Page 23 of The Healer (The Blood of Legends #2)

Chapter Twenty-Three

UNWELCOME

“W ell?”

Rhys raised his gaze to Mona peeking from the dining room. Harriet’s eager face came into view.

“She’s giving me a chance.” He beamed. Leaping to his feet, he swept both ladies into a hug. They squealed and laughed, their cheeks pinkening.

“Hands off my woman.” Amos grinned before popping a forkful of cake into his mouth.

“Coffee?” Harriet offered while patting her hair into place.

“Please.” Rhys chose the nearest dining chair.

“Now what?” Mona gripped the back of the chair next to him.

“I head home. I have a pack to lead.” He spooned sugar into the coffee Harriet slid before him. “I’ll phone Ilona tomorrow night at eight.”

“I’ll call her every morning then.”

He chuckled. “We’re using strategy? Duel attacks?”

Mona shrugged. “I’d love nothing more than for her to move closer, Rhys.”

He nodded, wanting the same thing. So far, he had made it through the door. His chest swelled with welcome warmth, and his bear rumbled his approval. If he played his cards right, she would move into a cabin on Knights Ridge land, would work in his labs, and would warm his bed.

Fuck, he hoped she would mate him.

His heart danced, spiking a fiery excitement through his veins. Peace descended on his soul. He hadn’t thought of Callie as more than a friend since meeting Lona. Chills slid down the back of his neck, and his eyes widened. His need to break the connection to her had been lip service, but with Ilona, the hope pulsing deep within him was boundless.

“I hope you touch her heart, Rhys.” Mona’s unexpected serious tone snagged everyone’s attention. “She thinks her inability to save—” She pinched her lips, and Amos lowered his cake fork long enough to throw an arm across her frail shoulders. Patting him, she met Rhys’s gaze. “Being a doctor didn’t save my Elise, so why trust herself with children? Why risk their lives?”

His breath caught. What Mona hinted at was a deeper layer to Ilona he hadn’t seen yet. No, it was incongruent to the core of steel running through her. The revelation circled, and settled, rose, and churned until he placed himself in her shoes. After spending years studying to save lives, only to fail those dearest to her? It explained her sadness and withdrawal into herself when she thought no one watched her.

Her strength was her shield and mask.

“So, I assume you’re leaving?” Dane leaned against the doorframe. “Come in, piss off our doctor, then fuck off?”

Rhys grimaced. “Something like that. I have a pack to manage and need to plan how to fix this.”

“You’re not staying for the Lunar Festival?” Harriet squeaked.

His body twinged in dismay. His aroused state wasn’t due to the waxing of the moon but because of a certain sassy redhead with hazel eyes and a mix of innocence and fire. He hadn’t wanted to be in Inner City during the full moon, but now, he had no choice. If something should befall Lona, he needed to be close to the airport. The urge to fly to Fenneg gripped him, with his bear roaring at him to leave now.

He had made too many assumptions, had barreled over her feelings, as if she would fall in line with his. She hadn’t as a non-shifter.

“Come, walk with me.” Mona looped a scarf around her neck, then reached for her coat. She settled her hazel eyes on Amos. He nodded and didn’t follow.

Rhys donned his jacket and hurried to open the door for her. Silence reigned while they strolled on the salted sidewalk. The crisp air slapped his cheeks but didn’t reach his bear. He raised his face to the blue sky and sucked in long breaths.

“I forgot how beautiful it is up here.” She rubbed her hands together before shoving them in her coat pockets. “Do you love my granddaughter?”

Air rushed out of his lungs like she had sucker-punched him. “I’m attracted to her.”

“That’s it? No fire and damnation if you can’t mate her?”

He smirked. “There is that, but she doesn’t believe I care, doesn’t understand how shifters love. I’m trying to remember to think like her.”

Mona pursed her lips. “Give her time. She’s a smart woman who spends too much time mired in her thoughts.” She dipped her chin inside her scarf. “I’m trusting you to have her best interests at heart. If you can promise me that, I’ll back you up and give you more freedom.”

“I can’t let her go, Mona, not ever. She’s…” His salvation. How to put that level of desperation into words?

She studied him. “So, if you could keep her forever…?”

“I would, in a heartbeat.” His chest expanded, cutting off his air. Fuck, he would board a plane now. “What you said earlier confirmed I should grant her a little space. I’ll still be there for her, whenever she needs me, even if she doesn’t realize it.”

Mona smiled. “I’ve forgotten how passionate and committed shifters can be. We humans tend to hesitate when it comes to matters of the heart.” Looping her arm through Rhys’s, she nudged him to Harriet’s. “I will do what I can when I call her in the mornings. Nothing too obvious, mind you.”

He chuckled. “She’ll be pissed if she found out we united against her.”

“I’d say not to tell her, but honesty is better.”

He agreed, not wanting silly misunderstandings and secrets to keep him away from Lona. Spilling his heart on what he had thought Callie meant to him would help. Sure, he’d told Lona, but reiterating it wouldn’t hurt.

Amos waited for them on the porch. He opened his arms, and Mona slipped into his embrace, snuggling against his chest. Rhys sighed, admiring how they acted as if they had never been apart. He strode past them and bounded up the stairs to pack. Noah and Jase would be pissed he returned early, but once he explained…

He grimaced.

“Are you going to fix this?” Aiden’s voice at his open bedroom door paused Rhys’s packing.

He glanced at his brother—whose hair had that disheveled power-socket style—and nodded before zipping his duffel. “I have to.”

“Good. I’ve never seen you act like this, Rhys. Not you. Not my older brother.”

Rhys frowned. Everyone criticized him as if they had the right.

“You’ve behaved like a horny teenager, not thinking things through, charging in, making demands. Ilona’s human, can’t sense your alpha vibes, doesn’t care about pack hierarchy, or suffer under the primal urge to submit to a beast more powerful.”

Powerful? Around her, he was the weakling, but he didn’t correct Aiden. If Rhys had a chance to do things over, what would he change? Not mentioning Callie would have led to hurt feelings later on, but by then, Ilona may have loved him.

His breath whooshed out in a low rumble.

Love wasn’t something he thought much of, had assumed it was automatic when he found his mate. Not once had the idea risen that she might not be a shifter.

And he wanted her love, for if she did choose to love him, it was freely given, not compelled by the shifter dynamics or magic or whatever folks wanted to name the mating call.

“Come home, visit the old pack, see Will.” Rhys met Aiden’s gaze, hoping not to reveal how much he would appreciate Aiden keeping Willow company during the Knight Ridge’s Lunar Festival.

Each pack held their own celebration with permission to pass between territories. Humans would call it an orgy, but shifters didn’t like sharing. And though there would be multiple bed partners over the three days, there was never a threesome.

Aiden’s shoulders stiffened, and he shuffled from foot to foot. “Will?”

“Yes. You remember her,” Rhys teased, slinging his duffel over a shoulder. “Gorgeous, blonde hair, wild, sweet, with just a hint of innocence remaining.”

Aiden glowered. “What do you mean? Who would dare—?”

“Enough, cub. She’s all woman now, and besides, you know how mating season affects our women the hardest.” Fuck. Had Lona been a shifter, she would have submitted to the sexual attraction between them. But he didn’t like the thought of multiple men having slept with her. Silly, though, since shifters were a sexual species basing decisions on attraction and instinct. A shifter mate would have had many lovers as was their culture.

Aiden folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the doorframe didn’t diminish the anger in his eyes. “Fine. I guess I could take time off.”

“Great. I’ll settle with Harriet and meet you at Tuesdays.” Rhys waited for Aiden to stand aside, then bolted down the stairs.

The company on the return trip would prevent him from wallowing in his thoughts, in replaying his and Lona’s past interactions, and from rehearsing future conversations.

After a quick argument he won, he paid for the booking. He swapped numbers with Mona then waited in the parking lot outside Tuesdays. Part of him was eager to head home, another dreaded the trip. He didn’t want to discuss his last discussion with Will despite mentioning she’d hit on him. At some point, Aiden had to realize he had feelings for the woman.

While Rhys waited with the engine running, he texted Noah that he was on his way back. He shouldn’t have when his phone rang seconds later.

“It’s a long story, with no happy ending yet.” He didn’t bother with a hello.

“Fuck that, Rhys. It’s been ages since you had a vacation.”

Wincing, Rhys held his phone away from his ear. “I found my mate, Noah.”

Silence met his revelation. “Oh, well, this is good. Wait. No, this doesn’t make sense. Stay, rest, spend the next week in bed, but you’re not coming home.”

“He said no happy ending, idiot,” proving Jase listened in.

“Shit, well…” Noah sucked in a sharp breath. “Why not?”

Aiden bounding across to the car, opening the back door, and tossing in his bag ended anything Rhys may have wanted to reveal. “Long story, like I said. I’ll share when I get back. Oh, and Aiden’s visiting for a few days.”

“Great. I’ll have Will make up a room for him.”

Noah hung up, and Rhys slid his phone into its bracket, just as Aiden hauled himself into the passenger seat. “Who’s manning the bar?”

“Human students eager to enjoy the festivities.” Aiden beamed as he clipped the seatbelt. “Frees me to partake, as well. Dane said he’ll send a ride in about four days.”

Rhys nodded as he drove off. He stiffened his shoulders against the thought leaving Coedwig left Ilona behind. She wasn’t there, he knew this, but it was where they met, where he spent a glorious few days with her. Even sick, she had been adorable and sexy as hell.

Silence consumed the car after it had taken Aiden a while to settle. “Want to brainstorm?”

Rhys jerked back at the question. The thought of doing so was more cold-blooded than the chat he had with Mona. “No.”

Aiden huffed. “I could have—”

Snorting, Rhys tossed a smile. “Enough, cub. Lona will be my mate, have no fear.”

“Fine, then tell me, what do you plan to do?”

Rhys gritted his teeth, wanting to snap at Aiden. “None of your business.”

“But—”

He growled, throwing out his alpha vibes. “One more word and I’ll drop you off. You can run back to Coedwig.”

Aiden folded his arms across his chest and stared out the window.

Rhys chuckled. Oh, his brother still had a little child in him. “Are you sulking?”

“No, just have nothing else to say.”

Rhys wouldn’t again mention Will throwing herself at him. Some things were best not discussed. And if he probed Aiden’s feelings for Will, Rhys would be expected to reciprocate. That wouldn’t do.

Heart to hearts weren’t for shifter males, and he wasn’t about to start. “Will should have a room ready for you.”

Aiden arched his brow at him. “She knows I’m coming?” His arms tightened when his hands flexed into fists.

“I didn’t know you wanted to surprise her.”

Aiden shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

“You’re right. She’ll spoil you rotten. Breakfast in bed, waiting on you hand and foot.” Rhys grinned. “Or were you hoping for—?”

“You’ve made your point. Ilona and Will are off-limits.” Aiden flicked on the radio, and the mournful notes of a trumpet filled the cab.

At last. Rhys grinned, content to endure a few hours of sultry blues.