Page 11 of Flock This

“What is it?” Galen asked.

“My boss wants to see me.” I gulped as I said it. Meetings with one’s supervisor never felt good, but I had a feeling this was an even worse situation.

“Don’t go,” Galen said.

“I can’t just ignore it. Justices aren’t something you want to have to come find you.”

“They might turn you over just because the vampires ask,” Galen pressed.

Which was sadly true. The Justices lived their lives bound by a ‘code.’ They seemed to not have any real feelings or opinions beyond that. “They’re neutral,” I said with less certainty than I wanted to feel. “They won’t just turn me over without an official warrant. It’d be a breach of their precious code.”

“They might be your best bet,” Matt said. At my look, he shrugged. “You work under the Justice Department. They aren’t on the council, but they still hold similar power. You’re clanless, but you have a connection to them. They might be the only people who could speak in your defense.”

I tried to picture one of the Justices saying anything on my behalf, and the idea alone nearly made me laugh aloud. Their blank expressions and imposing auras weren’t what I’d consider knights in shining armor. Rather, they were the type who wouldn’t lift a finger to save a drowning person. Instead, they’d walk past, seeing it as not their problem unless the old code they lived their lives by told them to.

“There is one other option,” Galen said.

The way Matt snapped his head to the side told me the men had discussed whatever it was, and Matt was in no way a fan of the idea. “No,” he said through gritted teeth. “You can’t.”

Matt’s tone went to show why Galen always kept me off my game. If anyone looked at the two of them, they’d assume Matt was higher. He was larger, far scarier, more intimidating. He appeared older, stronger and an altogether bigger threat.

However, it only took Galen lifting his head to level one hard look at Matt to get the other man to sit down and shut up. That was the power of an alpha, after all, the peeking of his wolf spirit from inside him, the one that forced other Weres—no matter how dangerous—to bow down.

Sure enough, Matt dropped his gaze to the table and went silent.

Galen turned his gaze from Matt back to me, and even I glimpsed that wolf inside him, the one that had forced Matt to comply. It didn’t cause the same reaction in me, didn’t make me want to obey. Instead, it ruffled the feather of my spirit, and I had to resist the urge to knock my cup off the table like a cat being a dick.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, none of his wolf remained visible. He’d closed it away, as he always did. “What you need is a clan,” he said as though that exchange had never taken place.

“In case you’ve forgotten, we tried that. I held the crystal, and it turned blue. There’s no clan for me.”

“You don’t naturally fit into any clan, that’s true, but that doesn’t mean you can’t join one under the right situation.”

“Somehow, turning into a vampire thrall seems worse than the problem.” I thought about those humans in the tower, the ones who had worked their lives away in service of the vampires, hoping one day to escape their mortal lives and become one of those they served. Most never did. They were killed or died of old age—thought aging was significantly slower—never getting the reward they’d wanted so badly.

That was so not the life I’d planned for myself.

A deep rumble made me lift my gaze again to find Galen staring at me, his lip curled into a snarl. Was that a growl? It made me swallow hard, the rare show of aggression from Galen proving just how much this conversation affected him. He shook his head once and stopped the noise but didn’t mention it.

That’s fine—I was good with pretending to get out of awkward conversations.

“A thrall isn’t the only option. You could join the Weres.”

“I know the whole feathers thing throws people off, but I’m not a were.”

“The Were Clan is made up not only by Weres, but also by their mates and offsprings. If you were to become the mate of a wolf—”

“Hold up there, buddy. I’m not going to mate some wolf just for some protection. I’m not into bestiality, and I’m pretty sure I’m not what anyone would be looking for in a mate.”

Galen set his arm on the table and leaned forward, his gaze dead serious. “I couldn’t ask any wolf under my control to take you as a mate, either. You’d probably end up driving them to an early grave.”

“You see—it’s a terrible idea!” As soon as I said those words, the unsaid meaning hit me. I opened my mouth to respond but snapped it shut when nothing came to mind.

He can’t mean…

Galen wasn’t the type to shrink away from the truth, however, so he spoke up. “I have no mate because it’s a dangerous position. That means I could take you as my mate. It would give me standing to oppose the charges against you and put on a case in your defense. Besides, with me as your mate, the odds of the vampires getting the support to convict you are low.”

I had a moment where my brain decided to take the insane idea and just run with it. I pictured a future where I lived here with Galen, in this cozy home that had always felt so nice to me. I imagined waking up and having coffee with him each morning, thought about what having a welcoming home like this would feel.

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