Page 22 of Haze

No.

I’ll be in St. Paul in about thirty minutes. I can meet you outside the Capitol.

I’ll be there.

After bunking off early, I park down the block from the front of the Capitol. I walk around, taking in the beautiful architecture and the golden gilded horses overlooking the landscape.

“You must be Griffin O’Leary of the O’Brien line.” Cade Alden walks briskly down a flight of steps and arrives in front of me before tucking his hands in his pockets.

I answer firmly, “Aye.”

“Appears you took my wedding invitation a bit too far.” He approaches but doesn’t offer his hand.

He leaves quite a bit of space between us, but the power quaking off Cade Alden leads me to believe The Leviathan is not simply a tall tale embellished over time.

“I’m still within the acceptable timetable to ask for amnesty and a place within your pack.” I try to confirm without sounding insubordinate.

Cade cracks a crooked smile. The tension between us starts to fade as he confirms, “I called Magnus. You’ve ended up on the wrong side of a disagreement with The Hellhound.”

There’s nothing to say, so I nod with a shrug and look down in appeasement. My wolf dislikes it, fighting against me.

Cade went so far as to call Magnus about me being here. I can only imagine what the Alpha who cast me out would say about me. Brother or not, the code we’ve lived by is black-and-white on the subject. I should be dead. I’m probably being hunted by any number of packs and human groups we’ve angered over the years. Magnus broke all our rules by setting me up for safe passage into someone else’s pack. I hope it’s safe passage. Seems smart to let Cade do the talking.

He moves right past Magnus to a new topic. “Apparently, you’ve also ended up on the wrong side of a disagreement with my Alpha Female.”

I look back up at him and cock my head back and forth. If you call her trying to reject me a disagreement, then sure.

She won’t reject us for long, my wolf murmurs.

To my surprise, Cade laughs. Shaking his head, he pulls one hand out of his pocket and gestures to the space between us as if to put us on a level playing field. “I’m fighting the government against making us register as shifters, and the media circus is everywhere. Quite honestly, given who you are, if there’s an issue with you being here, I have to deal with it myself, and I’m already at my wit’s end.”

Is he saying he can’t deal with me living in his territory? Cade’s response could have a few implications. But which one does he truly mean? What can I offer him to get him to reconsider? I am not leaving until I’ve solidified my bond with Lena, and even then, any leaving I do will be temporary.

“I don’t want to be trouble.” I raise my hand out to the side.

I didn’t bring a gun to this meeting with the hope he understands this isn’t malicious. An unsettledness in my stomach pulls tension deep inside me.

“Oh.” Cade shakes his head, clearing his throat to suppress his laughter. “Trouble already found you. Lena wants you gone. Yesterday.”

I hang my head. Do I tell him? My wolf bristles at the idea of leaving Lena. There’s no way I’ll leave Minnesota without her.

I run my hand up my nose and rub my forehead. I don’t have a better way to explain my dedication to being here.

“She’s yours,” Cade tells me.

His intuitive nature is interesting. We’ve locked eyes, and there’s no hiding it now.

“Yes,” I answer. A nod won’t do it. Someone needs to hear it. “Kathleen is mine. I’m willing to fight for her.”

“Kathleen, hmmm?” Cade runs his hand back through his hair. I catch a glimpse of a small smile, but he wipes it from his face. “Don’t get me wrong, The Leviathan would love to shed blood with you. But I don’t. My mate made me promise to keep fighting to a minimum. After the hell I’ve put her through, I’m willing to make an attempt to give her anything she asks for.”

There’s something Cade isn’t saying.

I draw a deep breath before I try to give him something to work with. “Sure, listen, I walked away from my past. It’s my intention that it doesn’t follow me. Finding my mate wasn’t on my list of priorities. Her being your Alpha Female is truly unexpected.”

“I’ll shoot straight, Finn.” Cade’s voice comes with a growl. The air is back to the crisp, snappy tension of what I can only imagine is the strength of The Leviathan. “Are you here for my pack?”

“Never. If Kathleen were anyone else, I would be perfectly content living a quiet life with my mate, attending pack functions, and enjoying the culture of something less...” I look for a good word. “Bloody.”

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