Chapter Seven

Reid did his best to keep his focus on the road and not on the woman next to him. He kept two hands on the steering wheel and held it with a death grip, causing his fingers to ache before he pulled the SUV into the Osborns’ driveway.

Adriana hadn’t said much, and she’d spent the majority of the trip staring out the passenger window with her arms crossed, closed off from him.

He knew he needed to give her space, and since physical space wasn’t possible, he would do his best to give her all the emotional distance she needed. For now.

When he turned off the engine, she faced him finally. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He furrowed his brow.

“For letting me have some time. For agreeing to let me move in with you when I’m sure it’s the last thing you want to do today.”

He flinched. “Adriana, that’s not true. I’m humbled that you’re willing to come with me. You’re the most important person in my life, having moved to that spot this morning without warning and before I even knew you existed. I promise to do everything in my power to make sure you’re comfortable and happy. We’re going to ride this train together. You’re not alone.”

She nodded, though he was pretty sure she swallowed back tears. Finally, she sat up straighter and took a breath. “I’ll pack as quickly as I can.”

He reached across and grabbed her hand before she could open the door. “There’s no rush. I’m going to talk to Stanton and Oleta while you do what you need.”

She cringed. “I don’t even know them. They seem so nice. I can’t believe I just met them yesterday and today I have to dump this insanity on their laps.”

“You don’t have to dump anything. I’ll do it. You pack.”

“That’s not fair to you. I should be with you at least.”

He shook his head. She was exhausted. He knew she hadn’t slept well last night, and she had stepped into a different dimension in less than twenty-four hours. All three of them had. The least he could do was take some of her burden off her plate. “I’ve known them for over a decade. They’re like parents to me with mine living on the other side of the country. None of this is your fault, nor is it your problem alone.”

She nodded consent again. He didn’t get the feeling she usually liked to relinquish control over her world so easily. He sensed a fighter under the exhaustion. The fact that she would move in with him told him she was feeling defeated. Worn out.

When he’d come back to the hotel suite half an hour ago, he’d exchanged a shit-ton of information with Nolan, both verbally and silently. Adriana had encouraged them to communicate. She’d offered to wait in the hallway or the bedroom.

They had both adamantly declined the suggestion, and they had intentionally not shared very much behind her back. It didn’t seem fair. Life was super unfair today.

Nolan had stared Reid hard in the eyes as they were leaving, however, gripping his arm tightly. “This will not tear us apart. I refuse to allow it to. Keep her safe. Do whatever feels right.”

Reid had swallowed hard, nodding at his friend. “You know I will. You also know you’re like a brother to me, and I will not destroy that bond for any reason.”

“Reid?” Her sweet voice shook him from his thoughts. “Shall we go inside?”

“Yes.” He jumped down from the SUV, rounded the hood, and opened her door. Nerves forced him to take deep breaths.

Half of him was shitting bullets, worrying about how he would tell Nolan’s parents something they weren’t expecting to hear. Half of him was hoping the two adults could be of some help. Maybe they knew of someone else this had happened to. Maybe they could shed some light on the insanity.

Reid had been close to them for over a third of his life. The fact that something could threaten that relationship drove him crazy.

Stanton opened the front door before they stepped onto the porch. He held it open wide, ushering them inside with a wave of his hand. “How did it go?” He directed his question at Adriana.

She pursed her lips.

Reid cleared his throat. “Adriana’s going to stay with me for a while. Let’s sit down in the kitchen and talk while she packs.”

Stanton nodded, though it was obvious from his furrowed brow that he was concerned.

His mate stood behind him. She tucked her hand under his elbow and leaned into his shoulder. “I’ll make coffee.”

Ten minutes later, the three of them were sitting at the table sipping hot coffee, while Adriana had disappeared into Nolan’s childhood room to gather her belongings.

She wasn’t comfortable with the arrangement, however, which she kept telling Reid silently. “I should be with you.”

“You should pack.”

“I feel like I’m hiding.”

“And I feel like I’m protecting you. Nolan agrees. Pack.” Did she growl at him when he issued that command?

“Talk to us,” Stanton stated.

Reid took a deep breath. “Something strange has happened, and I don’t know what to make of it. I’m hoping you can help.”

Oleta leaned forward. “What is it? Are you okay?”

Reid nodded. “Nothing like that.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say, hon.” Stanton took his mate’s hand and squeezed it.

“Somehow, Fate has lost Her sense of humor, or She’s not playing with a full deck today, because it would seem that Adriana is as connected to me as she is to Nolan.”

Oleta’s mouth opened, but she hesitated before speaking. “What do you mean?”

“I mean when I stepped into your house this morning, I knew she was mine as strongly as Nolan knew the exact same thing last night.”

Oleta gasped. She set a hand on her throat and glanced at her mate. “Is that possible?”

Stanton continued to look at Reid. “What does Adriana say?”

“She feels an equal pull toward both of us.”

Stanton nodded slowly. He set his free hand over his mate’s, holding her steady with both hands, sandwiching hers tightly. “That is a problem.”

“Yes. Have you ever heard of such a thing?”

“No. I can’t say that I have. Not among grizzlies anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Reid cocked his head to one side.

“It’s happened among the wolves. Lots of them.”

“We don’t have any wolf shifters around here,” Reid pointed out.

“Right, but there are several packs of them in Montana. And in Oregon. Paige’s mate, Wyatt Arthur, met them a while back while he was in the States helping them make sense of their unusual weather patterns. He and his brother, Isaiah, spent quite a bit of time there.”

“Arthur… That’s one of the families that owns a brewery in Silvertip, right?”

“Yes. I’m sure he would be happy to fill you in on the details of how binding works among the wolves if you ask him. I don’t know enough about it to speak, but Wyatt is knowledgeable.”

“I feel bad that I haven’t met Wyatt yet. He and Paige completed the binding months ago. It’s inexcusable.” He wasn’t kidding. He did feel bad about the oversight.

Stanton smiled. “You’ve been on a lengthy assignment. We’ve been out of the country. Paige was in Silvertip when they decided to bind. They’ve been there ever since. It’s not like you were intentionally avoiding them.”

Reid smiled. “Good point. They were here last night, weren’t they?”

“Yes, but they went back to Silvertip this morning. Early. I’ll give you Wyatt’s number.”

Oleta spoke next. “What are you planning to do? I mean the three of you. Nolan must be out of his mind.”

“Yes. I’m sure he’ll call you later. He was…”

“I understand.” Stanton sighed.

Oleta twisted to face the hallway. “Poor Addy. How is she doing?”

“She’s upset. Confused. Stressed. You name it.” Addy… For some reason the name didn’t suit her. Not in his mind anyway.

“She doesn’t want to stay here with us?” Oleta suggested.

Reid faced her. “The three of us hashed out every possible short-term solution, but the reality is you’re safer without her under your roof, and she’s safer if no one ever finds out she has a connection to Nolan. That’s why he called me in the first place. He asked me to keep Adriana safe, and that’s what I intend to do. Not going to try and tell you this isn’t complicated, but it’s what Nolan wants.”

“What does Adriana want?” Oleta asked, using her full name.

Adriana appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, dropping a backpack on the floor and then rubbing her arms. “Adriana wants to go back in time and find something else to do last night so that she never met either Nolan or Reid yet. There’s some mix up with the powers that be.”

Oleta released her mate’s arm and pushed from the table. Seconds later she was across the room, enveloping Adriana in a hug. “I’m so sorry, you sweet, dear girl. What a mess. You must be exhausted and wrung out.” She released Adriana’s body to grab her biceps and hold her at arm’s length.

“I’m confused more than anything.” She stood taller, pulling her shoulders back. “I want you to know I won’t do anything to intentionally hurt your son.”

“Of course not, dear. We all know that.”

“If I thought there was a better option than staying with Reid, I would jump on it in a heartbeat. But this is what Nolan wants, so I’m going to stay there. In his mind, this is the lesser of the evils, so to speak. He’s afraid my presence in your home is worse than me leaving, and he wasn’t willing to budge on the idea of me finding another place to live with a random roommate. Hopefully this trial won’t take long to get to court, and the three of us will be free to figure out what the Universe is suggesting.”

“We’re here for you,” Oleta said. She twisted around to face Reid. “Both of you. I don’t have the answers, but I know you’ll make the right choices. When the time is right, you’ll know.”

Reid hoped Oleta was right. At the moment it seemed hard to believe since the time was right now, and they did know. What they knew didn’t make a bit of sense though. How could one person belong to two mates?

It was impossible for Reid to fully grasp. Every time he forced himself to think about their predicament, all he could come up with was that Adriana was mistaken. Reid was certain she was his. He knew it to the bottom of his soul. But then he took one look at Nolan and knew his best friend felt the exact same way. He’d seen it in his eyes when they first arrived, and the sentiment was confirmed the moment Reid came back up to the suite.

And then there was Adriana. She was the link. He had to believe her when she said she felt the same pull toward both of them. Who would make something like that up?

The answer wouldn’t be found in one of them mistaking their instinct. It was something bigger. Something bigger than any of the three of them could possibly fathom yet.

Reid knew one thing—patience was his only option. He needed to focus his energy on keeping Adriana safe and let time sort this insanity out for them. He had to believe eventually something would happen to solidify who was truly meant to bind to Adriana. Either she would realize it definitively one day, or one of the two men would lose the strong connection.

Was either of those scenarios possible?

He had to believe so in order to get out of bed each morning and face the day.

Stanton pushed from the table and headed for the kitchen counter about five seconds before the home phone rang. He returned with it in his hand. “It’s Nolan. He wants us to put him on speaker.” After connecting the call, he set it on the table. “Hey, son. We’re all in the room. Your mom, Reid, and Adriana.”

“Good. I wanted to update you. The police stopped by to let me know they picked up my client. When we hang up, turn on your television. It will be all over the news.”

“That big?” Stanton asked.

Reid stiffened, setting his elbows on the table as Oleta and Adriana came closer.

“Huge. I have to admit, I didn’t grasp the enormity of this case. When I went to the police yesterday with my findings, I thought I was turning in some random guy laundering a bit of money. Apparently, it’s much bigger. The name my client has been using with me was an alias. The police knew the name. A red flag went up. His dealings with me were the last in a series of events that finally gave the police enough evidence to arrest. His real name is Stephen Rimouski.”

“I’ve heard the name,” Reid said.

“Not surprising. He owns a lot of property north of here and many other businesses and high-rises under other aliases. Not going to get into the details, but now I see why the police yanked me into witness protection yesterday.”

Oleta lowered herself back into the seat she’d vacated minutes ago. “Why do the police think your life is in danger?”

“Arresting Rimouski isn’t good enough. A lot of people work for him that wouldn’t want to see him convicted. They’ll do anything to ensure he’s acquitted.”

Reid sucked in a breath. “Including eliminating anyone set to testify.”

“Exactly.”

Adriana had inched closer to the table, and she set a hand firmly on Reid’s shoulder, squeezing. He reached across his body and set his palm on top of her fingers, though he doubted the gesture would be reassuring. He wasn’t sure she even realized she was leaning on him for support.

Stanton cleared his throat. “I think we need to alert the Arcadian Council.”

“Yeah.” Nolan sighed. “That thought crossed my mind. So far I’m not aware of any shifters being involved. If I’d run into even one officer working on the case who was grizzly, I would have let him or her handle it, but I haven’t. Better to keep the council informed. Just in case.”

Adriana swallowed her nerves. This was serious. The Arcadian Council was their governing body. They operated out of the Northwest Territories. She hadn’t met any of the forty members, but she was aware they could and should be called into any crisis situation. If things got hairy, they might be able to step in. In most instances, the council didn’t like to interfere in human affairs unless it was absolutely necessary. Considering the seriousness in this case, she agreed. But the thought of taking that step made things even more real. And scary.

“I’ll make some calls,” Stanton responded.

“Thanks. Anyway, I’m not going to be able to keep using this phone. Too risky. The police will move me later today and give me a burner phone. Dad, I can keep in touch with you and Mom, thank God. Reaching out to Reid and Adriana is going to be more difficult. I won’t tell any of you where I am, and you won’t be able to call me.”

Stanton flattened his hands on the table, spreading his fingers. “Anything you need me to pass on to Reid and Adriana at any time, you let me know.”

“I will, Dad. Love you all.” There was a hitch in Nolan’s voice that Reid had never heard in all the years they’d been friends.

“Can you take me off speaker and let me speak to Reid for a minute?”

“Of course.” Stanton grabbed the phone and tapped the screen before handing it to Reid.

Reid’s body was trembling as he held it to his ear.

Stanton and Oleta quietly went out the back door to sit on the deck.

Adriana leaned her face in and pointed to the hallway, mouthing that she was going to finish packing. He doubted she had anything more to pack but nodded all the same. It was possible Nolan would say things to Reid that were better kept from Adriana for the time being. Not that Reid had any intention of keeping secrets from her, but some things might require a bit of finesse.

“I’m here,” Reid finally stated into the phone.

Nolan sighed. “This is the biggest clusterfuck of my life.”

“Agreed.” Reid tried to chuckle, but it came out choked.

“Listen, I’m going to forward Detective Carl Schaefer’s information. He’s in charge of this case. If anything happens, call him.”

“Okay.” Reid took a breath. He’d never heard Nolan sounding so serious.

“I need you to promise me something,” Nolan continued.

Reid shook his head even though Nolan couldn’t see him. “You know I’d do anything for you. You know I’ll keep her safe. I’ll guard her with my life. You don’t even have to ask because she means as much to me as she does to you.”

“Reid,” Nolan interrupted.

Reid halted his rant, his ears ringing. He knew what his friend was going to say.

“She’s not safe as long as she isn’t bound to someone.”

“She’s safe enough. She doesn’t need to be bound to anyone as long as I don’t let her out of my sight.”

“You can’t guarantee that.”

“Of course I can.”

“You going to go to class with her?”

“Yes. Sure. If that’s what it takes.”

Nolan sighed. “Listen to me.”

“No. Don’t say it. We’ll get through this. Pretend we’re human and she’s dating two men. People do that. As long as neither of us is having sex with her, she can date whoever she wants. There’s no verbal commitment.”

“You’re rambling, and you aren’t making any sense.”

“I’m not going to bind to Adriana so you can martyr yourself. It’s not fair to any of us. We’ll wait and see.”

Another sigh. “Okay, how about this, if there’s ever evidence of clear and present danger, then you do it. Do it to protect her. Do it to keep her alive. Don’t let someone take her and leave her vulnerable because you were too stubborn to bind to her. You’ll hate yourself later. All the posturing will be for naught if she’s kidnapped or something and has no way to reach out to either of us. Promise me.”

Reid rubbed his temples with his free hand. “Okay.” He had no intention of binding to Adriana while Nolan was in hiding. It wasn’t fair. It would take away her free will. She couldn’t make informed choices if she only “dated” one of them and had occasional phone conversations with the other. And hell, “dated” was an inappropriate term for what they were about to do—live together.

Reid also recognized the gravity of the situation. He understood where Nolan was coming from. It would give him comfort to know that in a crisis Reid wouldn’t leave her vulnerable. And he was right. Reid never intended to be put in that position, but he would promise his friend anything that would give him peace of mind. “You know I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Even if you have to bind to her to ensure her safety.”

“Even then.” I just won’t let it come to that.

“Thank you. I’ll sleep better knowing she’s in good hands.” He paused, catching his breath. “Can I speak to her?”

“Of course.” Reid pushed from the table. “Give me a second.” He lowered the phone to his side and headed down the hall.

Adriana was sitting on Nolan’s bed in his childhood room. She lifted her gaze as Reid held out the phone. “Your turn.” He smiled as warmly as he could and then left so she could speak to her other mate, shutting the door behind him as he returned to the front of the house.

Her other mate…

Fuck.