Page 9 of The Magic Between Us
That got the attention of both Theo and Chance.They stared at Seth, and he had no choice but to continue.
“I walked up on two shifters attacking one of the mages.Tim didn’t do anything physical, but Christian slapped Ryan.I stepped in before either of them could do anything worse.”
Chance groaned.“Of course it’s those two idiots.They’re always at the scene of the crime.”
“They were telling Ryan that he doesn’t belong.I think they were scared.”
“Being scared is fine,” Theo said as he frowned at his yogurt.“Hitting people because you’re scared isn’t, though.”
“You don’t have to tell me.Things didn’t get violent because they didn’t want to hit the alpha mate’s brother, but I can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if I hadn’t intervened.“
“What did Ryan do?”Chance asked.
“Nothing.He didn’t attack them or defend himself.He might have if I hadn’t stopped it, but I don’t know.He was trying to calm things down, but I think we could both tell it wouldn’t work.”
“I really hoped I wouldn’t have to treat my pack members like misbehaving children, but clearly, I was wrong,” Chance said.
Seth could hear the anger in his voice, and he agreed with it.He understood that people were scared and wary and didn’t know if they could trust the mages, but attacking one of them was out of bounds.Chance had been clear when he’d welcomed them into the pack.If anyone had any problems with them, they needed to talk to him instead of going to the mages.They were just people running for their lives and afraid of what would happen if they were forced to go back.Instead of doing what Chance had asked, they’d attacked Ryan.Things could have been much worse if Seth hadn’t stepped in.
More than that, it was a disobedience that Chance couldn’t allow.He was the alpha.His pack was supposed to obey his orders, even when they disagreed with them.They weren’t supposed to take things into their own hands and try to scare people away.
“What are you going to do?”Theo asked.
“I’ll have to call everyone in for a pack meeting.There’s no other choice.Clearly, some of my pack members believe they can disregard my orders, and I need everyone there so that they can’t plead ignorance or fear if anything else happens.I have to correct this before things get out of hand.”He looked at Seth.“That’s what they said, isn’t it?That they were afraid?”
“More that they don’t think Ryan belongs here, but I do think they were afraid.They don’t know Ryan or his family, or any of the other mages who live with us.Considering what they know of the coven, I’m not surprised that’s how they feel.”
“How they feel doesn’t matter.If they want me to know, they need to come to me.I was clear about that.”
“You were, but at the same time, they’ve been forced to welcome a bunch of strangers into the pack.You can’t blame them for being worried.”
“I don’t.I do blame them for disobeying my orders, though.Thank you for telling me, Seth.I’m sorry you had to get involved.“
“I wasn’t going to let them threaten Ryan.”Or any other mage or pack member, but Seth couldn’t deny that he found Ryan handsome.
Not that it mattered.It never did because Seth couldn’t trust people, not even handsome ones.
* * * *
RYAN STARED AT HISreflection in the mirror as he poked at his cheek.It hadn’t gotten any better since yesterday.In fact, it had gotten worse.He was bruising, and with his pale skin, it meant that everyone would know something had happened to him.
When he’d come home yesterday, he’d told his family that he’d hit a branch while walking in the forest.He was pretty sure his sister and his father hadn’t believed him, but his mother had fussed over him and had berated him for not being more careful.He was fine with all of that.He wasn’t surprised that his father and his sister knew he was lying, but he didn’t want his mom to know how complicated things were.She wanted to believe they could have a peaceful life here, and Ryan didn’t want to take that from her, even though he might have to eventually.It depended on what Chance did once he knew.
Seth had to have gone straight to his brother-in-law after what had happened.Maybe it had been stupid to lie to his family because they’d find out the truth anyway, but Ryan hadn’t wanted to deal with that mess yesterday.
His phone vibrated on the counter next to the sink.He snatched it up, used his passcode to unlock it, and opened the text he’d received.
Pack meeting at ten.Everyone needs to be there.
Ryan grimaced.
There it was.He’d been told that when something big happened, the alpha or one of the people who worked with him could send a pack-wide text to get everyone to come to one of these meetings.From what he’d been told, it didn’t happen often.It took people away from their jobs, so it couldn’t.
But Chance was doing this today, and there was no way it wasn’t because of what had happened with Ryan.Part of him wished that Seth hadn’t stumbled onto the fight.If he hadn’t, this wouldn’t be happening, but at the same time, Ryan might be in worse shape than he was.He hadn’t wanted to use his magic to defend himself, and he didn’t regret not doing so, but he would’ve had to if things had escalated.He had no doubt that if he’d done that, the two shifters would’ve taken it straight to Chance and found a way to blame Ryan for what had happened.It was a good thing that he hadn’t needed to do it, but this was getting messier by the minute.
Someone knocked on his bedroom door.He went to open, already knowing who it was.
Madeleine pushed past him and strode into the bedroom.
