Page 15 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

He gives us all one last look before he pushes the door open, and we all head inside. I try really hard to stop my jaw from dropping open and revealing my shock. I don’t think I succeed.

I don’t know why I’m shocked, she told us that she plays poker with really strong supes. Sully literally just warned us that there were some very prominent supernaturals in this room, and yet for some reason I am still shocked.

“Hey guys,” Neith grins, sitting in between the leader of the mages and the fucking clan leader of the dragons.

She is completely at ease, there is no sign of tension or worry in her body language at all. It’s fascinating, it also sort of explains why she was so at ease around the guys, she is used to being surrounded by massive power.

“Hey, did you win?” River grins, bounding over and taking a seat.

He seems much more at ease than the rest of us, but then again, his entire focus is on Neith, and he is taking his cues from her. The rest of us share a look before we all take seats. The poker table is still set up in the middle of the room, but there is also a big area with comfy chairs and couches that I don’t remember being there before, and that’s where we all sit.

Neith’s smile is huge, and I can’t help smiling in response as she replies, “Yep. I wiped the floor with them.” She continues while the rest of us are smiling, and the supes she played against are grumbling good-naturedly. “I guess I should introduce you guys. This is Evander, Raiden, Reed, Griff, Doc, River, and Ransom.” We all smile, and I hope I don’t look as nervous as I feel. She then adds unnecessarily, “Guys, this is Draith, Murray, and Ahren.”

“We are aware,” Reed replies with a slight smile.

After introductions are over, the conversation once again picks back up, and we start to talk about Neith and her winning. I have to admit that it is strange to me that we are sitting havingsuch a casual conversation with these leaders. It’s not something that I thought that I would be doing any time soon.

It just proves to me that there is a lot that I don’t know about the years that Neith and I were apart. Hell, I still don’t understand why she disappeared off the face of the planet, although I am starting to think that it has something to do with Dimitri. We need to have a conversation about it, but I won’t push her to talk before she’s ready. That won’t end well and will ensure that she shuts down for even longer. At least that doesn’t seem to have changed.

It's for that reason, as well, that I haven’t brought up visiting my parents. I am going to have to soon though, because they know that I have found her, and they know that we know that they knew Neith’s parents. They are bugging me at least once a day to talk to her, they have missed her almost as much as I have. I’m not sure how much longer I can put them off before they just turn up at the house, not that they know where it is, but I wouldn’t put it past them to somehow find out.

Pushing it out of my mind for the moment, I tune back into the conversation as they are all still talking about how easily Neith wins.

“You cheated,” Ahren growls as he reaches out and pushes Neith’s arm playfully. It’s obvious to me that they have a familial relationship.

A deafening and terrifying growl echoes throughout the room as soon as his hand comes into contact with Neith, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

My eyes move to River.

Shit.

His body language is relaxed, but his power is pulsing throughout the room. He did not like that this other shifter pushed Neith, even though it was playful and not meant to cause harm.

The room is silent, and Neith’s eyes are wide as she glances between River and Ahren.

What is more concerning is that the alpha himself looks shocked. He holds River’s gaze. River should have backed down by now. While Ahren starts to look tense, River stays completely relaxed, and the rest of us just stare in shock. There is nothing that we can do. If we intervene, it will definitely end in a fight, which none of us want, and by us not intervening, there is at least a slight chance that it won’t end up in one.

Ahren looks at Sully in shock, and Sully nods once, although I have no idea what that means. I think that we have just about gotten away with it, but before any of us can relax, River growls short and sharp, and Ahren’s gaze immediately returns to River.

“Fucking hell,” Draith mutters, and I realize that there is something more happening here than I am aware of.

It becomes clear when Ahren’s eyes drop, after only a few moments, and he tips his head to the side exposing his neck to River and conceding that he is the stronger alpha.

River settles immediately, and I don’t know whether it’s instinct or knowledge, but Neith moves away from Ahren and comes to sit next to River instead. River’s hands clench on his thighs, and I know that he is struggling with his own instincts, which are telling him to pull her closer.

He barely manages to control them and not pull her onto his lap.

Silence reigns for only a few minutes more before Sully clears his throat and gains everyone’s attention.

“What just happened does not leave the people in this room,” he demands.

He waits until everyone in the room verbally agrees, and then a burst of magic releases, and I realize that he has swiftly and effortlessly bound us in a verbal magical contract that won’t be able to be broken.

It means that we won’t be able to discuss what just happened with anyone outside of the people in here.

Sully grins, “Alright, let's have a drink.”

He then launches into a tale from the old days, as he calls them, and the tension in the room slowly drops, although everyone carries on looking at River curiously.

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