Ella
Ryatt is out of bed in an instant, his face dancing with shadows cast by the early morning daylight creeping through the airy curtains. He grabs me by the ankle and drags me toward him across the bed as Isaac stalks into the room.
Ryatt looks murderous. His eyes are bright, clear, and lucid as he narrows them on my brother while I swing my legs off the bed and stand at his side. He stretches his arm across me, trying to push me behind him.
I feel a flicker of something deep in my heart. It’s fleeting, but Ryatt’s desperation to keep me safe from this threat–my brother and his temper–awakens a single speck of the bond that was stolen from us.
“Stop,” I whisper. “Ryatt, stop!”
“Get out,” Ryatt sneers as Isaac comes to a stop in the center of the room. Through the doorway, I see several figures lingering in the shadows. Warriors, from what I can smell.
“What are you doing in here with him?” Isaac snarls, his eyes locking on mine.
“Do not speak to her.” Ryatts voice is sharpened to a bitter edge, such a far cry from the sleepy, teasing manner in which he spoke to me yesterday.
I wanted my mate back, didn’t I?
Well, now he’s back, fully lucid, the sedation having worn off sometime in the night.
Just in time for my brother to get here. The tension between them is so thick I can taste it.
Isaac’s jaw flexes, his eyes matching Ryatt’s vengeful gaze. “Get your hands off my sister.”
“My wife,” Ryatt says cooly, the corner of his mouth lifting in a smug grin, “is my business. I’ll do as I please.”
That’s all it takes. I close my eyes at the very moment Isaac lunges at Ryatt. The sound of furniture crashing to pieces and their fists meeting flesh rings in my ears as I back myself against one of the windows and open my eyes to slits. I don’t want to watch them try to kill each other, but it’s hard not to. They haven’t shifted yet, but they’re beating the absolute hell out of each other with their fists.
All while the warriors in the hallway watch with bated breath.
Isaac probably told them to wait outside while he handled this on his own.
Isaac gets Ryatt in a headlock, but it’s short lived. Ryatt jerks forward, sending Isaac flying over his shoulders and crashing into the side of the bed I’d just been peacefully sleeping in.
Isaac recovers a second later, lunging at Ryatt’s legs. Ryatt goes down with a smack, and now they're rolling across the ground spewing the most colorful insults I’ve ever heard in my life.
Two Alpha males in one room is bad enough. But two Alpha Kings?
Isaac plants a fist in Ryatt’s chest. Ryatt sucks in a breath, his face draining of color.
“Stop!” I shout, rushing forward.
Ryatt is trying to get out from under Isaac. His eyes meet mine, narrowed and bright with pain. “Ella, get back!” my mate insists.
Another crushing blow to his abdomen has him gasping, then snarling with rage.
“He’s hurt, Isaac. Stop!”
Ryatt locks his leg with Isaac’s and flips him over.
I race forward, grabbing Ryatt around the shoulders. Isaac tries to kick out, but Ryatt has him pinned. My brother grunts, wrenching one of his arms free and sends it into Ryatt’s chest again.
This time, Ryatt’s entire body trembles, and I can almost taste his pain as he rolls off Isaac and clutches an arm over the fresh bandages now soaking with blood, again.
“ENOUGH!” I scream, shoving Isaac, who is back on his feet and trying to make another move toward my mate.
But Isaac makes the mistake of grabbing me by the arm and yanking me toward him.
Ryatt’s eyes open wide and lock on the spot where Isaac is touching me.
One of them is going to die if this doesn’t stop.
Ryatt leaps onto his feet and rushes at me and Isaac. I can’t do more than throw myself in Ryatt’s way, my hands planting on his chest.
“Don’t touch her!” Ryatt shouts, but his voice cracks, his eyes shifting from pure rage to something desperate and full of pain. “Do not touch her–don’t–” He takes a ragged breath before slumping onto the edge of the bed. I hear Isaac slowly back away as I kneel between Ryatt’s knees and take his face between my hands. He hangs his head, panting, his hands coming up to clutch my wrists. He doesn’t push me away like I expect. He leans down, closing his eyes, and rests his forehead against mine.
“Ella,” he breathes. “What did he do to you?” He’s not talking about Isaac. He’s talking about Kane.
My chest tightens. “I–I don’t want to talk about this right now, Ryatt.”
“Westfall? He didn’t make it out, did he?”
Tears burn along my lashes. I hadn’t thought about how this might feel for Ryatt when he woke up and came out of the heavy sedation he’s been under for a couple of days, maybe longer. The days and hours since I cut through the veil to bring him here for help are a blur.
How much does he remember about those last seconds in the remains of King Kane’s fortress, when he was dying in my arms?
I hear Isaac shift from foot to foot somewhere behind us. I ignore him for a moment and swipe my thumbs over Ryatt’s cheeks. “We’re okay, Ryatt. We’re safe.”
“We have to go back.”
“I–I know–”
“Granger,” he says, gritting his teeth. “Granger and Amanda, are they here?”
“They’re–They should be at the Coven. They were safe when I–when I left them.” I swallow hard, closing my eyes and finding comfort in his scent and close proximity.
“I thought you made it back here,” he says softly, his silver eyes finally meeting mine. “I know I saw the veil part. Westfall and I were in Rifthold, and I thought you got out. I was–I walked into what I knew would be my death knowing you got out.”
“I don’t know what happened,” I try to say, but it comes out as a strangled sob. “The wards were down around the Coven, Ryatt. He found me.”
“Who found you?” Isaac’s voice rips through the air. Ryatt stiffens, exhaling through his nose. “Who are you talking about, Ella?” Isaac asks, a little softer this time.
“King Kane,” I tell him, turning around to face my brother.
Isaac stares at the two of us. He’s developing a black eye, which he deserves, in my opinion. I know I need to start talking. I need to tell him everything, but right now all I can think about is Ryatt.
“I’m not your enemy,” Ryatt rasps, his eyes locking on Isaac’s battered face.
“I know,” Isaac says, a little too casually. “I spoke to my Beta before I came here. He told me what he knows about you and your kingdom.”
I glare at my brother. “So you had this knowledge and still barged in here to try to kill my mate?”
To my surprise, Ryatt chuckles. It’s a dry sound broken by pain. He rasps, “This was a personal matter between me and the Alpha King.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I ask them both.
“This was about you,” Ryatt says as I lower my hands from his face.
I glare at them both and rise to my feet. “You could’ve killed each other.”
“We were trying to,” Isaac admits.
“He almost did,” Ryatt says, his voice strained.
“He has around a hundred stitches in his chest right now, you jackass!” I snap at my brother, who doesn’t look the least bit guilty about his actions. “Do you feel better now, Isaac?”
“We’ll face off again when I’m healed,” Ryatt cuts in, rising to his feet.
Isaac takes a step forward as Ryatt extends a hand in his direction. I look between them, watching as they shake on it.
“You’re fucking joking,” I hiss. “You’re sparing over me?”
“Normally, when a man steals a woman from her family and mates her, it’s a duel to the death,” Ryatt says quietly, casually. “At least in Eastonia.”
“It’s a dated practice here but relevant all the same,” Isaac agrees with a short nod.
“Give me a few days, and we’ll do this in wolf form, like it’s meant to be done.”
“You’re both insane!” I shout, wrenching their hands apart.
I’ll never understand men, especially Alphas. This is ridiculous. What’s even more ridiculous is that they both turn and look down at me expectantly.
“What the hell do you want now?” I sneer between my brother, and my mate. “Are you going to fight me too?”
“Dad will be here shortly. We’re having a family meeting.” He glances at Ryatt. “That does not include you.”
Ryatt arches a brow and sits back down on the edge of the bed.
“He’s my family,” I snap. “Whatever this meeting is about, he’ll be there, or I’m not going.”
“Take it up with Dad, Ella.”
I bristle a bit. I haven’t talked to Dad much at all since we broke through the veil.
“Is there anything I need to know before you face the entire family?” Isaac asks. His eyes, a bright blue so like our mom’s, lock on mine. One is puffy and slitted.
“You need to tell us everything, Ella,” Ryatt says.
I grind my teeth. My heart aches, and my chest feels heavy. My entire body thrums with stress, nerves, and heartbreak.
I’m not ready to talk about it. I know what my powers are capable of. I nearly killed us all when I brought down the fortress. What if my powers extended beyond Rifthold and topped other cities, wiping out the packs who fight beside my mate?
“Ella,” Isaac says, sensing my apprehension. “Please, I need to know if my kingdom is in danger right now.”
“I don’t know,” I tell him, shaking my head. “We’re going to go back as soon as Ryatt is able to travel.”
“Why not now?” Isaac asks.
“My powers,” Ryatt says, chuckling darkly. “It’s going to be a few days until my body is healed enough to regenerate and….” He looks at me for a moment before his gaze returns to Isaac. “Ella used too much of her own power in the past few days. It’s an especially dangerous journey in her condition.”
I wait for Isaac to catch on to what Ryatt means. As far as I know, my family isn’t aware of my pregnancy. Mom would have said something to me if the healers had noticed and mentioned it to her. Now is not the time to spill the beans.
“You need rest, then?” Isaac glances at each of us. “That’s it?”
“I didn’t come here to cause trouble,” I say, biting back the edge in my voice. “We’re not here because we–we want to be.”
I wish, even for just a moment, that I can have this conversation with Isaac alone. There are month’s worth of tension between us right now.
“I came back because I was going to lose him if I didn’t. Mom was the only one who could help. I didn’t think about the repercussions, Isaac. I didn’t think about your kingdom, or your people. I just needed to help him.”
Isaac watches me closely. I let my pain and heartache show, even if just for a moment. Maybe he sees the desperation behind my eyes, because he gives me a short nod and turns his attention back to Ryatt. “I am the Alpha King here. Your title means nothing.”
I place my hand on Ryatt’s shoulder, squeezing. There’s been too much going on for me to even try to connect with him over the mind-link, but hopefully he takes my hint and shuts up before he says anything to piss Isaac off right now.
Isaac continues, “My Beta has told me about his time in… Veiled Valley. The only reason you’re not dead right now is because he vouched for you and your treatment of my sister.” He glances at me for a single second before turning back to Ryatt. “You’re going to stay here, in this room, to heal, however. No wandering around. Until I decide otherwise, you are a prisoner of Crescent Falls.”
“Isaac–”
“What happened in here?”
I’m on my feet in an instant, my heart threatening to leap out of my chest. I turn to the door as Maddy steps inside the room looking skeptical and upset, her dark blue eyes scanning Isaac before slowly turning in Ryatt’s direction. “Isaac, I told you to be nice to him!”
I run to her but stop short. She’s heavily pregnant and steadying herself on the doorframe as she smiles up at me with tears in her eyes. “Are you okay?” she asks softly. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“We do,” I almost sob, then wrap my arms around her and squeeze.
“Come on then. Let these two work it out. Hannah’s waiting for us to meet her for breakfast.”
“You’re not supposed to be on your feet, Maddy.”
Maddy turns and gives Isaac a look that makes not only me, but Ryatt, who is still sitting on the edge of the bed, cower slightly.
Isaac clears his throat and looks away, but Maddy’s expression shifts to something bright with amusement. “Alphas, right? Goddess, I’m so glad you’re home.”