Page 75 of Their Mate

Edward folded his arms, his icy eyes flat. “We don’t trust the Watch, and they won’t trustus.You walk in with five wolves at your back, they’ll take you away and bolt the doors. You walk in alone, they keep you. Either way, we lose you.”

“I’m not asking you to hold my hand,” I countered. “I’m telling you what we need to do if we want our world to see the next season.”

Jamie blew out a breath, raising his hands up. “I’m not a fan of the Watch,” he said frankly. “But she’s right.”

“Jamie,” Logan warned.

“What?” he snapped, a rare moment of temper flashing. “You think we drag Magnus and the others up from the river, square our shoulders, and go head-butt that monstrous, thinking lycan with a dozen rifles and good intentions? It isn’t enough.”

Aidan’s gaze cut to him, pained and a little annoyed. “And you think sending her north alone is?”

“Not alone,” Jamie said. “With us. It’s six against the Irish Sea and the Watch, but I like those odds better than us hoping the next trap misfires and kills the Elder Lycan instead.”

Edward’s voice went cold. “Out of the question. Our first move is to rejoin Zara’s pack.”

“Your military textbook doesn’t account forhim,” Jamie shot back.

Logan let them talk until it threatened to turn into something else. Then he moved one step over and took back command. “Enough.”

Silence fell hard. I met his eyes and didn’t look down.

“We find Zara,” he said. “We don’t leave our own in the dark. Once we’re together, we plan our next move.”

“And if together you decide to ignore the only network with the reach and resources to handle this?” I asked.

Hurt flickered in his eyes and was gone in a flash. “You don’t trust us to choose correctly, do you?”

“I don’t trusttime,” I huffed impatiently. The wind lifted my hair, and I didn’t push it back. “Every hour, he’s building his army. Every hour we’re heroic and uncoordinated, someone else dies. You asked what’s wrong? That’s what’s wrong.”

Aidan stepped in closer, not touching me, his voice going soft. “Sera. We will not let the world burn. But we are not letting you go to the Watch alone because you think you’re the only one strong enough to carry this.”

“Iamstrong enough to carry this,” I answered.

Declan’s mouth curved, not quite a smile, but not a frown either. “And we’re telling you we’ll fight you before we watch you go.” He lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Then we’ll carry you back anyway.”

“Charming,” I sneered, bitten.

“Accurate,” he shot back.

Jamie scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m on her side.” He sighed, seeing the wall he couldn’t move. “But I’m not stupid. It’s four to one and I can count.”

Edward’s gaze flicked between us. “We move to higher ground, try the radios, pick up Zara’s trail if it’s there. Then we talk.” He inclined his head to me, not entirely unkind.

Logan held my stare a breath longer, then said, “Stay with us.”

It wasn’t an order, not the way he said it, but it still felt like one anyway. My heart did the worst thing then.

It softened.

“I’m not asking you to trust the Watch,” I said, much quieter now. “I’m asking you to trustme.”

Aidan’s green eyes went warm in a way that hurt my heart. “We already do.”

Declan’s fingers brushed mine. “And we always will.”

Jamie snorted and kicked at a bottle on the street. “I still think going to the Watch is the right call.”

Edward looked past us down the street, jaw set. “Let’s move.”