Page 29 of Alpha’s Wife

I find tears rolling down my cheeks before I even realize I’m crying, and I let myself have it for about thirty seconds before I dry my eyes and close the tablet. I know the risk I’m taking, but all of that is forgotten for a minute as I let a feeling of calm wash over me at hearing back from Maren.

The email from Emily comes later that afternoon.

I’m in my room pretending to read when the tablet chimes. The sender is from an email address attached to my coven, but the name is wrong, and I know exactly who it is before I open it.

I’m told a bond witch wants to speak with me. Are you safe?

I answer fast, before I can talk myself out of it.

I’m with the alpha, Ronan, who took me from my coven and wants to use my bond magic against the island. I believe the alphas know he is their half-brother now, and I’m reaching out because he’s not the villain you might think he is…

I tell her about the settlement, the clinic, and the children at the school. The way he built this place with his brother was because they understood what it was to have nothing. That Ronan is a strong and good alpha who took in the people no one else wanted and helped them thrive. When she replies, I sigh with relief that she appears to be listening.

That is not the warlord we’re imagining.

No, he’s not, I write. But he’s dangerous, and hurt, and I won’t pretend otherwise, and he won’t be talked out of this. Two days ago, your husbands offered him peace, and he threw it straight back at them. But he isn’t evil, Emily. He’s hurting, and he doesn’t know how to want anything else. If you’d seen where they grew up…what Ralph did to their mother.

I’m asking you to help me keep your mates from escalating this because they think he’s evil. If they do, he’ll get his war, and people will die on both sides.

The reply takes a long time.

I’ll speak to Ava and Serena. We hear more than our mates think, and we hold more sway than they’d ever admit. I’m promising you nothing. But a settlement and children are not what they thought was attacking. I will write either way again. Emily

Then she’s gone. I almost reply, but I know there’s no point; either the alphas will listen or they won’t.

Down the hall, I can hear him moving, restless, his wolf riding too near the surface to let him do anything but pace, and work, and think too much. I think about the way he looked at me in the kitchen this morning, hungry and certain. I think about how badly I want to cross that hall and go to him—and how every piece of myself I give him only brings him closer to war.

I slide the tablet under my pillow, and I force myself to remember whose side I’m on.

Chapter 14 - Ronan

She’s already up and in the kitchen when I walk in, which is new. Ever since I brought her here, she’s kept to herself in the mornings. At first, I thought she was deliberately avoiding me, but now that I’ve gotten to know and understand her routine, I realize she’s just not a morning person. So, to see her standing at the counter in one of my shirts that she’s stopped pretending isn’t hers now, both hands wrapped around a coffee mug and legs that go on for miles, is a surprise.

“You’re up early,” I say.

“So are you,” she replies, not looking away from the window.

I pour myself a coffee and lean against the counter where I can see her face. She’s beautiful, she always is, but there are shadows under her eyes that aren’t usually there. I think I put those there. I’ve been so pissed off with the island ever since that email, and I know my wolf can still be a stifling presence when he’s frustrated. I wouldn’t say I feel bad about it, and I sure as hell don’t owe her an explanation, yet when Emma told me what she’d said about missing her coven, it seemed simple enough to let her contact them. They can’t save her, anyway, and I want her onside. I see the upside to letting her talk to them, and I’m happy to take some credit if she’s offering it, but she still looks wary.

“You’re happier?” I ask. “Since you’ve talked to them?”

Her hands tighten on the mug. “I’m relieved they know I’m alive. That’s not the same as happy.”

“No.” I watch her. “But you slept better last night, I think.”

She glances at me quickly, and I see it, the guardedness in her eyes. A small calculation, like she’s checking herself for what I can see before she lets me see it. How much of her I’m allowed to see. She’s been doing it since I brought her here, and the only time it dropped was when I was inside her, and she was screaming my name.

“Thank you,” she says finally. Stiff, and it’s clear the words cost her. “For the tablet. I didn’t say it before.”

“You told me you wouldn’t thank me for the bare minimum,” I say, holding her gaze.

“I don’t think that was the bare minimum.” She looks back at the window. “I think you surprised yourself.”

I’ve been so busy trying to see through her that I didn’t notice she was looking through my own defenses. She’s quick-witted, and I enjoy her rapport, but my wolf responds before I can process it, shutting down and rising up at the same time. I set my coffee down and walk towards her, crowding her and delighting as she goes still, her pulse fluttering in her throat.

I don’t grab her. Getting in her space is enough. I stop close enough to feel the heat coming off her, and she tips her head back to look at me, but she doesn’t step away.

She stays, and that seals our fate.