Page 81 of Severed By Magic

The moisture gathered my eyes as I stared at the ceiling. I squeezed them shut, not wanting to break, not right now.

“I, for one, would want you to find a way to go on if something happened to me,” Theo said, raising up on his elbow to look at me. “You’re allowed to be sad. You’re allowed to mourn. But I wouldn’t want you to stop living.”

“Me too,” Sai agreed, trailing his fingers along the inside of my forearm.

“That’s what all of us want,” Kaden leaned over Sai’s shoulder. “None of us want to lose you, either. We all have bonds with one another, but you’re our heart. We would all break without you.”

I hated thinking about that. I would want them to stay together. Even if I wasn’t here, I would want them to go on. But I wasn’t sure that would happen, and that terrified me more than anything. I wanted to ask them to promise me, but that wasn’t fair. I didn’t want to hold them to that if that didn’t make them happy because all I wanted was for us to be happy. Whatever that meant.

A knock sounded at the front door. Theo slid off the bed, disappearing down the hall to answer it, and came back a moment later. He leaned against the doorframe. “The Alpha wants to meet with us in his office, so we need to get ready.”

We dressed quickly, wrapping up in warm layers, then followed Blazer down the snowy path to the main lodge. We passed a few people on the way, and they averted their eyes. It wasn’t normal. Most people would at least wave, if not say good morning or hello. It felt like all the progress we’d made being here and trying to be a part of the community washed away overnight. We weren’t just starting at zero this time. We were now facing the anger and resentment of having brought the attack on the compound last night.

I did my best to ignore them and focus on my feet until we were climbing the stairs inside the lodge. The Alpha’s office door was open, but no one was inside.

Nancy appeared from another door and waved us into the large conference room we hadn’t entered since the day we arrived.

Her quiet, reserved energy and lack of a smile put me on edge. Something was wrong. We’re about to receive bad news, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for it.

“There you are,” the Alpha greeted as we took the five seats opposite him and my uncles. “I hope you were able to rest well. We got information from the prisoners we captured. Their Alpha believes we’re endangering all shifters by harboring you guys here. He thinks he will bring the wrath of the Council down on all of us, but I don’t think that’s the case.”

“So what’s the real reason?” Niall asked, but before anyone can answer, he continued. “There’s a bounty, isn’t there?”

Niall’s sharp guess sent Alpha Stewart’s brows up in surprise, and he nodded. “The Council has put out a bounty on you all.”

“And the pack was after the money,” Niall finished.

“How did you know that?” I asked him.

“I had a suspicion. It was the next part of the code I was trying to work through. I wasn’t positive, and I didn’t have enough of it put together. But I was able to guess.” He lowered his head. “I should have said something. I should have shared what little I had, but I didn’t want to cause panic.”

“We won’t let anyone get to you,” Rodney spoke with absolute certainty.

“You can’t guarantee that,” Kaden pointed out. “We might not be safe here.”

“We might not be safe anywhere.” The weight of that realization sank in.

“I know you asked about other locations. The best possible option is the Alaska compound, but it’s not ready yet,” the Alpha explained.

Rainer stood from his chair. “One day soon, but it’s not secure or supplied.”

“I know that. That’s why it’s not an option at the moment.”

“Then what is?” I asked.

“We have another compound in one of the Canadian territories. It’s much more remote. Only a few people know about it, and only a few pack members know the way. One of my sons would have to go with you, and even then, I can’t guarantee your safety like I can here.”

“I’ll go with them,” Rodney offered. “If you think it’s the best option.”

“I don’t think it is,” the Alpha replied, shaking his head and studying the table in front of him as if it had the answers. “That’s the problem. I truly believe you are at the safest location we have for you right now.”

“But the pack doesn’t want us here,” I reminded him. “You can’t force us upon them.”

“And who’s even say they’d come to our defense again?” Sai said, not angry, but resigned. “Enough of them don’t want us here, they might let the next attackers walk through the borders. They might even hold up signs pointing them in our direction.”

“That wouldn’t happen,” the Alpha growled.

I shrank away from him. I wanted to tell him he couldn’t guarantee that. He might be the pack leader, but as far as I knew, he didn’t have absolute control over them. It wasn’t like some human’s believed. The Alpha didn’t have mind control or make orders they had no choice but to follow. It was more based on loyalty and respect for their leader that anyone listened to what he said.

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