Mated in Mist (8 page)

It was funny, really. Wolves were the ones portrayed as barbaric while witches were either seen as crones or naked women dancing peacefully under the moonlight. And yet, it was
her
people who killed and tortured for their place in the Coven. Wolves let their goddess decide and used their claws and teeth to define their true place, but never to take over a Pack.

She nodded and shook their hands, trying not to let her magic pour out of her and wrap around the couple who seemed to not quite be a true couple. Sometimes she hated her powers and her lack of control.

“Hello,” she finally said, aware that her thoughts kept pulling her out of the present.

“I’m so sorry about your brother,” Charlotte said softly. “I know you don’t know me, but if you need to talk, I’m a good listener.”

Leah studied the other woman and felt a connection she couldn’t understand. It was as if her inner powers
knew
Charlotte had been through her own form of torture and pain. Indeed, it seemed this woman
would
understand her.

“Thank you.”

Bram gave her a solemn nod and followed Charlotte as she turned away, leaving Ryder and Leah alone.

“What is their story?” she asked. She hadn’t meant to say anything, as it wasn’t her business, but, apparently, she couldn’t help it.

“I don’t know,” Ryder said. “I tend to keep out of matings.”

“They’re mates?” she asked as she turned to him. He hadn’t shaved so his beard was just a bit longer than it had been a couple of days ago. She wanted to run her hands over it, but she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

“I don’t know. They don’t have the bond, but there’s something between them anyway.” He shrugged. “They’re Redwoods, not Talons, so my wolf can’t tell much for sure. I can only assume from body language alone at this point.”

“I see.” She looked over her shoulder at her brother’s grave and frowned. “I think it’s time to go. If I stay here, I won’t leave at all.”

Ryder took her hand and led her away. She let out a sigh, but followed him, knowing she was leaving her past behind with each step and stepping into a future she couldn’t quite understand.

When they made it back to Ryder’s, she went back to her room and stripped off her clothes. She didn’t want to wear the black anymore. She’d have burned them or thrown them away, but they were borrowed from the Pack. Instead, she changed into a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved tunic. Ryder had been silent on the walk back, but she knew it wasn’t her. He never spoke unless it was important, and she kind of liked that. The silence wasn’t awkward, but comforting.

She met her gaze in the mirror and knew it was time to tell him everything. She was a guest within the Talon walls and couldn’t hide from the world. Her problems would find her…and soon.

When she made her way out to the living room. Ryder was on the couch, looking at his tablet. She knew all the Talons had jobs of their own, or at least they used to before the Unveiling. She wasn’t sure what Ryder’s was or if he still had it. But asking him now would only delay what she needed to say. If they let her remain within the wards, she’d ask him, though. He might not want her as his mate, but she still felt a strong enough connection that she wanted to know who he was.

“Ryder?”

He looked up from his tablet, his blue eyes intense. He must have heard her shuffle in, but he’d let her breathe first. “What is it, Leah?”

“I want to tell you why I was running.”

He nodded but didn’t stand up, didn’t gesture for her to sit next to him. He was letting her make the choice. Goddess, she could fall for him. But she wouldn’t. She had to protect the one thing she had left—her heart.

“Okay.”

“I used to belong to the Coven. The one you are meeting soon.”

His eyebrows rose, but he didn’t say anything.

“Well, I suppose you could say I belonged until I was born. My mother, you see, was shunned when she became pregnant with Roland and me.”

Ryder’s nostrils flared, but again, he didn’t say anything.

“She had been having an affair with a witch who was already married. Of course, she hadn’t known that until it was too late. Witches do not live in dens, nor do they know all of each other as well as wolves seem to. She didn’t know this witch was on his way to becoming the leader of the Coven by using any means necessary. She didn’t know his wife was just as brutal with the ice in her veins as her husband was with his ability to drown others with just a thought. When my mother became pregnant, she was shunned, as I said. But that wasn’t all. The man who is my father by biology and nothing more did not have children with his wife. She couldn’t, you see. But that didn’t mean he wanted bastards running around with his blood in their veins. He was always afraid of what powers we could have. He is powerful. Oh so powerful. And he was afraid any child from his loins would be so formidable they’d overthrow him.” She paused. Took a breath. “I don’t know what decree he made exactly, but the result was my mother’s death. The humans may have killed my brother, but I wouldn’t put it past my father to have been the one to lead the way. I’ve been running all my life, Ryder. I’m tired. And yet, the world now knows witches are real and the Coven will want my head for more than one reason. I will have to face the Coven, Ryder. I will have to face my fate.”

Ryder stood up then. He took the four steps that separated them and stood right in front of her. When he cupped her face, she stopped breathing, rendered unable to think by his touch.

“They will not have you, Leah. One day I will tell you the story of the Alpha and Heir of the Pack before Gideon and me. I will tell you how they did the same thing to another woman as the Coven did to your mother. I was too young, too weak to protect that woman and her child, but I know them now. Know they are safe as Redwoods where they weren’t as Talons. We will not allow you…
I
will not allow you to be given up to the Coven like a sacrifice. We will work it out. I am meeting with the Coven in two days, and you will come with me. We will face this head-on.”

She sucked in a breath, her lungs burning. “Ryder…”

“They will not have you. Your father, if you can call him that, was the one in the wrong. He had no right to call upon your death, no matter what Coven decree he made. I don’t care what they think. As for what happened on camera? I was part of the Unveiling. I was one of the wolves who were shown to the world. And yet, I live. I will not allow you to be punished for others’ actions.”

“You can’t tell the Coven what to do, Ryder. It’s not that easy.”

“Then we’ll make it that easy.” His thumb brushed her cheek, sending shivers down her spine. “You deserve more than a life on the run, more than a Coven to punish you.” His voice lowered. “You deserve more than me.”

With that, he brushed his lips over hers, once, twice, in the gentlest of kisses. She closed her eyes, relishing the slight pressure of his lips to hers.

It was over before it had begun, but she knew that kiss had meant something.

Only it didn’t mean everything.

Because despite the fact that he’d kissed her; despite the fact that he’d promised he would protect her; she would have to protect herself. She wasn’t good enough for him, wasn’t his mate in truth.

She was just a witch with no home.

Forever alone.

****

Ryder closed his eyes and told himself he was ready for what was to come. It was only a meeting between two Packs and a Coven of witches that would set the tone for their relationship during a time of war and uncertainty.

Add in the fact that his wolf craved the woman at his side and that the woman came from a dark past of betrayal and abandonment tied to that exact Coven, and Ryder knew there were more questions than answers.

No pressure at all.

“I’m not trying to read your emotions, but you’re screaming them at me,” Brandon said from his side.

Ryder had heard his brother come to his side, of course, but he hadn’t said anything. There wasn’t much to say with everything going on in his mind. He didn’t particularly like Brandon’s powers as Omega. He wanted his emotions to remain his own, but he knew Brandon couldn’t control it.

“Unless I’m about to break down and tear off the Coven leader’s head, just ignore them.”

Brandon let out a sigh. “I can’t ignore it,” he said softly, almost a whisper. “I never can. Speaking of Coven leaders, are you going to be able to handle Leah at your side while you meet her father?”

Leah had told his family about her connections to the Coven the day before so there wouldn’t be any surprises. His siblings had taken it surprisingly well. Leah would be joining them for the meeting, not as a representative for the Talons, but as a guest who needed to be present because of what had brought her to their den in the first place.

Ryder
hadn’t
said Leah was his mate or that he’d rejected the mating urge and bond.

He should have known he wouldn’t be able to hide it from Brandon.

“I won’t hurt the Pack,” he growled out.

“Never thought you would. I’m more worried about you hurting yourself.”

Ryder turned to his brother. “Leave it, Brandon.”

Brandon just met his gaze, not quite a challenge, but close enough. Ryder was Heir, slightly higher in rank than the Omega. Their dominance couldn’t be changed, but they could piss off their wolves.

“What’s going on?” Leah asked as she came up to them. She’d gone to a nearby stream as soon as they’d made it to the meeting location so she could wash her hands. She’d been nervous and had needed the water for her magic. Ryder had been able to hear her the entire time, and would have run to her side in a moment if there were trouble. And since they were on neutral ground and not within wards, trouble could come at any moment.

Because they were in the middle of a forest, they had some cover in case there was an issue, at least. With the humans always on the hunt, and hate groups hidden around the area, Ryder wasn’t going to take chances. As soon as the Redwood Heir and Omega arrived, they’d make their way into the meeting area and get started. He didn’t like being out in the open as they were.

“Ryder?”

He shook his head at Leah’s words. “Nothing’s going on. We’re just having a brother issue.”

She studied his face then licked her lips. He wanted to do the same but held himself back.

The sound of two people coming through the trees, purposely stepping hard as to announce their presence, hit his ears and he turned on his heel, grabbing Leah’s wrist and tugging her close at the same time.

She didn’t pull away, but he
did
feel water sliding up his fingers. It seemed his little witch was more powerful than he thought.

No, not
his
witch.

He needed to remember that.

As soon as he inhaled and scented Finn and Drake, the Heir and Omega of the Redwood Pack, he relaxed marginally. He couldn’t relax fully, as he had Leah at his side and his wolf craved her more than air, but at least he didn’t feel as if he were in more danger than usual.

“You ready?” Finn asked, his wolf in his eyes. His new brother-in-law was one damn strong wolf and had recently increased his strength after almost dying for his bond with Brynn. It was good to have him on their side rather than the enemy’s.

Everyone nodded before taking deep breaths and starting their way to the official meeting place. Instead of meeting on anyone’s land, they were going to meet in an older building that was not claimed by either wolf or witch.

As soon as they entered the building, Ryder’s senses went on alert. There hadn’t been a sentry on duty, but there had been magic. He’d felt it on his skin, and Leah had let out a slight gasp. His wolf pushed against him, but she didn’t scent of pain, only surprise, so he didn’t mention it. He couldn’t let others know there might be a weakness.

“You’ve made it, wolf,” a deep voice with a slightly nasal tone said.

Leah’s hand brushed his arm discreetly, and he wanted to pull her behind him to shield her. Only to do so would undermine her own strength.

Ryder raised his chin and met the gaze of an older man with dark hair, sprinkled with white and grey. His pointed nose and chin made him look aristocratic, but he had Leah’s blue eyes.

This was the Coven leader.

Leah’s father.

The man who’d abandoned her, shunned her, and called for her death.

Ryder’s wolf growled, pushed, and scraped. Yet on the outside, he looked cool, calm, and collected. That was one of his strengths. It had kept him alive through the worst.

While his gaze was on the man in front of him, his senses were on the others around him. Six witches sat around the leader, men and woman in dark robes with frowns on their faces.

But they weren’t alone.

Dozens of spirits lined the walls. He’d never seen so many at once. His skin grew cold and his lungs seized. He couldn’t allow the others to see his reaction, couldn’t let them know what he saw. The spirits looked at him, frowns on their faces, as well. Some screamed. Others called his name, called for his death, for his life. They didn’t move forward, and he wasn’t sure if they could.

It seemed to him that these spirits were of the Coven, ancestors of the seven breathing witches that stood in front of him.

Interesting.

And scary as hell.

He’d been born with the power to hear and see the dead, been born with another, darker power, as well. And yet he didn’t know what to do with it.

However, this wasn’t the time. He met the leader’s eyes and set his jaw. The other man finally lowered his gaze, and Ryder’s wolf was satisfied. He might not be the Alpha, but he was damn strong, and this fucking peon in front of him couldn’t match his strength. He wouldn’t ignore the magic within, but he knew Leah was stronger than her father, as well. Knew deep in his bones.

He just didn’t think she knew that.

But from the look of pure hatred in the other man’s eyes, her father knew it.

“I am Ryder, Heir of the Talon Pack.” His voice was strong, not a hint of anger, just pure wolf.