Chapter 7

The Calloway grounds were far. I hadn't made it halfway before the rain came down hard.

The Calloway cars had one problem that never seemed to get fixed — in rain, the wheels got stuck in the mud every time. The driver pushed and tried, and the car didn't move.

Cain's car had been a short distance behind mine the whole time. It stopped when we did.

Through the rain and the lightning, someone came out with an umbrella.

"If you don't mind, you can ride with me."

I looked out through the window. Cain was standing there. The rain had already soaked into his hair.

I shook my head. "I'm not in a hurry. I'll wait it out."

Cain had the door shut in his face. He didn't leave.

The rain was wild now. It had gotten through his jacket. He tilted his head slightly, a helpless kind of amusement in his expression.

"Then let me take you home. Please, Ivy. I need this."

I watched him through the rain.

He wasn't hiding anything. His voice had dropped.

"I was jealous today, if I'm being honest."

"I know I'm not in any position to feel that way. I shouldn't have any claim on you. But what you said that day — I let myself believe something I shouldn't have."

The car's roof stuck out just enough to keep a little rain off him if he stood close.

I leaned out and caught his sleeve and pulled him under the overhang.

He stepped forward.

"I wanted to drag him away from you today," he said. "I know that's unreasonable. I know it's out of line. But I couldn't stop myself."

"I think I'm making no sense."

I looked at him. He laughed at himself a little, quietly, leaning there under the edge of the car roof.

"What I actually mean is — I've wanted you for a long time."

Rain had crushed the blossoms from the tree down the road. A few fell on my hair.

I asked him, "And then? What are you going to do about the Mate Selection Gathering?"

He reached out and brushed the petals off my hair. "I can't wait until then. I'm going to request the Bond tomorrow."

"So — will you let me take you home?"

I got in his car.

The rain cleared. Light came through the clouds.

The car rolled to a stop in front of the Calloway grounds.

Before I went in, he asked me once more.

"You really won't regret this?"

I knew what he was worried about.

He was afraid he would die early and leave me alone. Afraid that if I was widowed young, my options would narrow.

But that was too much to think about.

You live the life you have. You love the person in front of you.

I told him, "No. I won't regret it."

We smiled at each other.

I was about to walk inside when Dorian stepped out from the side path.

"Not regret what?" he asked.

I had heard that Dorian had been leaving the Manor grounds a lot recently and passing near the Calloway area.

I'd thought it was just talk.

I greeted him as expected.

"Our Mate Bond," I said. "Cain and mine. I won't regret it."

Dorian went rigid.

A moment later, he confirmed it.

"You said — you're going to Bond with my brother?"

"Yes."

He pressed his mouth together. Something went dark in his eyes. "Why?"

I smiled. "Because we want the same things."

He opened his mouth, then stopped. After a long pause, his voice came out rough and halting.

"What if I told you that I also — "

My father and brother came out of the Pack House behind us and greeted both of them.

Dorian's words never finished.

In front of Pack members, he was always the Alpha Heir — composed, unreadable. He gave a brief nod and left without coming inside.

Cain finished his tea and excused himself as well.

He said he couldn't wait until tomorrow. He was going to the Alpha King tonight before anything could change.

That evening, Eleanor summoned me.

The sitting room was dim. She was at the head of the table.

She said a She-Wolf from a strong Pack should think about what was good for her bloodline.

"If you want influence, choose Dorian."

I knelt. "I don't want influence. My father and brother have only ever asked that I be happy."

"Then choose for love. Dorian is the one you've always wanted."

I watched her face.

There was a silhouette behind the inner curtain. Straight posture. Still.

"I did want him once," I said. "I don't anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because he was never interested in me. There's no reason to force something that isn't there."

Eleanor asked, "What if he is interested now?"

I had seen what it looked like when Dorian cared about someone.

It was all-consuming. Unmanageable. Bright and overwhelming.

Whatever feeling he had for me — past or present — was too quiet and too controlled to be that.

Right now it was nothing more than wanting what he couldn't have.

"I only want to Bond with Cain."

Eleanor sighed quietly.

The incense on the shelf had burned to a thin curl of smoke. Her sigh fell into the room like something she'd been carrying for a while.

She said, "Dorian. Your mother has done everything she could."

"Her mind is made up. There's nothing left to be done."

Someone stepped out from behind the curtain.

Dorian. His jaw was set. His face unreadable.