Page 31 of Broken Pregnant Mate
He rolls his eyes at me. “Please don’t make me detail all the ways in which I could be evil about this situation, Grayhide. Remember who my father is—if I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t fuck up as many times as he did with it. But I don’t want you dead, and I’m tired of my people suffering at the hands of his impotent leadership. You seem a fine replacement—even therightfulman for the role. Perhaps even the Gods have cursed the Blacklock line, and they want the original shifters back in charge.”
“So, you don’t want to kill him?”
Oren laughs darkly, and something flickers behind his eyes like I’ve never seen before. I thoughtIhated Jerrod Blacklock, but the absolute loathing flashing in Oren’s gaze feels inky and murderous, sticky, lethal.
“Ineversaid that,” Oren says, then promptly standing from his rock. “Now we’ve shared an equal amount of personal information, and that makes us friends.”
“Itdoes?” I laugh, watching him with incredulity. I can confidently say I have never met someone like him before.
“Yes. And, as your friend, I’m telling you to get over yourself. You’re going to beat my father, if that’s what you want. So stop using it as an excuse to make needless drama between you and this girl.”
“Her name is Emaline.”
“Great,” Oren rolls his eyes, like he couldn’t care less what her name is. From anyone else, it might piss me off, but from him, it just makes me laugh. “So, let’s get back so you can stop fucking around with Emaline. Or start, or whatever it is you want to do.”
“Gods,” I mutter, standing up and shifting, just to get away from him, and start running toward home.
Even though he’s infuriating, I’m starting to realize that maybe he’s right. He knows the most about his father, and if he thinks I can beat him, I probably can.
But me fighting his father is only part of the problem with Emaline. The other problem is what happens if I win—her, tied to me? To that role?
Not to mention the fact that I haven’t talked to her about what happened all those years ago. That I haven’t apologized for what happened the night I left.
Even if I want a life with Emaline, I have no idea if she wants one with me.
And, after everything she’s gone through, I know that she deserves a good partner. Someone with a family who can support her and help her live the life of her dreams, take her to all the places she’s ever wanted to go.
Whether I beat Jerrod or not, that man will never be me.
A streak of pain bolts through my head, and I know it must be from the stress, from overthinking everything. But I can’t seem to stop, and I don’t know how to make the thoughts leave me alone.
If Oren can tell that I’m in my head again, he doesn’t say anything about it—instead, we just run in silence until we see theedge of town. I push myself, muscles burning, as we hit the city limits.
***
Oren turns his bag upside down and dumps it out on the table, letting the red palm leaves drop, spilling over the sides and down onto the floor.
Claire Derleth, the lead caster for the Ambersky pack, watches with her mouth slightly open. Her red hair is a little dimmer today than normal, and I wonder if she normally touches it up with magic, or if she uses real hair dye.
Dorian stands next to her, shaking his head, his arms crossed over his chest, watching as Oren sets the bag next to the leaves.
“That enough?” Oren asks.
“I’m guessing it would have to be,” Dorian laughs, picking up one of the leaves and examining it, turning it from side to side so it catches in the light. “Seems to me like the two of you didn’t leave a single red palm on that stretch of water.”
Oren shrugs, and Claire looks at me, her eyes wide. “Did you see them?”
“See who?” I ask, even though I know who she’s talking about.
“The Hysopp coven,” she whispers, glancing over her shoulder, like one of them might walk through the door this very moment. “I can’t believe the two of you stripped the trees like this, and they didn’t doanythingto you.”
“That’s because they’re not real,” Oren says, his voice deadpan, like normal.
Claire shakes her head at him, looking incredulous. “Oh, they’re real. And the two of you are very lucky they were busy with something else that day.”
“Is this enough?” I ask again, feeling itchy, ready to go back to my apartment even as I know it’s not a great idea. I’m of two minds—the Aidan who knows I should leave Emaline alone, and the Aidan who wants nothing more than to be near her.
“Yeah,” Claire says, letting the word out like a breath, her eyes still wandering over the pile. “It’s enough. This should be…the Llewelyns are about to beveryhappy. Once we’re done with these, we might have enough pranxath powder to make them our top trading partners.”
