Page 108 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

CYRUS

Because you can’t protect her and keep your distance at the same time, my wolf growled at me, fighting to take over and go to Audrey.

I mentally tightened my grip on him, willing him to calm down. I have to.

She’s ours.

She can’t be, I growled back at him, startling Audrey who turned wide eyes toward me before jerking her gaze to her feet.

Shit.

“You’re early,” I said, my voice gruff despite my effort to act natural… which clearly didn’t work because she tensed, making me realize that my words, once again, could be a reprimand. “Punctuality isn’t a bad thing,” I added.

“Yes, alpha.”

I cringed at her response. Talking about punctuality could be a reprimand as well or be interpreted that if she was ever late, I’d punished her.

Sisters! How the hell did Bishop talk to women? This was a quagmire just waiting to swallow me whole.

“Cyrus,” Finn called from down the hall, saving me from having to figure out what to say while also frustrating me that I hadn’t fixed the situation. “Have you had a chance to look at the new watch schedule?”

“Yes,” I said, forcing myself to turn away from Audrey so I could lead my watch commander away from her and into the dining room. “I like the extra shifts you’ve added, but I think we need at least two more men at the market. We can’t risk endangering our economy by not having enough protection.”

“I’ll need to recruit more watchmen,” Finn replied, taking his usual seat at the table. “We’re stretched thin already. Unless you can recall ten of them back from Ciliran or Lais.”

I sagged into my seat at the head of the table and sighed. “I wish I could, but we’d need to renegotiate our treaty with them since we can’t replace the watchmen with hunters.”

“If we could just get the beast population back under control,” Finn added.

“It’s not like we’re not trying,” Deacon said as he strode into the room. “We’ve got a dozen hunters in the hospital with serious injuries and are stretched thin as well.”

“We might be able to do something about that,” Lucius added, and I leaped from my seat and drew him into a hug.

“Welcome back.” I squeezed a little tighter and held on a little longer than proper but I didn’t care. I’d been back for two days now and our schedules had kept us too busy to talk before now.

Lucius had been a beta for my parents since I was little and his presence always steadied me. He was the rational, experienced one between me, my brothers, and our betas, and while Thane, our chief of finance, was rational to the extreme, he lacked Lucius’s empathy that allowed him to offer logical and kind options for difficult decisions.

I released him and he took his usual seat as Thane and Velora entered followed by Bishop and a pale Audrey wearing a soft, bland smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“The discussion was good at the Mountain and Sea Alliance emergency meeting. But we weren’t able to finalize anything because it really is something you should weigh in on,” Lucius said. “Speaker Jundar, King Gower, Representative Folmar, and Pimryl will be coming here in three weeks to continue talks, and they’ve reported that they’re in talks with merchants who have new weapons that are effective against any beast, even grimalkins.”

Deacon whistled as Audrey took Knox’s usually empty seat beside me, offering me a too-polite nod of acknowledgment, and Bishop sat beside her.

“I’ll believe there are weapons that strong when I see it,” Deacon said.

“His Majesty King Gower says he’s seen them in action and can attest to their power. We’ll know more when everyone arrives.” Lucius sat back down and turned his attention to Audrey. “I see there’s someone new joining us tonight. I’m Lucius.”

Audrey’s gaze flickered to mine as if asking permission to speak, putting a slightly too-long pause in the conversation before Bishop said, “She’s Audrey.”

“Knox’s mate,” Velora added a little too cheerfully.

She’d been interested in Bishop since we’d been kids and had thought being promoted to beta had assured her a place at his side, but he’d never expressed or shown an interest in her. I couldn’t tell if she was relieved Bishop wasn’t mated to Audrey or concerned they were still sitting too close together just to be polite like the last time we’d all had supper together.

“So the rumors are true,” Lucius said, confirming my suspicions that the pack was talking about Knox and Audrey.

Audrey nodded, her gaze still on Lucius’s right ear and the soft smile that didn’t reach her eyes firmly in place.

Eloise and Kira came out with salads, warm rolls, and bottles of wine, and Audrey quietly thanked them whenever they set something in front of her. But she was so withdrawn, Eloise’s smile quickly turned to a frown and the Residence’s cook shot me a worried look.

I couldn’t have agreed with her more. This wasn’t the Audrey who’d had dinner with us a month ago, and it wasn’t even close to the woman I’d seen in the final few days of our journey.

“I want to know how it happened,” Velora said once Eloise and Kira had left. “We all thought Knox would never mate.”

Again Audrey’s gaze flickered to mine, making me squirm in my seat even if it made sense to look for my permission this time. The question involved more than just her and I doubted she wanted to say anything that might upset me or Knox.

Except whatever she said would be fine. It was her life and her mating and she had the right to tell as much or as little of it as she wanted. Although if she spoke the whole truth, that would bring up a lot of questions that I wasn’t sure she wanted to answer.

“I want to know about that as well,” Thane said, filling his and Velora’s wine glasses then handing the bottle to Deacon. “If we know what got Knox to mate with you, perhaps it could help us get him to open up with the rest of us.”

“Or really just open up with anyone,” Finn added. He’d idolized Knox almost as soon as he could walk and had been angry — perhaps still was — that Knox had shut out everyone except me, Bishop, Nova, and Deacon.

“Well?” Velora pressed, turning her full attention to Audrey. “Did you lure him in with your feminine wiles?”

“No, beta,” Audrey replied, her voice soft and bland like her expression, and her gaze locked on the far wall.

Velora huffed. “It’s got to be something.”

“It’s complicated,” Bishop said, an edge in his tone that I was sure only I heard because we were brothers and I’d known him all his life.

“What does that mean?” Thane asked, a small line forming between his brows, the precursor to a frown. Out of all our betas, he was the most curious and also the most socially oblivious.

Audrey’s eyes flashed to Bishop for a second, the movement so subtle I wasn’t sure if anyone else noticed, and she gave a tight nod as if Bishop had said something to her telepathically. It was rude to have a mental conversation with someone while at the table, but I wasn’t going to call her or Bishop out on it. She needed the reassurance only Bishop could give her… because she needed to stay angry with me.

Except she wasn’t angry. She was afraid of me and everyone else, just like I’d feared.

“It’s complicated because they’re fated,” Bishop said, answering for her. Then he took a bite of his salad as if that statement answered everything, even though we both knew it wouldn’t, not for Thane and not for any of our other betas.

Deacon and Nova didn’t react since they already knew the truth, and thankfully they didn’t correct Bishop about how Knox and Audrey weren’t really fated. Although maybe they were and we were too upset to see the truth. That would explain why her incomplete mating bond had latched on to him and not Bishop.

Thane, however, frowned in full, while Finn and Velora looked shocked.

“You mean fated fated?” Velora stammered. “That’s impossible.”

“I’d have to agree,” Finn added. “True fated mates are a myth.”

“Clearly, they’re not. It’s the only logical explanation for why sweet Audrey here is mated to the grumpiest member of our pack,” Deacon said, rolling his eyes at Thane.

The hint of Deacon’s usual mirth curled his lips but didn’t reach his eyes. He was trying to lighten the situation but was just as worried as I was about how the others were reacting. They were supposed to welcome her warmly, just like they had for her first dinner, or feel compassion for her for being mate bonded to Knox. But instead, they were suspicious and that agitated my already agitated wolf even more.

Thane’s frown deepened. I could practically see the wheels in his head turning as he tried to solve the mystery of why Audrey and Knox were mated. “The most recent mention of fated mates was three hundred years ago.”

“That’s the only one mentioned and we don’t know how accurate it is,” Velora said.

Nova ripped a piece off her roll and gave Velora her driest, least impressed look. “Whil wrote the book you’re talking about. Why don’t we go ask her if she made it up.”

“Doesn’t mean Knox and Audrey are true fated mates,” Velora shot back, unwilling to back down, surprising me. If Knox and Audrey were fated, that would mean there was a greater chance she could have Bishop… unless, of course, she believed the rumors that because Knox and Bishop were twins, they were going to share a mate.

Of course, anyone close to Bishop — which didn’t include Velora — knew it wasn’t just speculation. Bishop had been saying to me and a few select others that he felt he’d share a mate with his twin since he was a teenager.

Nova raised an eyebrow, shooting me a questioning look, and ate her piece of dinner roll.

Yeah, I’d seen it, too. Velora was far too interested in Bishop and therefore Audrey. And because they both lived in the Residence, Velora could make Audrey’s life more difficult without anyone else knowing.

Well, without anyone but Knox knowing. That would inevitably end with Velora pushing Knox too far and the pack demanding Knox be banished because he was too dangerous. And while people would be understanding that Knox was defending his mate, everyone was still afraid he’d snap, turn feral, and start killing people.

If I’d thought when we’d first promoted Velora to beta that her crush on Bishop would have turned into a problem, I’d have picked someone else. It wouldn’t have mattered how organized and efficient she was.

But once again, I’d misread a romantic situation.

“They’re mated now so it doesn’t matter if they’re fated or not,” Thane concluded. Then he turned his attention to Audrey, his eyes bright with curiosity. “I have so many questions for you, like how far away is your old pack? You weren’t comfortable in our loose clothing. Does that mean your environment is colder, or do you feel the cold more than we do?” He turned to Nova. “We should run a study. I’d be interested to know if there are biological differences between us and if so, does that mean her pack didn’t originate from the Original Pack?”

“And then you’ll want to know her exact height and weight and when she had her last heat,” Deacon mocked.

“Oh! Yes! That’s good information, too,” Thane replied, completely oblivious to the fact that Deacon was making fun of him, while Audrey shrank deeper into her chair, embarrassment and worry starting to dampen her bland smile and seep into her eyes.

“We’re not hounding Audrey with questions,” Bishop insisted, his arm moving closer to her, his hand, hidden by the table, likely on her thigh to reassure her and steady her soul.

“No,” Finn said. “Thane has a point. We know nothing about her and she’s mated into the pack’s alpha unit. She could be dangerous.”