Page 75 of Lavender and Lightning

“Lee came into Wila’s this afternoon and gave me an update on the case. Based on what he said, going to the wedding seemed like a bad idea,” I start, pushing some of my food around my plate.

“I was going to suggest we reconsider, but I’m glad you made the decision on your own terms. It really is the smart move,” Lex says warmly.

I look up at her, my heart twisting at the sight of her smile. This is going to hurt.

“Well, that was before my mother called.”

There is a long pause where I swear I could have heard a pin drop. And then the world explodes with noise, three alphas growling threats, fists slamming onto the table, even the clatter of a piece of cutlery hitting the floor. My arms come up over my head, my eyes squeezing tight. Then suddenly, there’s a sharp whistle above all of it. I crack open one eye, and Lucas is on his feet, fingers in his mouth, his glare moving between Rhett, Mateo, and Lex in turns.

“You three need to chill for one fucking second. You don’t even know what happened,” Lucas snaps as he sits again.

“I don’t need to. I told that…” Mateo swallows whatever creative curse he’s about to spit, with a glance in my direction, “woman, if she tried to contact Lydia again, I would ruin her.”

“Count me in on that plan,” Lex snarls, more heated than I’ve seen her in a while.

“What did I just say?” Lucas cuts in angrily.

Mateo looks at me with a trace of an apology, but it’s only there for a moment. At least he doesn’t start up again. Lex’s face has smoothed into something far colder, which is somehow more disturbing than Rhett’s clenched teeth and the straight glare of murder in his eyes. I clear my throat and bring my hands down, twisting my fingers together in my lap. Lucas sits back down next to me, intentionally moving his chair closer to put a protective arm around my shoulders.

“Yeah, so, um… after I texted Jason, she called me. I don’t know how, because we changed my number again. But it was almost instant. And… well, she somehow learned that I’d decided not to go to the wedding,” I tell them, not looking up from my lap.

“Did Jason even respond before your mother called?” Lucas prompts.

I shake my head. “She wouldn’t tell me how she knew. Honestly, she hardly let me talk at all. But after she got through telling me how awful I am for trying to ruin this for her, she… she made it clear that I’m going to be at that wedding.”

“What is she going to do? Come here and drag you down there by your hair?” Mateo asks with a derisive snort.

My eyes burn, and I blink rapidly to try to hold back the tears. “No. But she made it quite clear what would happen if I didn’t go. And I’m not willing to call the bluff,” I say, trailing off as my throat constricts.

“Lydia, if she threatened to hurt you–”

“No, it’s not–” I say, cutting off the beginning of Rhett’s growled oath. “She knows she can’t hurt me. Not personally. But she can…”

“It’s Jason, isn’t it, sweetness?”

Everyone looks to Lex as she speaks, and at the sight of her hazel eyes full of empathy and understanding, my tears finally break through. I nod, pursing my lips together.

“She’s going to have him kicked from the pack and disown him. Everything he’s done to keep me safe is proof of his disloyalty, and my father… if he knows how much we’ve lied over the years…”

My words die in a sob, and I press my hand over my mouth, trying to take deep breaths to keep it together. All of my mother’s hateful threats echo in my mind, and my whole body feels cold.

Our family is all he has, and you want to take that away because you can’t be an adult for one evening?

An alpha without a pack is hardly an alpha at all.

“Have you told him?” Lucas asks softly.

I shake my head. “He’ll tell me not to believe her, but I know she’d do it, just to spite me. And I can’t–I can’t do that to him.”

“But if it means keeping you safe, I think Jason would do it willingly,” Mateo says, words soft but insistent.

I shake my head. “I was already halfway out of the door mentally when I ran. If Darren had never come along, I would have gone my own way after I graduated college. But Jason… he never had to go through what I did, the expectations, the shaming, the gaslighting. He’s seen what they did to me, so he’s not ignorant of their evil, but he has a place, a role in the pack. Taking that away… it wouldn’t be right.”

“We can figure out a way to protect him, love. Just like we’ve protected you,” Rhett insists.

I look at him through my tears, and my heart sinks. His eyes are hard, his jaw set. They aren’t listening to me, and I don’t know how to make them understand.

“Rhett, look at me,” Lucas cuts in.

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