Chapter Thirteen
Ford’s life had taken a turn. He wasn’t sure if it was for the worse or better. While his loneliness had been abated, he now had a new weak spot in the middle of a volatile war. He carefully stepped around his kitchen, wary of the shards of metal that might have been missed the night before.
Daphne had padded the couch with pillows and lounged across them while she shrugged off the last of her grogginess. Ford watched her as the coffee maker dripped behind him. He couldn’t help but admire her long legs and how she had one arm thrown to the floor.
All around her, the house still bore evidence of the invasion. No place felt safe enough for Ford. He’d already lost one lover. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing this brash and brazen woman. She’d fought off her attacker the night before, but he didn’t know if she would win every time. He didn’t know if he could spend every waking moment at her side like a guard dog without her wanting to punt him to the moon after a single day.
He didn’t want to live up her ass, but he hated the idea of losing her.
Where was the fine line he was searching for? Would he ever be able to find it? Or would he chase her away with his fear?
“I’d make you breakfast, but…” He gestured to the state of his kitchen.
Daphne blinked, as if slowly processing everything. Her lips twisted to the side.
Ford shouldn’t have been blessed with two mates. He didn’t know which was the true mate, but he knew not to question it any longer. His past love was as valid as what he felt for Daphne, and the reverse was just as true. If anything were to happen to her, Zander would be a dead man.
Ford didn’t care if he had to die in the process.
He didn’t want to join a war. He knew little about this clan he’d joined, only that it was still very new.
Daphne opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of her phone vibrating cut her off. She glared at the device she’d left on the coffee table but grabbed it and answered it anyway.
Ford listened to her conversation from the other side of the room. Casey called it a morale day. The clan wanted to get together and celebrate how they’d grown. Someone in the background called it a slap in Zander’s face, which Ford had to admit he appreciated. He just didn’t know if now was a good time for a cookout.
Daphne met his gaze across the room. He gave her a curt nod. There was little else he could do other than acquiesce. Clans had rules. Everything they did as a family was to make them a tighter knit group. Ford had to start partaking, even if he wasn’t ready.
Daphne hung up and said to him, “We’ve been assigned grocery duty. We need to get something that can be thrown on the grill.”
Ford knew how to do that much, at least. He could busy himself with knives and fire. He could find no release with Daphne, for every time he stepped near her, he felt the searing heat of the inferno they had stroked into existence. His mind spun when he touched her. His body ached.
Perhaps some time alone with his thoughts would help…though he really doubted it.
***
The air crackled with static. The clan seemed like they were trying to pretend that nothing was happening. Daphne stood on the edge of everything. Smiles seemed pasted on. Words felt hollow.
Her shoulder had healed in the night, but every now and then she felt a twinge of pain as if her body wanted to remind her to be on guard. She’d tried to make the best of the situation the night before and had fallen into a trap. There was no telling what awaited them.
She searched the woods around them, but she found nothing out of place. Eventually, her gaze dropped to the pond below the deck.
“Gavin…Do you seriously have koi fish?” she asked, incredulous.
“Their names are Sydney, Tokyo, and Seoul,” Gavin growled.
He sat in a foldable patio chair, his arms over his chest since he’d been kicked off the grill. Ford towered over the gas grill, a pair of tongs in his hands as he flipped the chicken pieces. Gavin’s foot tapped the deck impatiently.
“Where’s your witch?” Daphne asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Gavin’s glower only deepened.
“What? Did I say the wrong thing?”
Evangeline laughed. “No. He’s just mad that Nellie still refuses to be his witch. She doesn’t want anything to do with his pouty ass.”
Gavin shot out of his seat. “I am not pouting.”
Ford met Daphne’s eyes across the deck. Daphne had to smother her laughter. Even he and Daphne had an easier romance than Gavin seemed to be having with Nellie.
“I’m not trying to woo her!” Gavin threw his hands in the air. “I want to hire her. Money. I want to give her money.”
The women shared glances. Gavin stiffened, like he could tell something had been said silently. He looked from female face to female face.
“Who knew teasing Gavin could be so good for clan morale?” Evangeline asked with a grin.
He pointed his finger at her. “I take back what I said. You’re a horrible dragon.”
Evangeline shrugged. “I learned that lesson firsthand. You don’t need to tell me twice.”
Except, Evangeline had shown great progress. Though she still gave in to fear from time to time, she had proven that she could come out the other side of the dark place it brought her. Daphne took in the construction on the side of the cabin and wondered what it might have felt like to be human in the midst of a dragon fight.
This clan might still be small, but it was intimate. The tight knit relationships that this exile had brought made them strong. The shifters that had been rejects and misfits became a family that functioned like clockwork.
Daphne had never thought much about such things, but she realized she liked this. The intimacy of this little cookout, with everyone in the clan present, laid a lot of things bare. Gavin did nothing to hide his frustrations and rage. Unlike his father, he let everyone see just who he was.
She appreciated that about him. She never thought she would throw her allegiance behind Gavin, but he’d won her over. Perhaps it happened the night Gavin had looked Ford in the face and said he understood. Her mate hovered over the grill, but his gaze bounced from face to face like he was trying to read them like books.
He seemed out of place until Bree brought him a beer. She clapped him on the shoulder, and Erik made an offhand comment about stealing his mate. Ford shot a pleading look at Daphne, like she would intervene on his behalf.
She kicked up her feet and spread her hands wide, as if to say this was his problem. With every minute that passed, the fear that had been floating in the air slowly bled away until there was laughter and joy. Even with horror awaiting them, this clan knew how to find happiness. Daphne needed that.
She needed the list of things she’d ordered to replace everything that had been destroyed the night before, too. Ford had nearly caught her making an expensive purchase earlier. Zander hadn’t blocked her from accessing the clan’s accounts yet. Usually, the funds there were reserved for emergencies, but she knew they came out of his bank. Because of the rank she’d previously held, she had access.
So, she’d bought Ford the most expensive set of chef’s knives she could find before locking down her own bank account to keep Zander out. Vengeance came in many forms. She just hoped they would survive to see the day when the knives would arrive.