Chapter 20

Mark, what are you doing?” I shouted. I was shocked to see Mark acting so aggressively. He had always been so gentle and so caring with all of his actions, but Jori brought out something different in him. I wondered if this was the old Mark that Jori had told me about.

“He’s saying you won’t leave with me,” Mark snarled. “He’s acting like you belong to him.”

I ran over to Mark and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Please put him down.”

“She doesn’t want you to hurt me because she might pick me after all.” Jori smirked, despite the position Mark held him in.

Mark let out a growl and slammed Jori against the wall again. “Stop trying to make decisions for her.”

“I’d say the same thing to you,” Jori returned.

I gripped Mark’s arm harder, terrified. “Jori! That’s not helping. Mark, please put him down.”

Scythe moved to Mark and grabbed his other arm. “Alpha, we don’t want to cause any issues in another alpha’s packhouse. Please listen to Adira.”

Mark g*****d in frustration. Finally, he released Jori, who fell to the ground. Percy was instantly by Jori’s side, helping Jori to his feet.

Mark grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me out the door. “Let’s go.”

I pulled my arm out of Mark’s grip. “No.”

Mark stopped and looked at me surprised. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you don’t own me, and you can’t just drag me around. You need to stop to think about what I want.” My voice cracked as I scolded Mark. I was beyond upset with his behavior.

Mark froze, his eyes wide. He swallowed hard. “Do you want Jori?”

I sighed and my shoulders dropped. It killed me seeing Mark look so defeated. “I want to stop thinking about this for just a moment. Someone is trying to kill me, and I can’t handle you two fighting over me right now.” Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes.

Jori and Mark both looked at me with sheepish looks. They had forgotten about the reason I came here in the first place.

“You’re right,” Mark finally said. “We should make sure you are safe before pressuring you into anything.”

“You would be safe in this packhouse,” Jori suggested. “There are wolves everywhere, and we always have fighters on patrol.”

“I can keep her safe,” Mark instantly said.

“I will stay here on one condition,” I quickly said before Mark and Jori could get into it again. “Mark, Scythe, and Rie will stay here as well.” I turned to Mark. “I know you don’t like this, but Jori has a point. If we are going to stay here for a little longer, wouldn’t it be safer to be surrounded by other wolves?”

Mark’s jaw was tense. He glanced over to Jori. “I will agree to these terms if you do.”

Jori’s eyes narrowed. “I think I can handle your presence for a few days, but Adira will have her own room. I’m not going to let go of her without a fight.”

“I won’t either,” Mark returned. “Shouldn’t it be Adira’s decision where she sleeps?”

Jor smirked. “You better be careful with what you say.”

“I think it’s best to be in my own room for now. I’m not even going to think about making a decision between the two of you until my life is safe, and I want you both to respect that,” I said.

“Speaking of keeping you safe,” Daniel said, walking down the stairs and joining us all. “I’m a little worried there might be another attack on your life tomorrow.”

“Why tomorrow?” Mark asked.

“It’s Adira’s twenty-first birthday,” Daniel said flatly. “If she is in fact part sorcerer, supposedly she will come into her full powers on her twenty-first birthday. Think about it for a moment. For almost five years no one has bothered Adira, and then a week before her birthday, there are suddenly multiple attempts on her life. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“You didn’t mention this before,” I said, looking up at Daniel.

“I thought about it after our conversation,” Daniel said.

“Wait, tomorrow is your birthday?” Scythe asked. “I didn’t know that. We need to make sure you celebrate.”

I hadn’t mentioned my birthday to any of them deliberately. Celebrating my birthday usually brought back bad memories, so I stopped celebrating it a while ago. “I don’t really feel like celebrating.”

“You should celebrate,” Scythe insisted. “I know a lot is going on, Adira, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to celebrate yourself.”

“It’s settled then,” Jori said. “We will have a party for Adira here tomorrow.”

“Oh goodie!” Scythe clapped his hands in excitement.

“If Daniel thinks someone will attack Adira tomorrow, don’t you think it would be better to put off celebrating?” Mark said. He turned to me. “It’s not that I don’t want to celebrate you, Adira. I think you deserve the best. I just don’t want to put you in any unnecessary risk.”

“I agree with you,” I said. “I don’t think we should celebrate.”

Jori waved his hand. “Nonsense. We will have a party tomorrow. As long as it’s in the pack house, you’ll be safe.”

I bit my tongue, feeling that it would be pointless to argue against them.

“There’s so much to plan for,” Scythe said, his mood practically glowing. I smiled at him. It was good seeing him as his more chirpy self. “Rie, can you handle getting Adira a dress?”

“Sure, we can go shopping,” Rie said.

“Make sure to bring an escort with you,” Mark said. “I don’t want you guys going alone.”

“I have an escort you can bring with you,” Jori offered.

I waved my hands. “No, no, I don’t need a new outfit. Really guys, we don’t have to do anything fancy.”

“We should probably go shopping tonight,” Rie said. “It would probably be safer than going tomorrow if Daniel’s theory is correct.

“Excellent. I can work on decorations,” Scythe offered. “We will need to figure out food as well.”

“Percy will help you with that stuff,” Jori said.

Scythe paused and looked at Percy. Percy was looking at Jori with wide eyes, avoiding Scythe’s gaze. I could feel Scythe’s pain as he looked at his distant mate. His eyes were wanting and lonely, and all he wanted was to be near his mate and hold him tightly. I wondered if Jori knew they were estranged mates or if Percy had kept it a secret from everyone, just like Scythe.

“Is that really necessary?” Percy asked.

“I’m not going to have their pack plan this party on their own. I want you to be involved.” Jori’s alpha voice came out, and there was no arguing with that.

“Let’s go,” Percy muttered, clearly unhappy. He walked away with Scythe following behind them. I hoped those two would be okay together.

“We should get going soon,” Rie suggested. “It’s already dark, and we don’t want to be out too late.”

“I will have someone meet you outside,” Jori said. “Bring her back safe.”

“That has always been the plan,” Rie sassed. She gave a dirty look to Jori. Then she turned to me. “Are you ready?”

“Can I have a moment before we go?” I asked.

I found myself looking back at Mark, and there was a deep pain in them. This wasn’t easy for me, but it made me realize that this couldn’t be easy on him either. He was looking back at me, and even though we were only a few feet apart, it felt like miles. It was wild to imagine that just twenty-four hours prior I was resting peacefully in his arms. There was a longing inside of me for his touch and his warmth. The safety he made me feel.

But I was starting to even question that.

Mark’s aggressive behavior earlier was shocking and seemed so unlike what I knew about him. Jori’s explanation on top of that showed me there was a side of Mark I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if it was that feeling of uncertainty or the pull towards Jori that stopped me from approaching Mark in that moment.

“I will see you later, Adira. Let me know when you are back safely,” Jori said. “I will go make sure all of your rooms are prepared.” Jori left the room with Daniel following behind him.

Rie got the hint as well and said, “I’ll be waiting outside for you.” When she was gone, it was just Mark and myself left in the room.

“Mark, I’m so sorry for all of this. I didn’t want to hurt you. I wish I could give you the answer you want to hear from me, but it wouldn’t be fair to myself if I did.” I felt so torn and confused by everything, but I didn’t want to hurt him ever.

“No, I’m sorry. I lost sight of what’s important: your safety and your happiness. I just can’t stand the thought of him taking you from me, too.” Mark’s voice was soft and defeated. “But I need to stop thinking about what I want.”

I looked back at him. “You deserve happiness too.”

“You should join the others. They are waiting for you.” Mark forced a smile and walked away, leaving me feeling empty and alone.