Page 2 of The Brave (Black Arrowhead #6)

T hough our group had dwindled to four, I had a delightful lunch with Melody, Robyn, and Cecilia at Dragonfly Bar it gives them someone to talk to when they have no one else. Hopefully it wasn’t anything serious. Maybe they were just curious.” When we got out of the car, she looked at the light shining from beneath the gym door. “Archer’s in there, so… I’ll catch up with you later.”

On my walk to the house, I witnessed Catcher skidding around the corner to assess the situation.

“It’s just me,” I informed him. “Little ol’ me.”

As I ascended the steps, Catcher walked alongside me, so I let him inside. Music blared from the game room to the right, and beyond the archway, Virgil danced and belted out the lyrics, his voice reverberating off the walls.

I set my purse down on the couch. Salem must have heard the door, because he emerged from the hallway and met me by the sectional.

“How’s Hope?” I asked quietly.

“She’s in the stable, brushing Luna.”

“You and I need to talk. Privately.”

“If you don’t mind, Cecilia got another order of books and I was going to dig through them for anything I might need before she hauls them to the bookstore.”

I grabbed his hand. “That can wait.”

Catcher followed us to the art room. Once inside, I corralled him out and closed the door.

Salem paced over to Hope’s work desk and admired a few necklaces that were hanging from small hooks.

Veering away from the door, I walked to the left corner of the room by the front window and sat on the pink sofa. Salem took that as a visual cue to join me.

He stretched his arm over the back of the sofa and faced me. “What’s so urgent?”

“Catcher’s been following me everywhere. He sat by my chair at the table last night. People are starting to notice his odd behavior.”

“Odd indeed,” he said facetiously.

“I’m not comfortable around the wolves.”

“Surely you realize they won’t harm you.”

“That’s not the issue, and you know it.” I moved a small pillow behind me. “I can’t keep this secret much longer.”

“This was entirely your doing.”

I felt a sting of annoyance at the accusation. “How does that help me now? Do you think any of this is easy for me? I can’t afford to leave this pack. Not now.”

Salem stroked his short beard. “Maybe you’re overreacting. Tak seems like a reasonable man.”

“We’ve been lying to him since day one. Any reasonable Packmaster would find that disrespectful. And before you point the finger at me, it was the only way.”

He scratched his cheek and sighed. “Do you want to leave?”

The very idea broke my heart. I loved it here. Living with this pack was the first time I’d experienced the comfort of home and family, even if the tradeoff was lying next to Salem every night.

Our relationship was forged from a lie. He never wanted to join a pack—that was my idea. Salem initially thought Tak was part of a large tribe that was opening spots for outsiders and it would be easy for me to join since they might be looking for mates. I told Robyn we were married when I thought she was a human, but the lie spiraled after we arrived at the house and realized the best way to guarantee myself a spot was to pose as a couple.

So… we faked a relationship.

The night Tak offered him a spot, Salem’s hesitation had sent me into a panic. I was thankful for Salem’s sacrifice and sticking with me through everything, but my feelings for him were platonic. Now I was trapped in a lie that was slowly unraveling before my eyes. And boy, was it unraveling.

“I don’t want to leave,” I said glumly. “We should tell them the truth soon, but I need your support.”

He cursed under his breath. “Maybe you should tell Tak first.”

“Maybe you should tell him first. Why is this all on me?”

“Because joining this pack was your idea. I thought this was supposed to be a tribe and I could bow out after a few months. Remember what I said when we first got here and I realized he didn’t have a core pack? I warned you that we should leave. It’s too unstable—too small.”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t love it here. Or do you miss your old job that much?”

He winced as if I’d slapped him. Salem rose to his feet, his voice calm and professional. “You should go lie down and take a nap before dinner. Don’t get yourself worked up.” His eyes darted down. “It’s not good for the baby.”