Ryder pulled her cardigan away from his face and raised a brow at her. “I’ll be healed in twenty minutes, Leah. I just need to clean up the blood.” He winced when he looked down at what she’d given him. “I think I’ve ruined this, though.”
“It stopped the blood, so whatever. Now, come on, let me make sure you didn’t break anything else.” She turned to Brandon. “Do you need to come with us?”
Ryder’s wolf pressed up against him, not liking that idea one bit.
Brandon shook his head, his eyes on Ryder. “I’m okay. I didn’t have anything broken.”
“Lucky punch,” Ryder snarled.
“I’m just that good.” With that, his brother walked off, but Ryder suspected he’d done what he’d set out to do. Ryder may not have spilled his secrets, but he felt a little better by letting out some of his aggression. Damn it. He might have to thank Brandon now.
“I don’t understand men,” Leah muttered.
Ryder leaned down and kissed her forehead. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help it. “We’re simple creatures. We like fighting. Women. And booze.”
She rolled her eyes but slid her hand in his as they made their way to his place. He didn’t know what he was going to do about her, but damn it, he’d just have to deal. Somehow. He always had before.
****
Leah wanted to bury her head in the sand and forget everything around her, but that wouldn’t be helpful in the slightest. Two hours into the Coven meeting, and they were no better off than they had been when they’d walked in. At least the name-calling had stopped.
“That witch is the reason we’re in this mess. A mongrel,” her father spat.
Ah, the name-calling was back it seemed.
“Luis,” one of the other witches whispered. “Please. Using those names gets us nowhere.”
Considering the fact that the man had slept with her mother and was, therefore, part of her whole genetic makeup, calling her a mongrel was bad form. Not that the man ever cared about that.
She might technically be the bastard, but he was the one who acted like one.
Ryder squeezed her thigh, and she looked over at him. “I’m fine,” she whispered. “He can’t hurt me.” A lie, as the man could hurt her with each word, and perhaps even more with his actions, but she would at least try not to let it hurt.”
“Witches are burning, and we’re here discussing politics,” Luis snarled. “There is blame to be laid, and we have the culprit right in front of us.” She felt his gaze on her and turned toward him, her chin raised.
“Are we back to this?” Finn Jamenson asked, frustration clear in his tone. “The witches and wolves are now in the public eye, and there’s nothing we can do to stop that. Putting blame on the victim is only hampering our efforts.”
“She’s the one that did her magic on camera. She’s no victim.” Her father glared at her, and she was pretty sure he’d end her if he had the chance. There would be no happy reunion with this man. Not that there had ever been a chance of that. He’d tried to have her wiped off the face of the earth before she’d even been born, and had his henchman after her family ever since he’d failed. He hadn’t wanted tainted blood out in the world, and now he couldn’t do anything about it without endangering the wolves.
She wouldn’t put it past him to try, though.
At that sobering thought, she’d had enough. “I was only protecting myself and my brother,” she put in and cursed herself. She hated being the center of attention, and now it seemed she’d never get out of it.
“Enough,” Ryder growled. “This is getting us nowhere. We need to iron out the details of not only our treaty, but the public face of what is to come. The humans are after us. Not all of them, of course, but many in power. And don’t forget, the witches you see burning are not being killed by those in power, but by those who feel they don’t have enough. Do you not understand that? The ones that feel as though they are being subjugated and oppressed with each new Unveiling are the ones lashing out first. They don’t have to think of the consequences because they feel they are right. They are killing wolves and witches because they feel as though they are doing a service by taking out so-called lesser beings.”
“And it’s not just them,” Leah added, encouraged by Ryder’s words. He didn’t often speak to others, but when he did, it was because he had something to say. “The Coven and other smaller covens around the area are safe for now because they are in hiding as much as possible. Packs around the U.S. are still in hiding unless they’ve been forced into the public eye like the Redwoods and Talons. We’re far greater in number than the humans know, and that is creating fear on both sides. If we don’t stand together, we will fall apart.”