Page 27 of Glass
11
FELIX
“You can’t be serious.”
I can feel Poppy’s eyes on me as I kneel to pack my shit, but she’s not the one speaking to me in an accusatory tone at the moment. I twist wearily toward the mouth of the tent to address Alexandria. “I would think twice before questioning me.” I’m careful to keep my tone hard with her. Only an hour ago, trying to show her mercy didn’t work out so well for me. I won’t make the same mistake twice.
“Ialwaystravel with the pack, Felix.” Alexandria rests her hand over the column of her throat, but I think the gesture is unconscious. Despite what seems to be her best efforts, she can’t stop dropping her gaze every few seconds to stare at the mark I’m proudly sporting on my neck.
“The pack isn’t traveling—only my family.”
I turn back to the task at hand, packing up the small selection of clothes I carry with me in the park. They won’t come with me—I have a full wardrobe in my Brooklyn apartment—but I want everything ready to go with my pack if they wind up needing to move camps while I’m gone.
“This is ridiculous.” I swear I hear Alexandria stomp her foot behind me. “There aren’t supposed to be mates here. Shifters come to The Lost so they don’t have to live with the bullshit rules of society. You came here to escape that.”
My hands clench around the sweatshirt I’m folding. “Watch yourself,” I warn her in a low growl. She knows nothing about how I came to be Lost.
I can feel Poppy’s eyes on me. I glance up to find her watching me curiously as she pushes her long hair behind her ear. I know what she thought when she saw Alexandria trying to hang all over me while I talked to her. It doesn’t matter that we’re both marked by our mate bond, she expects the worst from me. Somehow, I have to push through my own anger about her feelings and find a way to prove to her that there’s a life here for her. I’m not sure what her reluctance is to stay, but I have to find out quickly if I’m going to convince her otherwise. She already seems to have one foot out the door.
Unfortunately, her siblings are the only bargaining chip I seem to have at the moment.
“What about the kids? You don’t even know this woman or what she’s planning to do with them. We all know that bloodlines don’t mean anything. Most of the people here were betrayed by their own families.” Alexandria’s words drip with suggestion.
Poppy abandons the spot where she’s been sitting in the corner. She seemed so contemplative that I left her be, but now she reacts before I can stop her. I barely manage to get hold of her around the middle as she lunges for Alexandria. But there’s no stopping her mouth.
“Say one more word about my family, and I will bury you alive,” she growls out in a voice so harsh it seems impossible that it’s coming from her petite body.
I glance over Poppy’s head to see Alexandria’s face go pale. “I just meant—”
“I know what you meant,” Poppy cuts her off. “This is the only warning you’ll get. Cross a line speaking about my family again and I will hunt you down to the ends of this earth and kill you with complete disregard for the consequences.”
Based on who I now know are Poppy’s connections in the shifter world, it’s entirely possible she could get by with zero consequences if she acted on her words.
Alexandria makes eye contact with me, blue eyes wide with false innocence, as if I’m going to save her. She’s causing me so much trouble I’m tempted to let my mate unleash this fiery side of herself and do her worst. But Alexandria is my problem; it wouldn’t be fair to let Poppy deal with the woman when it’s clear I’ve let her go unchecked for too long. My gratitude to her for her help with the kids has all but diffused at this point. Now, all I feel as I look at her is resentment.
“There’s space on the Islands.” It’s the perfect solution to this quick-growing mess. “The families that have settled there to fish are starting to have pups of their own. They’ll need someone who’s good with the young ones. The parents haven’t experienced shifting before the age of eighteen, so they’re not prepared for the work that goes into teaching pups the self-control they need.”
“But…” Alexandria trails off.
She can’t fight me on this or she’ll risk losing her place among The Lost. And the only option beyond belonging with us is going out on your own as a solo rogue. Most shifters don’t survive life that way for long.
“You’ll go, or you’ll leave,” I announce, wanting to make my stance clear. No one will ever come before my mate, no matter how helpful they’ve been. She’s lucky I’ve granted her this much mercy.
Alexandria swallows hard, but more importantly, Poppy starts to relax against my hold. The fight seems to dissipate as the reality of the situation seems to sink in for Alexandria. She smooths her features and wraps her arms protectively around herself as she takes a step back from the tent, putting more space between her and us.
“I don’t want to leave,” she says, the words a plea.
“And you won’t have to,” Poppy says with a surprising calmness. “He’s offering you the only life preserver you’re going to get. I suggest you take it.”
“I will.” Alexandria nods emphatically. She’s already backing further away, probably hoping to flee before I change my mind. Poppy waves her hand, brushing the chastised shifter off.
This is exactly why I chose to have a conversation with Alexandria. This is the result I wanted, albeit the solution was harder to get to than expected. She’s not unreasonable, and she’s a valuable part of the pack. I should have taken Poppy with me to be part of the conversation in the first place and maybe everything wouldn’t have escalated so dramatically.
“I’ll still send her away if you want me to,” I murmur to Poppy, keeping my voice low for fear she’ll startle and realize I’m still holding her.
“No.” She’s resolute, crossing her arms over chest and fixing her mouth in a flat line. “Shifters come here because they feel like they’re out of options. I’ve spent too much of my life without a home to cast that fate on someone else. Let her stay.”
She finally realizes I’m still holding on to her and squirms out of my grasp to climb out of the tent. I let her go for now. She might not think she wants to be one of us, but she just proved exactly why she's my mate. The Lost need her as much as I do.