Black eyes crinkled at the edges. “Agreed.” He shuffled the papers in front of him.
“This thing that has happened to you,” he observed. “It’s the mating link and not Shayla’s influence, isn’t it?”
I nodded. There was too much shifter in my blood for some of the things I could do to be high-magic related. If I was that way inclined, I would be able to use the high magic instead of being this resistant to it. No, this was the mating link. This was Sophie’s influence protecting me. The territorial link was the same. A gift of our true mating.
“You know there’s no going back now?” Durin said. “One day, when you’re ready, the Reserve will be yours.”
I nodded. “There’s no way I’m going to be chained to a desk again, though.”
Durin sighed. “I didn’t think so.”
By the time I handed everything back over to Durin, evening was closing in on the Reserve. I knew I was stalling when I found myself pacing the perimeter outside Basil’s mansion. Looking at it from the cover of the tree line, I couldn’t help the distasteful growl that ruffled the hair of the small creatures in the underbrush.
The thing was a bloody monstrosity of mish-mashed architecture and decor. Basil had made unholy alternations to it because Lex and Betty wanted things that were not in keeping with the architecture of the place.
Great. Now I was some creep sitting in the bushes debating home design. The lion flashed me a toothy grin. Taking a breath, I made myself move out into the light. There were voices coming from the kitchen. I heard them clearly despite being so far away.
“We would prefer to return to Ravenhall,” Giselle was saying.
“I would prefer you to return to Ravenhall too,” Basil agreed. “But at the moment, there is too much resistance.”
“From what I can gather, it’s safer there.”
“Safe is a relative term.”
Somebody groaned. “I don’t care where we stay,” Matilda said. “As long as I don’t have a mountain pressing down on my head, I’m happy.”
The wards that Basil placed around the mansion scraped at my skin as I shoved past them. There came the sound of static, followed by a fizzle of smoke that wafted from the grass. The back door opened.
Basil stalked out. “You couldn’t just knock like a normal person?” he asked. “I don’t have all day to keep resetting wards because you idiots can’t wait two damn seconds.”
“Patience is not one of my virtues.”
He glared at me. “I’ll say.”
“Max!” Betty’s wide blue eyes reminded me so much of Lex that I froze for a second before I scooped her up in my arms.
“Hey, Nanna.”
She swatted playfully at me. “Come inside. I’ve made dinner.”
The lion poked its tongue out in disgust, but I kept myself from doing the same. Hastings women were many things, but they should be kept well away from the kitchen. We passed by Odette in the alcove that led to the cellar.
“Please tell me you have something as a backup,” I pleaded with her. She grinned and waved a baguette at me. Great. This wasn’t the first time we’d had a competition to see who could fill up on bread the fastest before Betty brought out her dishes.
When we entered the dining room, Nora squealed. “Hi,” I said. She threw her arms around me. Her scent of sunflowers and saffron enveloped me.
“It’s good to be back,” she said when she pulled away. Her eyes stared up at me. “You boys never stop growing, do you?”
“I’ll try,” I told her.
Mani was less enthusiastic about my arrival. He shook my hand sedately and patted me on the back. Nora tried to hide her smile behind her hand. Two seconds after Basil came back in from setting up the ward, Mani grabbed me by the elbow and they marched me into the kitchen.
“Sit,” Mani said. I might be alpha, but in this house, on this topic, he would not back down.
Basil took a seat on my left, Mani the one on my right.
Nora and Betty came in grinning at me with absolutely no sympathy whatsoever. “Right,” Mani said, “before we eat, let’s talk about this mating thing.”
So I guessed the night was just going to be one nightmare after the other. And yet, the lion inside me lay down and rested its head on its paws with contentment.
42
Sophie
The air that hit my nose was too fresh even for the Reserve. When I cracked my eyes open, it was to the sight of celestial architecture and rich, soft bedding. Seraphina. So then I guessed it wasn’t a dream.
Neither were the raised voices just outside the door. “You have to be reasonable, Max,” Megan’s voice said. “What Sophie did was–”
A bitten-out growl stopped her short. “Tell me again what I have to do where my mate is concerned,” he said, “I dare you.”
“She has to be observed!”
“If anyone comes anywhere near us right now, they’re dead.”
I grabbed the covers and tried to shimmy under them, but I found myself having trouble moving. My weak limbs coupled with this tent I was wearing becoming tangled meant I was thoroughly frustrated in a second. The door busted open. I played possum.
Max slammed it shut so hard behind him it made the building quake.
“Give it a rest,” he snarled. “I can feel that you’re awake.” His anger was like a razor. It cut me to the quick far more efficiently than anything else. This was not the reception I had been expecting. The fury I could feel radiating off him made me apprehensive.
He snatched at the blankets near my legs and yanked them off. I shrieked at the sudden cold that stole around my limbs. Glancing down, I realised I was in one of his T-shirts again. The hem had ridden all the way up my thighs.
Through the link I felt him fighting with his own protectiveness. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t dream of being so inconsiderate while I
