“I don’t know. I’m just sort of taking it day by day right now.”
“Fair enough. You’ll stay,” she decided.
“Don’t bother arguing. She always gets her way.”
“Always?”
“Always.” Ruby confirmed.
“Good to know.”
“So, tell us all about you and New York City. I’ve been there with my parents several times, but it was more the touristy stuff, rides through Central Park, and stuff like that,” Lily said. “I’m sure our little town must be a bit of a culture shock for you.
“You could definitely say that, but in a good way.”
I wasn’t ready to share my life with them. It was none of their business. They were nice and all, but it had been a big leap of faith for me to stay with Peyton last night. In some way I felt like it had been predestined or something because it had led me to Brady.
Staying was probably the dumbest thing I’d ever done, but a part of me just felt like I had to see this through.
Ruby and Peyton had to leave. They had things to do, but not before pawning me off on Lily.
“You don’t have to babysit me,” I assured her.
“Are you kidding? It’s not every day someone stumbles into our Pack. How are you feeling?”
“Great. No issues. I really can move on now.”
That was a lie. Physically, sure I could. But knowing my mate was here, I couldn’t force myself to leave.
“Do you want to talk about what happened this morning?”
“What do you mean?”
“Brady. I know him, Tricia. Sure, he has his faults, but that was not normal behavior for him. Want to tell me why he reacted so strongly?”
“I don’t know him. How the hell should I know?”
She studied me for a minute.
“Did you know that Brady is mating?”
I willed my cheeks not to change color.
“Is he?”
“Sort of. It’s been kind of weird, if I’m being honest. And I’m only telling you this because of the outburst you happened to witness this morning. Thomas had to reach out to my brother Kyle to discuss it. Something’s not right. I’m not telling you to be afraid of him, just give him a little grace because something is going on with that boy.”
Guilt weighed heavily on me. I’d seen Clementine’s memories. He thought she was his mate, but really it was me.
A part of me wanted to jump up and scream, “I’m sorry. It’s me!” But there was no way I could explain everything to them.
It wasn’t safe to be a witch right now. I couldn’t trust anyone with knowledge. My life was at stake, and I didn’t care what sort of connections Lily had to Westin Pack. Until I saw a thriving group of witches with my own eyes, there was no way in hell I was voluntarily putting my secrets out there.
Brady
Chapter 14
“What are you doing here?” I barked at Kenneth when he showed up at the greenhouse.