Page 80 of Severed By Magic

I looked up at Rainer, “It's me. It's us. They want us gone. We’re bringing danger to the pack. We’re putting everyone at risk. The attack happened tonight because of us. We can't stay here.”

“You have to stay here,” he argued. “There's nowhere else for you to go.”

“No, I'm not going to put anyone else in harm's way. It's not fair.”

My guys each reached for me, but I put my hands up, stopping them. “Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me no one from the pack was hurt or scared. Or does this just happen occasionally? Tell me it had nothing to do with me, and I'll stay.”

He sighed. “You know I can't do that.”

“Exactly. The pack didn't ask for this. You didn't ask for this. Just because I'm related to you doesn't mean you owe me anything. This pack doesn’t owe me anything.”

“If things had been different, you would have been raised here.”

“Yeah, but things didn't work out that way. By blood I might be a member of this pack, but none of that matters to the people out there who are risking their lives and getting hurt because of me. They don't know me, and they don't owe me anything. I won't ask anything more of them. They're angry, and they have a right to be. I don't belong here. My bond doesn't belong here.”

I saw the desperation in his eyes but had to ignore it.

“As soon as we find somewhere else to go, we will. Just tell them to give us a few hours to pack and we'll be gone.”

“No, that's not happening. I'm not losing you again! Just because you don't remember being here doesn't mean I don't. There are people here who remember, and some choose to forget because the memory is too hard. It hurts too much. To think of your father and what was lost. If anything, they’re grieving for the sixteen years we lost with you. They should be ashamed of themselves. If your father was here, he would gladly lay down his life to protect you.”

“But he's not and hasn't been for a very long time. I don't expect their loyalty. I haven't earned it.”

A scream sounded, and I listened back to the crowd.

“She might be your family, but she's not one of us.” One voice rose above the rest.

I looked at Rainer. My argument was being supported by the people.

“I can't stay here. These people have done nothing to deserve another pack or the Council coming after them.”

“I don't care!” Rainer finally blurted, glancing at the guard. “I don't care if they're mad. I don't care if they don't agree. We might run things differently than other packs, but the at the end of the day, this isn't a democracy. The Alpha has the final say, and you're his granddaughter. Not only does that give you the right to the pack’s protection, but my father's dealing with the guilt of not having taken care of you all this time. He should have tried harder to find you. Half the world thinks he's dead, and yet he never thought to double-check whether you actually were. That weighs on him. That's something he has to come to terms with. We all do.”

There had to be another option. Even if my family wanted me here, that didn't mean that the rest of the pack did. I couldn’t cause even more problems for the Alpha and my family.

“Is there somewhere more isolated we can go? Somewhere with fewer people? A military camp or something?”

He offered a sad smile. “While we might look like we have an army, we don't have training camps or outpost like you might think. We have always been self-governing. All the wolf packs have. When there's an issue between two packs, it's dealt with by the Alphas. This is not normal. This is not how we behave.” He rubbed his tired face. “I know it's not likely, but I want you guys to try to relax here for the rest of the night. No rash decisions, no trying to escape. Blazer is going to stay here for the rest of the night and probably tomorrow as well.”

He shot Blazer a look, but he didn't react to his name or what I hoped was his nickname.

“Let us deal with this. Let us worry about the pack. You guys just focus on each other, okay?” Rainer insisted.

The guys agreed.

I wasn't ready to give up, but he was already out the door.

Chapter 23

None of us could sleep while we lay together in the king bed until the morning broke. I needed to feel each of them close. Anytime one of them got up, even go to the bathroom, I felt like a piece of me was missing and started to panic. It wasn't until we were all together again that I was able to calm down.

“It’s okay,” Niall whispered reassuringly. “We’re fine. Nothing happened.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared,” I confessed. “Not even when we were steps away from getting onto the Council’s plane. I felt trapped. Not just because we weren’t allowed to leave. The enemy surrounded us, and there was nothing I could do. There was nothing any of us could really do. It felt like one of my nightmares was coming true.”

Niall lay at the foot of the bed, and he reached out, rubbing my leg reassuringly. “I understand, love. We were all scared.”

“I don’t want to lose any of you,” I admitted my deepest fear. “I don’t think my heart could take it. I wouldn’t survive it.”

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