Page 83 of First Ritual

I studied his drowning eyes. When they became too much, I shifted my focus to his cheekbones. “What did you need to confront?”

He paused. “The expectations and reach of my family. It’s a work in progress.”

A snort. From Sven perhaps.

“They want you to excel?”

Wild grunted. “More like demand complete perfection in the entirety of my life. And theirs. There’s no other path.”

“You’re a council member and a proven—”

“It’s a good start,” he said drily. “The next piece to perfection in their eyes is my union with a wife. A perfect wife, of course.”

My brows shot up. “Oh.”

Suddenly I realized why our situation could be an issue for him.

“They’ve expressed concerns over rumors that have circled back to their coven,” Wild said after a beat.

I grimaced. “They’re worried you’re not good enough for me, aren’t they?”

He arched a brow. “Your date with Bedwyr went some way in convincing them there was nothing to worry about.”

That surprised me—that he would bother reassuring them instead of telling them to back off. “Would you really let your parents dictate who you did and didn’t date?”

He clenched his jaw. His eyes flashed with anger too. Not at me—at least, I didn’t take it that way. More like Wild was a caged animal who wanted out. And why on earth call him Wild if you wanted him to follow the rules? Some people. Seriously.

“My parents are not people you would want to cross,” he forced out.

“So we’re not getting married today?”

Wild shuddered. “No.”

“I can’t believe you shuddered at that question. That’s super rude, and you’re lucky my self-esteem is endless.”

“His parents are from the oldest coven. The original coven,” Huxley said. “They’re the leaders of that coven.”

The tense bubble around me and Wild popped. I blinked as the full volume and my awareness of the surrounding magus returned.

Sven said, “They have a presence everywhere. In every council.”

“They have one son,” I countered. “They’d never hurt him.”

Wild gripped my chin, drawing my attention to him. “Everyone else is fair game. Do you understand, Tempest?”

Uneasiness filled my chest. Not at his words. At the implication he was protecting me by keeping his distance. That went deeper than our deal. “I’m a big girl, Astar. Don’t forget it.”

“You’re a pawn to my parents’ ambition for me and themselves and our line,” he said flatly. “Don’t forget that.”

“There isn’t anything between us. We’ll figure out this growling weirdness and the rumors will die down. No problem.”

Huxley pushed his glasses up his nose. “Could I observe that right now the two of you are very much reinforcing the rumors instead of killing them?”

Huh?

I peered down at the way my legs were caged inside Wild’s. At some point I’d turned to straddle the bench to mimic his posture. We were almost in one another’s arms. Ugh. “Mother be.”

I pivoted to face the table.

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