Mated in Mist (Talon Pack #3)(12)

They were nothing like the beasts those that shunned her spoke of, nothing like the animals the media tried to portray them as.

“I…I would like the time to rest.”

Gideon nodded as if he’d known all along that would be her answer. “We have a few homes empty. However, we have more wolves coming in from the outside world now that they are no longer safe.”

“And you don’t want to waste space on someone who might not be staying for too long,” she finished for him. Plus, she wasn’t Pack. It would make sense that they wouldn’t want her too far away from their careful watch. That way she couldn’t pry to deeply into their lives as well, since they’d be the ones watching her and not the other way around.

“She can stay with me,” Ryder blurted.

She froze, then looked over at him. His eyes were wide—as were his siblings’. “Huh?”

He cleared his throat. “I have a guest room. She can stay with me. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get lost in the den.”

That reason seemed like a stretch, but she couldn’t formulate the words for why that would be a bad plan. A very bad plan.

Brandon, the Omega, stepped closer to her and studied her face. She pulled back, not knowing what he was doing. Ryder’s hand on her shoulder tightened.

“I think it sounds like a good idea,” Brandon said softly then stepped back.

She swallowed hard and nodded. “I don’t mind. As long as I’m not in the way.”

“You won’t be in the way,” Ryder said.

Brie looked between the two of them before smiling. There was something in that smile that scared Leah to no end. There was hope there. But there was no hope where Leah was concerned. There never had been and there never would be.

“If that’s what you want,” Gideon said finally. “I’d like to know more about you. In fact, since you’re in my den and with my Pack, I’m going to insist on it.” Ryder growled. “But first, you will heal.”

His tone didn’t surprise her, he was an Alpha wolf, after all, but she still didn’t appreciate it. She should be grateful that they were letting her stay while she found her bearings, but she could barely think.

She needed time to process. Time to reflect. Would she be staying here for long? Or would she be running again? She didn’t know, but sitting in a room with a bunch of wolves she didn’t know probably wouldn’t help her make that choice.

Gideon’s phone buzzed in his pocket, the sound echoing in the room, and he pulled it out. He read the screen and cursed before showing it to Brie, who paled.

“Oh, dear goddess,” the Alpha’s mate whispered.

“What is it?” Ryder asked.

Gideon met Leah’s eyes. “It seems they were filming you and Roland when they attacked.”

Leah’s heart raced.

“Only they showed the parts where Roland used his powers to save you and himself. Nothing about their attack on you.” He paused. “The witches have officially been Unveiled.”

And it was her fault.

She’d shown the world that her people exist.

Now it wasn’t only the wolves who had to watch their backs; who didn’t know what the future would bring. The entire witch community would have to watch their every move, as well.

And it was all her fault.

She’d broken the rules, tried to save herself, and now the world would have to deal with the consequences. It wouldn’t only be the witches that would see their lives shattered. As the humans realized that more and more of what they’d thought was myth was all too real, they’d have to face not only their mortality, but also their deepest fears. The dynamics of how each race reacted and lived together would change with each breath.

And she’d unwillingly been part of that.

The Coven that rejected her had once told her mother that Leah and Roland would one day be the downfall of many. She just hadn’t realized they would be right, that it would be something like this.





Chapter Four


Ryder’s wolf pressed into him, needing Leah’s touch more than air. The man, however, knew better than that and refused to give in. Though the pain in Leah’s scent was palpable, he wasn’t about to do what his wolf wanted to do—claim her so they alone could care for her.

They sat in Walker’s living room since his home was attached to the clinic. They hadn’t called for the entire family to watch the footage, as they could easily watch at home, and there would be a meeting later to discuss it anyway. However, Brandon, Gideon, Brie, Walker, Leah and himself remained to watch the world change yet again.

Leah sat next to him, as his wolf wouldn’t let any other arrangement work. He’d tried to keep a respectable distance between them, but then Brandon had sat on the other side of Leah, and Ryder had not so subtlety pressed his leg into hers. The others had noticed, of course, but he’d noticed the way her shoulders had lowered at his touch.

Whatever was happening between them wasn’t one-sided, it seemed.

And that would only make things that much harder when the time came to do what must be done.

“As you can see, witches are real,” the newscaster was saying, bringing Ryder back to the present. “No word from their official leaders but the evidence cannot be ignored. We don’t know much regarding who these two witches are or why they are trying to drown humans—”