“What if it is?” she pressed. “What if she can’t seal the bond with the alpha tomorrow? Or what if he ends up bound to herandthe alpha if she agrees to mate with him?”
“Tomorrow?” I demanded, stepping toward both of them.
Artie stepped backward, taking Emily with him as he glowered at me. “The ceremony is first thing in the morning. Tomorrow.”
Relief hit me so hard, my shoulders sagged. “Thank fuck. I have time.”
“Time to do what?” Artie asked.
“Figure out if they’re actually connected, for starters,” Emily suggested. “That seems necessary.”
“How is he going to figure that out?”
“I don’t know.” Emily tilted her head, looking past Artie’s arm so she could see me. “Any ideas?”
“I wasn’t raised around bear shifters. I don’t know all the shit,” I growled.
“Do you know anyone who does?” she checked.
“Hudson,” I said grudgingly.
“Great. Our car’s already on the road, so we don’t need to plow anything. Let’s just…” She stepped past Artie. He tried to grab her, but she moved too quickly as she stepped past me too. The cabin’s front door shut behind me, and she strode back to her mate’s side, taking his hand. “There. All set. Arguing isn’t getting anyone anywhere, so let’s go.”
When she dragged Artie back into the snow, her combat boots crunching the already-trodden path, I reluctantly followed.
I wasn’t wearing shoes.
Or a shirt.
Just a pair of fucking sweats.
But we were moving toward my female, so I wrestled the beast in me down far enough to focus on the task at hand.
The hour-long driveinto Cub Lake was tense.
Artie was clearly still pissed, though he didn’t have a good reason to be. Madison was right—he hadn’t ever tried to act like a brother to her. While his reasons for keeping his distance in public were valid, he could’ve been there for her in some ways.
I knew a hell of a lot more about her than he ever had.
I didn’t have my phone, so I had no way to warn Hudson that we were coming. I hoped he was home. Considering the sun had gone down completely during our drive, it seemed safe to assume he was.
When we parked in front of his house, Emily turned in the passenger seat so she faced Artie, but was looking at me.
“I get that you’re both worried about her,” Emily said, “But you need to figure out a way to get along until we decide what we’re going to do in this situation. Whether we try to intervene in the wedding or not, fighting about it isn’t going to make things any easier. Not for us, or Madison.”
Artie tossed a hand toward me. “How am I supposed to trust my best friend after he fucked my sister and lied about it?”
“How am I supposed to trust you when you lose your shit about me screwing the sister you’ve barely interacted with through your entire life? You don’t understand the situation.”
“Then explain it to me,” Artie demanded.
A frustrated growl escaped me, and I shoved my hand through my hair. “I’ve wanted her since we were kids.”
Artie blinked.
Emily did too.
“I dream about her, still. Her scent haunts me. It’s part of the reason I refused to take a mate years ago. I didn’t know the alpha was going to be so fucking horrible to her, either. I thought her life would be better, with him. That he’d take care of her. When I found out otherwise, and she realized how I felt about her, we… came to an agreement.”
