Page 45 of Legally Mated
“Laine,” I started to say, but he shook his head, then with another defiant glance in Quin’s direction, he came back to take my hand and hold it tightly. “Text me, okay? Or call. Keep me updated. If there’s anything I can do to help, letmeknow.”
“I will. Thank you for not letting that get any bigger thanitdid.”
He shrugged. “There’s a lot I’d do for you, if you’dletme.”
Ugh. Sometimes I hated the truth. “I know. We’ll talk after, okay? When I’m lesstired.”
He nodded and I could tell he wanted a kiss, but was off-balance enough in the room not to push it, so I squeezed his hand hard and then lethimgo.
As he walked past Quin, I saw my Alpha reach out to stop him again and readied myself for anotherclash.
I should have trustedLaine.
Quin said to him, “What you’re doing isn’t fair to him. He can’t live half in, half out of the pack. You can’t ask thatofhim.”
Laine turned and stared thoughtfully at Quin for a moment, then he patted the hand on his arm. “I don’t. But what are you asking of him? To be a shadow of what he’s meant to be, because it’s easier for you? If you can’t fight for his right to be what he trained so hard for, I will. And if he wants to stay entirely inside the pack after, I’ll fight for that right too.” And then he left, and we all stared at each other insilence.
Chapter37
After that confrontation,I made sure to keep in touch with Laine, discussing some of the articles from the journals, asking about his cases, dropping small tidbits of information about the pack and how it worked into the conversation. I kept expecting him to say something, though what I wasn’t certain, but he kept everything light and entertaining, as if the bullet and everything that came after had neverhappened.
The constitutional lawyer is coming today, I sent him as I ate the breakfast Seosamh had picked up for me at the restaurant. I needed to get back to my own place, because this had to be costing a fortune. And it was taking Seosamh away from his work picking up the slack in Holland’sschedule.
Tell her hands off, he sent back a few minutes later, with a winkingemoji.
I snorted.I think she’s just trying to impress the President, I typed. I was tempted to make some comment about how Quin wasn’t looking forward to this, but held off. I understood better, now, why Quin was so tense about this visit. In our conversations the past couple of days getting ready for Mutch’s and Eva’s arrival, he hit me with every possible bad scenario, from Mutch being disgusted by the enclave, to him wanting to move in and take over in Quin’s place, and had given me the job to come up with responses that would somehow get us access to his money, without having to pass over our autonomy in exchange. And I knew from Holland that he was losing sleep over this, so I was spending a lot of time reading over the statues and local laws to be certain I was ready for any move onMutch’spart.
My phone buzzed again.Maybe. Let me know howitgoes?
Iwill.
A knock on the door made me put the phone down. I eased myself up out of the chair, still a little stiff and sore but off the painkillers now, thank Lysoon. Quin and Holland and Mac were waiting for me in the hallway. “You ready?” Quin asked, his gaze raking up and down my body, looking for signs of weakness like I was one of hisMarines.
“I’m fine. I slept well, I’ve eaten. Let’s go.” I stepped out into the hallway and closed my door. They’d made me a kind of suite in a cleared-out section of one of the hospital floors, a bed and a small bathroom close to the elevator, with window that couldn’t be opened. I appreciated the space and the work that had gone into it, but it bugged me that they wanted me near Adelaide, who had a small apartment at this end of the floor. I was fine, just slow, and I tired quickly. Though at least they hadn’t made me move inwithher.
We climbed into the elevator, the tiny room as quiet as a forest grove. Quieter, since Holland hadn’t brought the baby with him. “Where’s Zane?” I asked, then immediately wished Ihadn’t.
Holland’s entire body went tense and he turned the strangest smile on me. “Oh, Veronica’s watching him. It upset her too much to think of the baby that close tohumans.”
“Holland—” Quin began, but Holland raised a hand andsilencedhim.
“No, it’s fine. It’s probably better not to have the distraction. But she and I are going to have to have a talk.” He didn’t look happy about it, and neither did Quin, and I started to remember small comments Cas had made about his mother and some of her opinions, and the scene in the meeting room from before our trip to Washington took on new meaning to me. It surprised me that Holland would tolerate that—he’d seemed capable of defending himself before. Then again, Veronica was a power in her own right, and with everything else going on, how much time did Holland have to spare to deal with with pushypackmother?
Mac was waiting with the van in front of the building. “Ready?” he asked, though he had to have known that we were from our mere presence. I guessed I wasn’t the only one nervous about thismeeting.
“Let’s go,” Quin said, and we piled into the vehicle for the short drive to the gate. Quin and Holland took one of the back seats, leaving Mac to drive and me to ride shotgun. I saw Quin sling an arm over Holland’s shoulders and whisper in his ear, making the corner of Holland’s mouth twitch, and then Mac started the engine and I turned my attention back to the road in front of us to give my Alpha and his Mate a littleprivacy.
The van was mostly for my benefit, so I wouldn’t be quite so tired at the end of it all. It was hard to admit, but I was glad someone had thought that far ahead. Naps were still a regular thing in my day, and I was starting to have something more in common with Zane and his eating and sleeping schedule than I was theadults.
Not to say that was a bad thing. The naps in particular were growing on me alittle.
Mac’s radio crackled as we left the town. “They’rehere.”
“We’re on our way,” Mac sent back. He glanced over at Quin. “Abel still meeting usthere?”
Quin nodded. “He’s bringing his politician with him. Ooph!” Holland had elbowed him, but Quin only grinned. “See? Way more alpha than Bax. Just what I need going into askirmish.”
Holland laughed and turned Quin’s face to his for a kiss. “You, my love, have a quicksilvertongue.”
