Silence settled in the room after Jade's statement. Everyone sat unmoving in their seat, basking in discomfort. Jade's eyes narrowed, her gaze flitting around and eventually coming to rest on Ryleigh, who returned the look with a less than satisfying one of her own.
"No," Jade said, making a resolute gesture with her hand and pushing up from the sofa. "Don't look at me like that. I don't like that look."
Ryleigh didn't alter her facial expression.
"That's an 'I'm not going home' look," Jade said, shaking her head as though her insistence had any chance of changing Ryleigh's mind. "That's an 'I'm going to make Jade look bad in front of our father' look."
"Jade –"
"I don't want to hear it. I want you to get up and come with me."
Ryleigh sighed and moved her hands to her hair, gathering it and moving it away from her right shoulder. Jade's eyes settled on the mark that resided there.
"O, so that's what they meant," she said. "Did you – no, you didn't mark him back. I've seen no evidence of that. You can reject him, then."
"It's not that easy," Ryleigh said. "The mark needs to fade before I can reject him."
"What a hassle. How long will that take?"
"A week or more."
Jade scoffed a laugh. "No. Nah-ah. Not happening. That's too long. Father won't agree to it. You're going to have to leave without rejecting him."
"She can't do that," Julie said, her voice shooting up. "That would be torture for them both."
Jade looked at her with raised eyebrows, then turned back to Ryleigh. "You have no choice."
"Of course she has a choice," Ellis says. "She can't leave without rejecting Austin. It would be cruel."
A sigh slipped past Jade's lips. She twirled around to face Ellis. "I'm not as good at deciphering memories as my sister, but I get by. I know Austin mated her against her will. If he wanted her to reject him before leaving, he should have refrained."
"She would have died."
"Yes, so his decision was a logical one, but it has consequences. She told him she was going to leave. This does not change that." She rubbed her brow. "I'm not the bad guy here. It's not my call."
"I can't go back." Ryleigh shrugged one shoulder as if to say it's as easy as that.
"Don't be dramatic." She gestured around her. "Why? For this? It's different, I get that. We don't have a mansion at home. We don't have servants. We don't have a big pack. But none of that matters."
"It's not because of –"
"O, I'm sorry. You're meaning to say it's because of these people?" She flitted her hand over her shoulder. "Your mate's ex-lover, this soft-hearted controlling excuse of an alpha, or the womanising jerk who can't be bothered to take anything seriously?"
"Jade –"
"O, wait, no, I know. It's your mate, right? The one that currently doesn't even want to be in the same room as you. I get that you want to reject him first. I get that that's the kind thing to do, but we don't have time for that. We've given you two months, Ry."
"I know."
"These people don't care about you. We do."
"We care," Julie said.
"You care about your ex," Jade said, not bothering to look at her. "You care about fate. You don't care about my sister. If you did, you wouldn't have treated her the way you have. You wouldn't have ratted her out to your king. You know Alder is not going to let this rest, Ry. If you stay, you're dead."
"King Alder isn't going to hurt you," Ellis said. "Neither of you."
"I agree, because neither of us is staying here."
"You should. The both of you. Living on the run is no life at all."
Jade shook her head. "You know nothing about our lives. We're not abandoning our father."
"I am," Ryleigh said. She rose from her seat and reached for Jade, who jerked away. "Jade, please. You have to understand –"
"He's our alpha," Jade said, blinking. Her complexion had lost its colour. "He's our father. You need to come home."
"Our home died fourteen years ago."
"We're a family."
"Family is free. We're not free. We're his subjects, Jade. And I'm done following."
"You can't make her go," Julie said, snapping Jade's gaze towards her.
"I can't? If I wanted, I could not only make her, but I could make her want to go. Just because I choose not to use my powers against my sister doesn't mean I can't, and you need to be careful how you address me."
"And you need to be careful how you address her," Ellis said, standing up. "This is my pack, and I decide who stays and who goes."
Jade pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger and shook her head. Without a word, she walked out of the room.
"Where is she going?" Julie asked.
Ryleigh's shoulders sagged and she released a slow breath. "People hurt her head. She wants to finish the conversation outside."
"Is she going to force you to leave?" Conall asked.
"No. But my father might." She sucked her teeth. "I'll see what I can do."
"If you refuse to go, is your father going to come here?" Ellis asked. "Do I need to prepare my army?"
Ryleigh shook her head. "I won't let it get that far. I'm going to try and buy some time so I can reject Austin before I go, and then I'll give my father what he wants."
"But you don't want to go," Julie said.
"The past fourteen years, 'want' hasn't mattered. It doesn't matter now. Excuse me, please." She turned and headed outside. Jade was sitting on the lowest of the steps leading to the mansion. Ryleigh set herself down beside her. Pack members were walking around again. Ellis had reassured them that the intruder didn't pose an imminent threat.
"There's hundreds of them close enough for me to hear," Jade said, pressing her fingers against her temples.
"It took me a while to figure out how to tune out everybody's memories. You'll get the hang of it."
"I don't need to. We'll be out of here soon." She looked up at Ryleigh. "I do understand, you know. I understand why you ran and why you don't want to come back. You know I understand, right?"
Ryleigh nodded.
"It's just that we don't have that luxury. He expects me to check in with him tonight. I'll have to tell him something."
"So tell him the truth. Tell him I don't want to come home."
"He'll come to get you personally."
"Not if you tell him you can change my mind."
"Can I?"
Ryleigh shrugged. "Maybe."
They both lapsed into silence, looking around them.
"Will you show me?" Jade asked at length. "I want to know everything."
Without hesitation, Ryleigh enclosed Jade's offered hand in both of hers. She closed her eyes and let all her recent memories flow into Jade. They flashed fast, but Jade was used to distinguishing between them.
At last Ryleigh let go, and Jade pushed a slow breath through her mouth. A lot had happened the past two months – too much.
"I don't get it," Jade said. "Austin doesn't seem all that great. Handsome, but if that's his only quality, I wouldn't settle for it. But it's a good thing. If he's not that remarkable, it'll be easier to forget him."
"J, Austin's not the thing keeping me away from home. When I left, I didn't even know he existed. I ran away because I can no longer follow Father. I don't believe in the cause anymore."
"You never really did."
"Do you?" Ryleigh looked sideways, at Jade's stern features. Loyalty had always been vital to both sisters, but never in the same way. For Ryleigh, loyalty had to be earned. For Jade, it was a given.
"The cause is all we have."
Ryleigh shook her head. "We have each other."
"Father knows what he's doing. It's important."
"We're important too."
Jade pressed her lips together and remained silent.
"Do you remember that time we snuck out and went into town, and you panicked and accidentally mind-controlled a bunch of humans?"
"Yes. And you manipulated everyone to forget all about it. I don't know what that has to do with anything, but yes, I remember."
"And do you remember that time you snuck off on your own and got into a fight with a rogue? And your powers weren't developed enough to stop him?"
"And you followed me and saved my life. I remember."
"And do you remember –"
"I remember everything, Ry. What are you saying? I make mistakes and you fix them?"
"No. I'm saying I have your back, and I'm asking you to have mine."
__________
A/N: And just like that, we are nearing the end of book one. One more chapter and then it'll be over [insert gasp here]. But fear not - there will be three more books to follow, and lots and lots of drama. But before we get there, stay tuned for the last chapter ;)
Thanks for reading!