Page 68 of Wolf Tamer

Even if he does know about Carmen, and he’s got me convinced to accept his point of view, this man is home to me.

How am I going to keep fighting against it?

There’s only one option left. I don’t fight. I stop fighting and accept that we’re in this together, and this man is actually my mate, like he claimed.

As crazy and backwards and impossible as it sounds.

The only thing I know is how I feel when I’m around him, and that’s got to count for something.

“My brother might be many things, but he’s proven himself to have a stronger character than I thought.” Reid’s words rumble through me.

“You know him better than I do,” I say.

“Not really. I’m starting to believe that none of us really know him at all. And a few days ago, I would have been absolutely ready and willing to believe your claim, because it does make sense that Julius would be involved in something sketchy. Yet… I’ve changed my mind. Okay, not all the way, but I’m beginning to think Julius isn’t such a bad guy.”

“Has he been involved with any of the sacrifices in the past?”

Reid rests his chin on top of my head, a low, thoughtful sound rumbling in the back of his throat. “Not to my knowledge. Then again, my father didn’t share anything he felt was his possession, and that included the sacrifices. Sure, he was willing to talk up their purpose for the good of the pack, but then he’d bandy about like a fucking rooster with a harem of hens, even in front of my mother. He made no secret of his taste for witch, unwilling or otherwise.”

“And Julius was closest to your father.” I’m trying to put together the full picture and fall short somewhere.

But where?

“No, none of us were.” Reid laughs. “If there was anyone who would know more about my family’s attachments to the witches, it would be those in Edmund’s inner circle, and those who didn’t disappear when he died were eventually picked off by those loyal to me.”

“Wolf politics are bullshit,” I say.

“All politics are bullshit,” Reid corrects.

Ain’t that the truth.

“We’re just going to have to figure this out, aren’t we? There’s no way for the witches to actually penetrate the magical boundary.” I hurry to argue with him, and he cuts me off. “I’m sorry, Tash, but it’s true. We’ve put the wards in place that protect the boundary and bolstered them with years of magic. There is no easy way for the witches or anyone else to poke their way through, even if our spells are rooted in their magic. It’s impossible.”

“What if I tell you…” I pause. “What if I tell you that I saw Emily there? In the portal?”

His gaze sharpens.

“She’s there with the witches. I’d recognize her face anywhere, and trust me when I tell you that she saw me, too. She fucking winked at me. Would it make a difference on the whole if the Buson Coven hadherhelping them?”

He’s quiet for a while, lost in his thoughts. After a few more tense moments, he says, “We’re just going to have to do some more snooping to see how this all relates. And how we can put a stop to it either way.”

“Are you kidding? Even with the witches trying to bomb through your magical boundaries? You just want to snoop?” I pour every ounce of bitterness I possess into the word, and trust me, it’s alotof bitterness.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say. This is more complicated than what’s on the surface. The other alternative is war, and I need to gather all the facts before I risk the lives of the people I care about.” He says it in such a calm and direct manner, like a true leader, but unfortunately, his inaction makes me want to slap him.

Damn his logic. Damn that it makes sense.

I wonder if he balances me out with reason for a, well, reason.

“Right now, I think it’s best we return back to the mansion and I start the wheels in motion. We need to increase perimeter checks.”

“And you haven’t seen anything strange going on there?” I push.

He hesitates and it’s all I need to know he’s hiding shit from me. “Reid!”

His name is an explosion of sound in the relatively quiet woods, and he shoots me a side glance before sighing. “There have been some thin spots, okay? Areas where the boundary is starting to weaken. But I assure you we’re doing everything we can—”

I interrupt him with a groan. “Christ, we are never going to find a good way out of this.” I point off into the deep hush of the surrounding forest. “You’re trusting people out there you have no reason to trust.”

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