“You could die.”
“I could win,” I counter.
“I’m not willing to take that chance,” she sniffs.
I stand in front of her and watch the tears stream down her face. “You’re so strong,” I tell her as I wipe away one of the tears with my finger. “You’re probably the strongest person I know.”
“Really? Because I feel like I’ve been crying a lot lately.” She turns her head away from me when I try to tilt her chin up so I can look her in the eye.
“Having emotions and caring for people doesn’t make you weak.” I shake my head. “If anything, it makes you stronger when you care about someone. It means you have someone to fight for. Someone to live for other than yourself.”
“And now you want to walk away from that?” More tears run down her face. “From me?”
“I would never want to leave you, Pru, but I would rather it be me than you.”
“You just promised me you would never leave my side,” she reminds me, “and now you’re going back on that promise.”
“I also said I’m too stubborn to die.”
“What happens if you do?” she asks.
“We have plans in place to get you away from here as fast as possible. There’s a safe house we have in Colorado they’ll get you too, and they’ll keep you safe.” This time when I reach for her, she allows me to guide her face up to mine. I caress my thumb along her jaw. “I only care that you’re safe.”
“All I want is for you to be safe too,” she whispers, her big green eyes looking up at me. “I need you to stay alive.”
“I will,” I promise her, even though it’s not something I can guarantee. But I say it anyway. I lean down and brush my lips softly against hers, sealing my promise.
30
Pruitt
I stand in the window, staring up at the moon as I contemplate my next move. The soft kiss Ryker had given me before he left almost felt like a goodbye kiss, and that worried me. This whole situation worries me. I’m worried about Remington, I’m worried about the safety of the pack, but most of all I’m worried about Ryker. There’s a fairly big chance Ryker won’t be walking away from this fight, and I can’t allow that to happen.
So that’s why I’ve come up with this plan. A good plan? Absolutely not. But it’s the only plan I can think of that will keep everyone I care about safe and Ryker alive. And that’s my main priority right now—keeping the man I’m deeply and madly in love with alive.
I look down at the phone I hold in my hand and tap my fingers on the screen. I know what I need to do, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I know people will be upset, especially Ryker. But I’m willing to have him upset with me if it means he’s breathing. I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly to steady my nerves before I open the phone and go to my contacts.
I click Remi’s name and place the phone to my ear. With every ring, my heart beats faster and faster. My hands are sweating and shaking, and my stomach drops when the phone goes to voicemail.
No, he has to answer!
I end the call and immediately call the number again. I do this four more times before someone on the other picks up the phone.
I can hear the smile in his voice when he answers. “Grey,” he purrs.
“Nicolai,” I reply, my voice void of any emotion. “I want to make a deal.”
“I’m listening.”
I place the blanket over Margot’s sleeping form. She had finally cried herself to sleep on the couch. I can tell by her fast heart rate her sleep in not peaceful, and even in sleep, she’s worried about the safety of her children. I want to tell her they’ll both be okay, that the deal I’ve made makes sure of it. But I can’t tell her what I’ve done; she’ll try to stop me.
And I can’t let anyone stop me, but I am going to need some help to make my plan work, after I hung up the phone with Nicolai, I reached out through the pack link to the two people I believed would be willing to help me and would also be able to keep a secret from Ryker.
Ryker is taking a shower right now, and the house is quiet and still. Part of the deal Ryker made with Nicolai was that he would leave the rest of the pack alone until the challenge. Nicolai swore on his life he wouldn’t take any more pack members, and he was more than happy to take Ryker’s life instead during the challenge. Everyone is still on high alert, but we didn’t feel it was necessary to have everyone stay at the house tonight like we had planned.
Ransom and Ranger are still patrolling around the house with a couple enforcers. They didn’t believe Nicolai when he said he would leave me alone until tomorrow also, they felt the need to guard the house and me all night.
I quietly pad down the hallway and push open the heavy wooden doors that lead to Elias’ office. I close them as softly as I can behind me, so Margot doesn’t hear and wake up. I look at the two men I had called here to meet me and give each a nod.
“Thank you for coming,” I tell them. “We need to make this quick, Ryker is almost done with his shower, and I know he’ll come looking for me.”
“What is this about, Pruitt?” Sawyer asks, his hunter green eyes narrowing at me. “Why can’t Ryker be here?”
“Because he’ll try to stop me, and I can’t let that happen,” I tell them. I walk further into the room and farther away from the door.
“Stop you from doing what?” Sawyer crosses his muscled arms over his broad chest
