Page 63 of Owning His Mate

“Charming,” Halle mutters. “No wonder she was pissed.”

I don’t like the way the pieces of this puzzle are starting to come together. All I see is danger around Apryle and now Savannah, and I want to avoid that as much as possible. The problem is, I don’t know how.

“Whether it’s true or not, they believe it is,” I say. “And for whatever reason, they think they need blood.”

Frustration tears through me. “Whatever the reason, it puts Apryle and Savannah at risk.”

“Potentially all the girls.” Sawyer’s humor vanishes behind a tight smile. “Who knows if they have this ‘special blood’ too?”

“We won’t let anything happen to either of them,” Roux assures me.

“Definitely not,” Halle sits up straighter. “They’re family, so we need to find out what is going on.”

The door opens, and I spin around, my nerves fried. It is only Halle’s hand on my arm that stops me from attacking as Dove, Jackson, and Wyatt move into the room.

Jackson stands protectively in front of his mate. I’m not sure if he’s aware he’s doing it or if it’s just instinct, but the way he takes care of her is how I want to look after Apryle. She may allow it now, but previously, I would not have stood a chance.

Dove scans the room before her light gray irises stop on me. I’ve never seen eyes that color before, and the intensity of her gaze makes me squirm a little.

“Is everyone okay?” Dove asks, finally unpinning me from her stare.

“We’re good.” Halle indicates that she and the others should sit. Jackson leads his little blue-haired mate over to the armchair, sinking onto it and pulling her into his lap. I watch her, unsure if she is a threat or not but the way Dove wraps her arms around Jackson, as if she cannot bear to be parted from him for even a moment eases some of my concern. “Where’ve you been?”

“We were helping with the security,” Jackson says. “Callum’s increased the number of watches around the perimeter. He’s pushing for us to attack the Order soon.”

Unease spreads through me like wildfire. War is inevitable, and I will fight to protect what’s mine, but I don’t relish it.

“Well, that’s terrifying,” Tessa mutters, her hand splaying over her belly, as if she can protect her unborn pup from the storm that’s coming.

There will be no shelter from the hell that is going to rain down on us all.

“Even if we attack the Order, what about these followers of Revna? We still have them to contend with,” Roux says. “How do we fight a war on two fronts?”

“Who are the followers of Revna?” Wyatt asks, leaning against the wall behind him.

“You know, just another bunch of crazy people who want to steal the blood of tau wolves.” Sawyer smiles, though it does not reach his eyes.

Wyatt stares at him as if he has lost his mind, and considering he has no idea what has transpired, I can understand why he might be leaning that way. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

“He’s not,” I grumble. “While we were captured, they tried to forcibly draw Apryle’s blood.”

“Why?” Dove’s gray eyes lock onto mine, and I have to resist from shivering.

“We were kind of hoping you might know,” Halle blurts out.

Dove blinks before she frowns. “Why would I know that?”

“You’re the only person who has been inside the Order’s evil lair. Did you ever hear anything about them needing blood?”

The air in this room is suffocating. All I want to do is get back to my mate and take her as far away from this shit as possible.

Jackson strokes down his mate’s arm, offering comfort.

“I don’t think so,” she says, glancing at Jackson.

“I don’t remember anything much either.”

How can we know so little about any of this? It’s fucking annoying to me that the answers are out there and yet I don’t have them. How can I protect Apryle without this information?

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