“We should hear him out first. Maybe he hasn’t got bad intentions. We won’t know until we speak with him. You go in there looking for a fight. We could start a war we can’t afford right now.”
“I am not trying to start a war. I just want my dad back.”
“He is right, Kat. Andrei has more alliances than our pack. We go to war with them, we will lose. Andrei has numbers we don’t have, and the other packs will back him if it means taking our pack down,” Mateo admits with a defeated sigh.
“Why would they get involved when they are scared of your pack?”
“Because you don’t get my pack’s reputation without making a lot of enemies, Kat.” Half of the packs that run around here were built out of those that survived my pack when we ran through them. They keep their heads down not to draw attention, but I am not stupid. If they see Andrei step up, they will follow him. Andrei’s pack is just as strong as ours. We are evenly matched. If he declares war, they will follow him.”
“So you want me to do what he asks?”
“He said he just wants to chat. We will find out what his intentions are. He wants to keep the alliances going, and we need the alliances to stay in place.”
“And what if he wants me to be his healer or whatever? Then what, my father dies?”
“Andrei knows I would never give you to him. He knows I would go to war over you in a heartbeat. He won’t be that stupid. No, he wants something else, we need to figure out what it is,” Ezra explains.
“We won’t ever hand you over, Kat. That is never an option,” Mateo adds with a possessive growl.
“I couldn’t care less about being handed over. I care about my father being killed because of me.”
Ezra snarls, grabbing my arm.”If it becomes a choice between you and your father, I’m sorry, but I will lay your father’s life down in a heartbeat. I won’t lose you,” Ezra confesses.
I grit my teeth. No one else is dying for me. Shaking off his hand on my arm, I take a step away from him. “Enough people have died for this curse. I won’t lose my father to it too, Ezra.”
Ezra growls menacingly, and Mateo takes a hesitant step forward when Ezra grabs my face in his hands. “That’s not a choice you will get to make. Your father wouldn’t want you to die for him, and I won’t allow you to give your life for him. We will try to get your father back, but if not, when it comes time to choose, you will walk away because if you don’t, I will kill your father myself,” Ezra threatens, letting me go before storming past me and heading inside.
Mateo reaches for me as Ezra slams the front door. “Just hear Andrei out. He isn’t all bad, Kat. We have known him for years,” Mateo tries to reassure me, but I have my doubts. Mateo kisses my temple, letting me go.
“He took my father and killed my mother, Mateo.”
“And with your family’s secrets, he might just have a reason to, Kat. He knew what you were when he saw you. It is too much of a coincidence. He knows something, Ezra is right, and for once, you need to listen to him, don’t do anything where you force Ezra’s hand because if he says he is going to do something, he will, even if it means killing your father,” Mateo all too painfully reminds me.
Mateo heads toward the door, and I call after him. “You can’t expect me to simply walk away if Andrei threatens to kill my father, Mateo.”
Mateo stops and presses his lips in a line. “Yes, I can because if our roles were reversed, and it came down to Ezra or me, who would you choose, Kat?”
“Both of you, you know this,” I argue.
Mateo throws his hands in the air before pointing an accusing finger at me. “So why would you expect our answer to be any different?” he adds, turning on his heel and also stalking toward the door. “Kat! Now!” Mateo barks when I don’t follow. He stops just inside before turning back to look at me. “Inside, don’t make me get Ezra to drag you in. We will go to see Andrei tomorrow, upstairs now. The last thing we need is to be chasing you down because you have run off to try to save your father,” Mateo scolds.
“I’m not suicidal. I know how stupid that would be,” I scoff.
Mateo pushes the door open and motions for me to get inside. “Good, means you have no issue coming inside then, in where we can see you,” he orders, and I raise an eyebrow at him.
“You know I can command you, right?” I remind him, rolling my eyes at him, trying to order me around, bossy wolf.
Mateo growls, his eyes flashing to that of Ares for a second. “Ezra!” Mateo calls out while keeping a close eye on me. “That may be so, but I would love to watch you try it on, Maddox,” Mateo taunts, pushing the door open wider.
Footsteps tromp down the stairs inside and I sigh. I am no match for Maddox.
“What’s it going to be?” Mateo demands, looking in through the door.
I huff, annoyed, but step past him just in time for Ezra to walk into the kitchen. “I’m coming, geez,” I tell him, and I hear Mateo chuckle behind me as he follows after me.
“What’s going on?” Ezra asks Mateo when I shove past him.
“Nothing, Kat is just on a power trip,” Mateo says loudly as I stomp up the steps, heading for our room.
Rushing into the room, I pull my pajamas from the drawer and quickly slip them on. Mateo and Ezra both shower while I climb into bed. I am much too angry to shower with them or be near them. My mind is plagued with what Andrei wants with me. Ezra is right. Now that I have time to think, Andrei would know they won’t give me to him, but that makes me more curious about what he wants with me and the scrolls.
Climbing out of bed, I am about to go downstairs and grab the journal when Ezra’s voice rings out from the bathroom. “I can hear you moving around. Get back on the bed,” he orders from the bathroom.
“I wasn’t doing anything. I wanted to get the journal,” I explain before hearing the water cut off and the door open. Ezra walks out before striding into the closet with his towel draped dangerously low on his hips. Mateo stalks out with him, his eyes sparkling deviously as his eyes roam over Ezra as he walks back out of the closet with some loose-fitting shorts on.
“It’s late. The journals can wait. We have to be up early to meet Andrei. Lay back down. It is time for bed,” Ezra orders before turning to Mateo. “Bed, Mateo,” Ezra orders him too.
“I am going to bed,” Mateo objects.
“To sleep, we have to be up early, so that means pants stay on,” Ezra warns him, pulling the blankets back and climbing in beside me.
“Wearing pants won’t stop me,” Mateo grins.
“Mateo!” Ezra growls at him, and Mateo smiles, about to climb into bed beside me. “My side away from Kat,” Ezra orders, pushing me over before spooning me.
“Does that mean I get to be the big spoon?” Mateo asks. Ezra sighs, and the bed dips on his side. “Always wanted to get up behind you. You have a nice ass,” Mateo teases.
Mateo drapes his arm across both of us, and Ezra growls. “Mateo!”
“Hey, don’t mock it till you try it,” Mateo teases, and Ezra bumps into me.
“Mateo, I will make you sleep on the floor,” Ezra warns him, making me giggle.
“Well, if you feel anything dig into your back while we are asleep, I won’t lie and tell you it’s the remote,” Mateo offers with a throaty purr.
“Sleep, Mateo.”
“Fine,” Mateo mutters, and I feel him moving, and he must have rolled over because his arm is gone, and Ezra speaks a few moments later.
“I didn’t say stop hugging me,” Ezra grumbles before Mateo moves again, slinging his arm across both of us again.
I yawn, snuggling against Ezra before drifting off, hoping I can sleep without the dreams plaguing me. Hoping tomorrow I will get my father back.