Page 82 of Eclipsed Heart

Jasmine lifted both hands. “She’s my sister. What the hell do you mean?”

“She’s right.” I smiled. She accepted me. Which shouldn’t have surprised me—she’d been raised by the same people as my mate. “We’re family, and honestly, I prefer that you not be formal with me at all.” I pointed to Stevie. “And this is my sister, Stevie.”

“Yeah, the growly one.” Jack waggled his brows as he placed his arm around my sister’s waist. “So be careful not to get too close ’cause she’s my fated mate.”

“I’ll try.” Jasmine snorted.

Samuel squeezed through the rest of the group and opened his arms. “Do I not get a hug? Or has my sister already replaced me in your eyes?”

“Never.” She embraced him for a long moment before pulling back. “So what’s going on? Everyone looks tense.”

Bodey’s irritation was palpable, so I went to him and laid my head on his shoulder. Our connection hummed, and he pulled me against his chest. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“That’s not fair.” She leaned to one side. “I’m part of this pack and family too, and I want to help. It’s spring break, and I missed my family and home, so here I am. Deal with it. I’m not going back, and I want to help our newroyals—the king consort is my brother!”

My heart ached. I understood not feeling included. Granted, Bodey and Michael were acting out of love and not because they didn’t think she was competent. Still, that didn’t make a difference when you were the one feeling slighted.

I think we should let her help,I linked with Bodey.She clearly wants to, and we need all the allies we can get. Besides, I’d like to get to know her. She is my sister now too. And if you don’t let her, she might do something foolish to prove herself.

His resolve softened.Nothing is going to happen to you, so you have the rest of your life to get to know her. But you are right about the latter part. She has a knack for getting herself into trouble, trying to keep up with the rest of us.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed. And she’s determined to be here, so it would be easier to oblige her and keep a close eye on her instead of having her trying to sneak around to help.

You’re right.Bodey kissed the top of my head and said, “Fine. But you don’t go off on your own. Got it?”

Her mouth dropped open before she snapped it closed again. “Really?”

He released me and moved to her, pulling her into a hug. “If Dad’s okay with it.” Bodey turned to his father.

“It’s probably safer this way.” Michael laughed. “I’ll never forget the time she was determined to race with all of you when we told her no. She snuck out of the house and wound up breaking her ankle, and I’d rather not have a repeat of that while we’re fighting Queen Kel.”

“And that’s not even the worst of the stories,” Lucas interjected and rolled his eyes.

Dan, Phil, and Carl glanced at each other and nodded.

We were all in agreement, so that was one thing settled.

“Come on,” Samuel said, leading Jasmine into the den. He sat with her on the couch, putting her in the middle. The rest of us filed in as Samuel quickly caught her up.

Jasmine’s eyes got wider and wider with every word. “Wow. I had no clue things were that bad here. I should’ve guessed, though, when you told me not to come home for the coronation.”

“You had exams.” Michael patted her arm. “It was better that way.”

“So…what’s the plan?” She rubbed her hands together, glancing around the room as if expecting solid answers.

Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

I didn’t know what to do. I guessed that Bodey, Janet, and Michael would want to spend some time with Jasmine as a family. Even though we needed to act fast, family was important. “We should leave tomorrow morning. Give everyone another good night’s rest. If Lynerd is part of all this, we need to be sharp and ready to handle anything. It’ll be a little over three hours’ drive to his pack lands, and it’s already lunchtime.”

“Agreed.” Miles leaned back on the island between his mate and father. “I’d like to stay here until River confirms she’s back with our pack.”

I understood the sentiment. The closer, the better in times of uncertainty; we all needed to stay together to resolve the current threat. Splitting up would make deciding things much harder.

“Then we leave first thing in the morning.” Bodey rubbed his chin. “Let’s say nine, so we get there around lunchtime.”

“We should ask Dina to join us.” Samuel steepled his hands. “She and Sybil are friendly, and we could use a witch to help ease any tensions with Lynerd’s coven.”

Dan paced in front of the couch. “Let’s also get Zeke to coordinate having some local packs ready in case backup is needed. If Lynerd is part of this like we fear, then he’s not going to willingly allow Sybil to unblock Callie. We need allies on standby for aid if needed.”

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