War of Hearts(101)

It was like she’d been walking around with metal armor covering her whole body for years and within the space of fifteen minutes, she’d shed plate after plate, until there was hardly anything shielding her. And her skin felt sensitive.

Raw.

All Thea wanted was to hide somewhere and instead she was stuck waiting in the Coach House while Conall talked with Peter Canid.

Thea liked Peter. He had honor, like Conall. Hopefully, her existence hadn’t ruined that alliance. It would be a worthy one. Even if it meant Sienna Canid would still be around. And Richard Canid. Thea didn’t get a great feeling from him. He bristled with impulse control issues.

“Conall will be along soon.”

Thea started at the voice and turned to watch Grace MacLennan approach. She braced, not comfortable in this woman’s presence despite her relationship with Conall. It wasn’t just that she’d been willing to throw Thea back to Ashforth in exchange for Callie. There was distrust in Grace’s eyes, and the feeling was mutual.

Thea nodded. Wary.

Grace glanced behind her, as if to check she was alone. Then her expression hardened. “What was the cat-o’-nine-tails made of?”

“Excuse me?”

“Dinnae be coy, lass.” Grace took a step toward her. “It was iron.”

Thea’s heart began to pound. Grace had guessed. How had she guessed?

The older wolf nodded slowly. “My mother was a very religious woman. I grew up on her stories of the fae and how they birthed our species. She told me of their remarkable gifts and their one weakness. I never knew if I believed as she did until today … because there is nothing else in the world that explains your existence.”

Thea didn’t speak, refusing to answer in the affirmative without first discussing it with Conall. They both needed to agree to tell the pack the truth about her.

Grace cocked her head. “If you’re fae, then the danger you ran up against on your journey here … it’s still out there. You need to tell Conall what you are … and then you must leave for the sake of our pack’s safety.”

Thea didn’t speak. Hurt, stupid hurt, burrowed its way inside her, but that wasn’t why she stayed silent. She was silent because she’d felt Conall’s almost imperceptible approach as Grace issued her demand. Her eyes moved over Grace’s head to where the alpha stood, his pale gray eyes blazing with disbelief as he stared at the back of Grace’s head.

The woman tensed and turned slowly to face him. “Conall,” she whispered.

Thea sensed Conall was attempting to control his emotions. Finally, when he seemed to have gotten a hold on himself, he bit out, “There is only so much lenience I will give you, Grace.”

“You dinnae know what she—”

“I do.” The wolf rumbled up from his gut, vibrating in his chest. “I know exactly what she is. It’s not your concern. It is mine, and it is Thea’s.” He took a step toward Grace. “I dinnae care you’re hurting for Callie … I care that a woman who is supposed to be my family would try to send my mate away from me. That she would do that, knowing what it would cost me.”

“Conall—”

“When this is over, when we have Callie and James back, you’ll have many amends to make to my mate.” He moved to stride past her to Thea when Grace reached out to touch him. Conall jerked his arm away and glared down at her. “You have no idea how close my temper is to the surface, so I wouldnae if I were you. And if you breathe a word of this to anyone, there will be consequences. You keep this to yourself, Grace. That’s an order from your alpha, and I wouldnae dare defy me. You speak of this and you’re as good as banished from the pack.”

Hurt suffused Grace’s face.

Dread filled Thea’s gut as Conall took her hand and led her out of the Coach House. His grip on her was bruising, and she had to hurry to keep up with his angry strides.

She was already infecting his pack, damaging one of his closest relationships.

He led her to a Range Rover Defender, rather than the SUV they’d arrived in, and opened the passenger door for her with a yank. Trembling a little, Thea got in.

The inside of the Defender was utilitarian, a four-by-four built solely for traversing rough terrain. Conall got in and started the engine.

“Seat belt,” he grunted.

She pulled it on and waited for him to drive.

Instead, he turned to her, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Dinnae even think about using this as an excuse to leave me.”

Thea was silent a minute, her stomach churning. “You’re choosing me over a woman you’ve known your whole life.”

The four-by-four jerked as Conall drove away. The silence was thick and heavy and horrible as they drove along the single-track road toward Inveralligin. There was the Coach House, a grocery store, and a camping site in Torridon, but beyond that nothing much else but little white cottages dotted along the coastline.

When they reached a fork in the road, Conall took the left, the one that spiraled down toward the water, and the trees gave way to reveal a modern-looking home that sat back from the rocky beach of the loch.

It was all gray and clean lines, at complete odds with the traditional white crofters’ cottages she’d seen.

Conall parked in the empty driveway.

The entrance to the house was a wide white door set in between gray brick. There were two long shallow windows on either side. It was masculine and a little cold for Thea’s liking.