Page 20 of Tempest

“See? That,” Saint said, pointing in his face in a way that was about to get him one less finger. “Talk to me, man. What’s with you and this eagle? Have you met him before or something?”

“No, of course not. It just… It didn’t seem right to keep him cooped up in the basement when he’d already been staying at my place.”

“While he was unconscious.”

“Either way?—”

“Is he your mate?”

Cash’s heart jumped into his throw, his eyes widening at the blunt question. “What?”

Saint smiled and clasped him on the shoulders. “You heard me. It’s the only thing that makes sense. You being so weird and disrupting your whole life for someone you don’t know and we can’t be sure we can trust. You’d never risk the pack unless you had a damn good reason.”

He stared at his best friend. The words were on the tip of his tongue. It was too early to know for sure—or at least that waswhat he kept telling himself even though his panther vehemently disagreed—but it wouldn’t be the worst thing to talk to someone about it.

Except…

“It doesn’t matter,” he said softly, shifting his gaze to the water just behind Saint and trying to find his inner peace once more. “As soon as he’s better, he’s leaving.”

“Cash…”

“Don’t.”

But because Saint was Saint—and maybe had a death wish—he grabbed the sides of Cash’s face and forced him to meet his eyes. “No, you listen to me, you stubborn feline. Don’t give up before you even try.”

“Pack law says?—”

“Then we’ll change pack law.”

Cash shook his head and sighed. “If it were that easy, Liam would already have done it. The pack doesn’t want to change. They don’t want people who are different moving here and messing with their perfect little lives.”

Saint blinked at him, clearly surprised at the bitterness in his voice. “Whoa. Been holding on to that for a while, huh?”

“Am I wrong?”

Shrugging, Saint dropped his hands and shoved them into his pockets. “No. But what I’m saying is that sometimes leaders have to lead.”

Cash scowled at him. “We do lead. But we can’t lead people where they don’t want to go.”

Saint moved around him and started heading back up the way he’d come. “Can’t we though?”

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

He watched his friend walk away, leaving him even more confused than before.

It wasn’t like they hadn’t talked about changing things before. Hell, when Liam had first taken over, he’d talked a lot about what he wanted to do, adjustments he thought they should make as a pack, but the more resistance they received, the less he talked about it. Now, it was just something he, Saint, and Rachel talked about when they were alone. Their worries about the sustainability of their pack.

But after what had happened last year, keeping everyone safe from the current volatility of the parahuman world had become their number one priority. Maybe once things were more settled and the new shifter Council—sorry,Guardians—was officially up and running, Liam could once again work on opening their pack up to the possibilities of growing and expanding.

As for Ore?

It didn’t matter what his panther wanted from the little bird. Once he recovered his memories, he’d know where he belonged and leave the Silver Oak Pack behind.

Until then, Cash had to live with a stranger in his house, watching him with big, dark eyes and smelling so fucking good it tempted him in ways he’d never experienced before.

What could go wrong?

Cursing under his breath, he kicked a stone into the water and then walked away.

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