Bloodline Alchemy: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Novel (Bloodline Academy Book 6), Lan Chan [free ebook reader for android TXT] 📗

“I...how?”

She smiled. “Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? You’re looking at the only two linked females in the pack. In the last three decades, actually.”

Yolanda’s head flopped back against the wall. “Even now,” she swallowed, “despite what’s happening, I would not give up the mating link for anything.”

I retracted my hand and sat on it. “I’m not mating with him. So you can forget about saying anything to him about the link.”

The way Yolanda cleared her throat made me think that if she were in good health, this conversation would be going very differently. Pack females were every bit as aggressive as the males. Yolanda had a reputation for being ruthless when she needed to be. But the affection in Shayla’s voice never wavered. She refused to let me turn away. Instead, even though it seemed to physically hurt her to move, she inched closer to me and stroked my cheek.

“Is it the human thing?” she asked.

“It’s a lot of things,” I replied as calmly as I could. Inside, I locked away the truth. It would destroy her to know that Max might not make it.

“Such as?”

I doubted either of these women would accept the answer I wanted to give them. Family, pack, and honour were everything to them. There was only one thing they would understand.

“I made a promise to Lex that I have to keep,” I said. It was just bending the truth a little. “There is no room for anything else.”

Yolanda’s eyes narrowed. “She wasn’t exactly known for her good judgement where love is concerned.”

“Well, I guess when Lucifer marches through the gates, you can ask that question and see what she says.”

She raised a brow at my tone. I tried to take it back as soon as I’d said it, but whenever someone said something about Lex, it was as though a switch went off in my head and I just blurted out whatever snarky thing I was thinking. Yolanda smirked.

“That kind of loyalty is rare,” she said. “But it’s not worth losing a true mate over.”

“We’ll just have to agree to disagree.”

She gripped her knee and I thought she might have been trying to pull herself up but couldn’t manage. “You will do whatever I tell you, because right now you’re living in my Reserve!”

Shayla tried to soothe her. “Alright,” she said. “Don’t die trying to assert your dominance. We all know you’re very frightening.”

“It would be nice if it was acknowledged once in a while!”

Shayla lowered her eyes to the ground. “See? We’re not challenging you.”

“If I could pick up this cushion, I’d throw it at your head,” Yolanda said, with a smile. Groaning came from inside Durin’s cage. It sapped the temporary amusement from her.

“We don’t have long,” she said. “You need to promise me you’ll take care of them.”

“Yolanda,” I said, slightly exasperated. “I have no claim on the pack. Even if I did, I’d never be able to dominate them. I’m human.”

Shayla’s hand landed on my thigh. “Until that night you came down here,” she said, “I hadn’t seen Charles in two months.” She brushed away a tear from her own cheek. “My little boy isn’t little anymore, but he’s growing up in a world where none of what he’s been taught matters. If you hadn’t come, I’m not sure if I would have seen him before...”

“You would have,” I said with absolute certainty. “He’d never forsake you.”

“I’m not the me he wants to remember.”

I swiped at the moisture on my cheek, gritting my teeth. The very thought of the Reserve without the alphas made fear blossom in my heart. Still, I didn’t believe for a second it would stop Charles. “He’s got a hard head, but he loves you too much not to be here.”

“That’s the thing with alphas,” Shayla said. “They forget themselves in all their duty. They need somebody to remind them that other things matter too. We can’t have a pack with only alphas. You’ve brought our home back to life again. Even if it’s just for a little while.”

I couldn’t help but think of what I might be bringing on them if I attempted to replicate what my great-grandfather did. Trying to segue the topic, I said, “I appreciate your faith in me. But I’ve already severed any ties I have to Max. In fact, I think he’s already looking for a replacement.”

The last part was difficult to speak aloud. I couldn’t blame Max. The Reserve needed an alpha female to balance the hierarchy. Both women smiled like they didn’t believe me.

“Right.” Shayla shuffled even closer. Soon we would be spooning. “You know that I had a very difficult time when Alastair and I were mated? Getting to that point wasn’t particularly fun either.”

“But you did it anyway because you’re not chicken,” Yolanda muttered.

Shayla cast her a disapproving scowl before she continued. “This era of integration is relatively recent. Thanks in no small part to Jacqueline’s efforts at Bloodline. Has Max ever told you about how difficult his childhood was amongst the pack?”

I shook my head.

“I’m not surprised,” she went on. “Just like their father, both my boys find it hard to admit weakness. The other pack members tormented him mercilessly for having a sorceress mother. The pack blamed me for any misfortune at the drop of a hat. It would have been easier if I didn’t have any magic. I wouldn’t have been such a threat. They treated human mates with delicate care but me with upmost suspicion.

“There was a time back then when Max got into as many fights as Alastair did to defend me. Neither of them said a word about it, while we sat there eating dinner and they were bleeding on the tablecloth from cuts and bruises. Max fought with so much determination that by the time we had Charles, nobody dared to look sideways at Max Thompson’s baby brother. Then he found Kai and they became inseparable.” A fond smile tugged at her lips. “Which is why