the one who breaks it?" he says.
"Yes," Kael says imdiately, loudly, with the energy of soone who has been waiting for soone else to make this argunt so he doesn’t have to keep making it alone.
Finally. Tell him.
"Kael agrees with ," Nikolai adds.
"Kael would agree with anyone who tells him what he wants to hear right now."
"Ronan."
"Six of them go down, every single one. I’m not risking a seventh. I’m not risking her."
Nikolai is quiet for a beat.
Then he says, carefully, like he already knows how this lands, "If you’re not marrying Roselle, then by pack law and council requirent, you need to take another bride. A proper one. Filed, processed, approved." He holds my gaze. "Soon. Before Kael’s cycle peaks and the curse has nothing to anchor itself to."
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