But from the look of pure hatred in the other man’s eyes, her father knew it.
“I am Ryder, Heir of the Talon Pack.” His voice was strong, not a hint of anger, just pure wolf.
“I am Finn, Heir of the Redwood Pack.”
“I am Brandon, Omega of the Talon Pack.”
“I am Drake, Omega of the Redwood Pack.”
“And I am Leah. Daughter of the moon goddess and water witch.”
They hadn’t planned what they would say, and yet what they had said sounded as if it were buried deep within tradition and meaning. That Leah would use those exact words made his wolf sing. Damn the Coven for shunning her.
“You dare bring that abomination in our presence!”
“Luis!” One of the younger female witches called.
“Quiet, Diana. You know the law. This witch, Leah, is an abomination and should never have been born.”
“An abomination?” Leah asked, her voice deadly quiet. “Or just your bastard?”
The woman by Luis’s side hissed. “You are not my husband’s child. You are nothing. You should have been killed when you were born.”
“My wife, Darynda, is correct. If you hadn’t been born, the witches would be safe. Now the world knows we are real. They will burn us at the stake as they did a century ago. You have caused our ruin.” Luis stood up and pointed his finger. Water wrapped around his arm in a rush of waves but didn’t lash out.
Ryder let out a growl and barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. So dramatic, these witches.
“We aren’t here to have you call for her death. She is ours.” Ryder’s words surprised even him. Brandon stiffened by his side but relaxed so quickly Ryder wasn’t sure anyone else had seen it other than perhaps Finn and Drake.
“Yours? She’s a wolf, then? You want to start our negotiations with a threat?”
Ryder smiled, then. It wasn’t a happy one, and from the way some of the Coven members paled, he knew his point had gotten across.
“It wasn’t a threat. It’s a promise. As for our negotiations… You know as well as I do that our meeting today is just that, a meeting. We are not enemies. We never have been. You summoned our Alpha, and he is not here because you do not summon a wolf. We are here because our people are dying. Your people are dying. The humans are running scared right now, but soon they will formulate a plan and we could all be in their hands in the end.”
Luis opened his mouth to speak, but Finn cut him off.
“We will meet again to discuss our plans. We want to live in a world where we can be free and not threatened. I can see we’ve started off on the wrong foot. Because of that, we will be back again at a later time to discuss our options.” Finn met Ryder’s eyes and nodded. “The humans who came after the Packs and then after Leah are the ones at fault. Not a witch who was trying to protect herself. I see no proof she’s an abomination, nor do I know what the hell that even means. So, yeah. She’s with us.”
“So it’s wolves versus witches, then?” Luis snarled.
“It’s not anything as of yet,” Ryder answered. “We will begin again, but know this, we are wolves, we are strong. We have fought by your side before, have always worked with you to protect our secrets, but we are Pack. Never forget that.”
On that note, he turned on his heel and the others followed. The witches began to fight within their Coven, screaming at one another, but Ryder let that go. He needed to get Leah and Brandon within the ward walls so he could breathe.
“Ryder,” Leah whispered once they were out of hearing range. “You shouldn’t have done that. You might have started a war over me. I’m not worth that.”
Ryder snarled and turned to her. The others stood around them, not bothering to walk away to give them privacy.
“You are worth that and more,” he said and wanted to curse. He hadn’t meant to say that. “We do not allow the innocent to get hurt by those in power. And frankly, we wouldn’t have given you away to them because we don’t do what we’re ordered to. They are not my Alpha. And they should know that.”
“Ryder…”
Finn let out a breath, then shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Well, that went well.”
Ryder snorted. “Fucked up for sure.”
Brandon and Drake both rolled their eyes.
“We’ll figure it out,” Finn said then brought Leah into a hug. It was only because he was mated that Ryder didn’t rip Finn’s arms off for doing that.
“It was never going to end well,” Brandon said. “We were pissed going in because of the summoning. The witches are running scared because of their own Unveiling. But it’s not your fault, Leah.”