Free Web NovelChapter 18: 018
~ RONAN ~
She still hasn’t said a word aside from staring at me with those hazel eyes, as though she can’t quite believe I’d actually come to her rescue. I can hear the frantic thumping of her heart, each beat gradually slowing as she tries to calm down.
We should have introduced her to the pack. This wouldn’t have happened if we’d done that. Or at least we should have smeared her with our scent, punk, Kael whines.
I know. We should have. But she was still recovering, and I didn’t think she’d want to step outside. I couldn’t exactly introduce her to everyone while she was sick. I didn’t—
She takes a step back, and I notice her heartbeat has finally returned to normal.
"Were you looking for Celeste or Elias?" I ask.
Something I can’t quite name flashes across her face before she lets out a quiet sigh.
"Yes, I was..."
She trails off, as though she’s not comfortable explaining herself to me. Hell, yeah, I’m being a prick right now. She’s not a prisoner and she doesn’t owe me an explanation for every step she takes or every decision she makes. If that’s the story she needs to give me right now, then that’s the story I’ll take. I’m not going to corner her and rip the truth out of her.
I nod, even though I still can’t shake the thought that I could have lost her. She could have been seriously hurt. Worse, she could have been torn apart by my own pack wolves.
"Okay, but next time..." I pause, forcing myself to rein in my temper. I don’t want her to hear the anger creeping into my voice. I’m furious with myself and not her.
I take a slow breath before continuing.
"If you need anything, or if you’re looking for someone, you tell me first. Or tell Celeste or Nikolai." I pause, making sure she understands I’m serious. "You don’t go wandering off alone without letting someone know, until the pack knows your face."
The words come out firmer than I intend, but the image of those wolves circling her is still fresh in my mind. My chest tightens at the thought of what could have happened if I’d been even a few minutes later.
She stares at me, and fuck... It’s only now dawning on me how strict I sounded. How much I sounded like I was barking orders at her.
"I’m sorry," I say immediately, dragging a hand through my hair.
The apology leaves my mouth before I can stop it.
"I didn’t mean to raise my voice. That wasn’t..." I exhale heavily and shake my head. "I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at myself for not handling this sooner."
A muscle in my jaw ticks. "The pack should have known who you were before you ever set foot in that hallway."
For a moment, neither of us says anything.
The tension in her shoulders eases, and some of the wariness in her eyes fades.
Relief loosens the knot in my chest. I lift a hand and point down the corridor.
"The quarters in this wing all look the same. Same layout, same corridor design. It’s easy to get turned around if you don’t know the system."
I nod toward the east end of the hall.
"Elias works out of the medical wing, two corridors over. Celeste has a room on this floor, four doors down."
My gaze narrows back to her.
"I was going to show you all of this properly." I gesture around us. "Give you a full tour of the pack house, the grounds, the territory."
I’m being careful with my tone this time. "I was waiting until you were stronger."
She nods. "If you don’t mind, I can show you around the main area for now."
Her hands come up immediately. "No, I don’t... I... I don’t feel strong enough."
The signs are hesitant, her fingers slowing midway through the sentence as if she’s struggling to put the feeling into words.
"It’s fine if you don’t want to. I’ll just take you back to bed."
Before she can protest, I close the distance between us, the moment I reach for her hand, and scoop her off the floor, her entire body goes still.
Her eyes widen, and hell...
Even though I know she’s aware of me, even though we’ve touched before, my heart still does something stupid in my chest.
A little flutter. Her gaze drops briefly to where our hands are joined before lifting back to mine. For a second, she looks startled, then, slowly, she relaxes. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
I can’t help the quiet chuckle that escapes me.
"There you are," I murmur.
Keeping my grip gentle, I lead her back down the corridor. By the time we reach her room, some of the tension has drained from her shoulders. freёwebnovel.com
I push the door open and guide her inside. The familiar scent of the room wraps around us immediately, without thinking much about it, I walk her straight to the bed before helping her settle onto the mattress.
"Thank you." She signs.
I lean closer and lift my hand, pushing the hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear the way it keeps falling forward.
Her breath catches. "You don’t have to be scared of me," I say quietly. "I know I keep saying that. I’ll keep saying it until it sticks."
She looks at me for a while, then she nods frantically before quickly looking away.
Standing to my feet, I nod toward her.
"I’ll call Celeste to keep you company. I need to get back to business, but I promise I’ll come back when I’m done."
She nods, and I head for the door, already mind-linking Celeste.
The moment I step into the hallway, I spot two pack guards standing nearby.
"I need you to guard my bride’s room," I order. "Nobody enters that room without explicit permission from me, aside from Elias and Celeste."
The two men straighten immediately.
"And Mara doesn’t come within twenty feet of this wing. If she tries, you remove her. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Alpha," they answer in unison.
I’ve barely made it to few turns when Nikolai falls into step beside me.
"Council moved the hearing," he says without preamble. "Rescheduled, apparently the elders had somewhere urgent to be." The dry edge in his voice tells me exactly what he thinks of that.
"Warren left with them."
"Of course he did."
"I think they got scared of Kael. You should try turning that guy down a little, don’t you think?"
"I would have, if I hadn’t mind-linked you to check on Roselle this morning, only to go there and find Mara instead."
His face falls immediately.
"I’m sorry, Alpha. I think I was still half-asleep and didn’t quite hear you properly."
I shake my head. Of course. Nikolai has a fucking terrible sleeping habit.
"But hell, yeah, you’re right. You did rattle something loose in there." He rubs the back of his neck. "Whatever you said about the math not adding up... it doesn’t. I do find it suspicious."
"I need you to look into everything."
We keep walking, but this time my destination has changed. My office.
I need to straighten things out with Caius. The impromptu meeting wasn’t part of the plan, and the fact that it was held in my own pack without my knowledge until the very last minute of it doesn’t sit well with me.
Opening the door to my office, I step inside, Nikolai falling into step behind me. "When’s the wedding?" Nikolai suddenly asks, yanking me from my thoughts.
I glance at him. "What?"
"The wedding." He says it like it’s a perfectly reasonable question at a perfectly reasonable time. "The ceremony. When are you marrying Roselle?"
I face forward again and walk toward my desk.
"I’m not."
The silence that follows is the kind Nikolai uses when he’s deciding whether to push.
"I’m sorry?" he says at last.
"You heard me."
"Ronan." He steps in front of me, stopping me.frok going dithet in my.office. He’s one people in the world who can do that without losing a limb and he knows it. "You brought her here, and she’s in your pack house. The council has been filed. Kael has practically tattooed her name on the inside of your skull." He stares at me. "What do you mean you’re not marrying her?"
"I mean exactly that."
"Why?"
I look at him, and I watch the answer land on his face before I say it out loud.
"Six brides, Nik." My voice comes out level, though it costs me more than I’m willing to show. "Six women. I watch all of them. I watch what the curse does and how fast it moves and how little any of it matters—how strong they are, how prepared, how determined." I pause. "I am not putting Roselle through that. I am not watching the curse take her. I would rather—" I stop. Exhale. "I’m not marrying her."
Nikolai stares at me for a long moment.
"What if she’s the one who breaks it?" he says.
"Yes," Kael says immediately, loudly, with the energy of someone who has been waiting for someone else to make this argument so he doesn’t have to keep making it alone.
Finally. Tell him.
"Kael agrees with me," Nikolai adds.
"Kael would agree with anyone who tells him what he wants to hear right now."
"Ronan."
"Six of them go down, every single one. I’m not risking a seventh. I’m not risking her."
Nikolai is quiet for a beat.
Then he says, carefully, like he already knows how this lands, "If you’re not marrying Roselle, then by pack law and council requirement, you need to take another bride. A proper one. Filed, processed, approved." He holds my gaze. "Soon. Before Kael’s cycle peaks and the curse has nothing to anchor itself to."
