“So, this is his. Not yours. This guilt over his choices, you need to let that go, Clara. You’ve learned from his mistake. You’ve grown and changed as a person. You don’t owe the universe anymore.”
Her mouth turned up, humorlessly. “Now I’ve got my own debt. Dug my own hole. I’m a thief,” she sniffed.
A thief with a heart so big she’d mourned over burning ancient love letters. Letters that were boxed up and probably long forgotten, part of another lifetime altogether. So big, she took on everyone’s guilt and her own.
Eagan kissed her forehead. “And you can dig yourself out. I have a plan.”
She frowned. “What plan?”
“Your book. You want to make restitution for the things you’ve taken. Right?”
“More than anything,” she breathed, and his heart melted at her vulnerability.
“Then that’s what we’ll do. If Magic will hear reason, we’ll start working off your debt. Little by little, you’ll pay back what you owe. And with each thing you mark off that list, the better you’ll feel. Until your heart’s as happy as it deserves to be.”
Tears filled her eyes again, over-spilling her lids and sliding downing her sweet round cheeks. “Why do you help me? Why are you so good to me?”
Eagan took her face in his hands, brushing her tears away with his thumbs. Slowly, he bent to kiss lips that were swollen from crying. Softly, he kissed her, relaying a message he wasn’t ready to speak out loud. Again. And again, showing her that he thought she was precious, even if she was riddled with guilt. Both hers, and her family’s.
He pulled back, staring into her eyes. “At base… you’re mine. And I will always take care of what’s mine.”
His mate wrapped her arms around his waist, burrowing her head into his chest. And it was the best damn feeling he’d ever felt.
Mine, his cat purred. Always mine. My little woman.
Chapter Thirteen
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Eagan bellowed, shaking his head. “Hell no. And again, hell no.”
Magic leaned forward, elbows on his heavy desk. “You want her to work off her debt, make amends? This is how it happens. The only way it happens.”
“No. I won’t do it. What you’re asking is cruel.”
“Cruel?” Magic spat. “What you pulled last night was cruel. Anchoring her to a futile mating is cruel. This? This is her salvation.”
Eagan glared at the cat he once called brother. “I’ll hate you for doing this.”
Magic narrowed his eyes. “I’ll hate you if you don’t.”
“No.” Eagan stood, sending his chair flying backward. “I won’t do it. You find another way, or I’m gone.”
Magic leaned back in his chair. “Go then. We don’t need your kind around here.”
“My kind?”
Eagan glanced at Renner and then Owyn.
“My kind.” He let out an angry huff and threw his arm in the direction of the other cats. “Renner is my kind. Tana is my kind. Hell, maybe there are more of us who want to mate. The code has changed, Magic. Do whatever you need to do to clarify that, but you can’t ignore it. It’s no longer ‘No mating’. It’s ‘No straying’. Get that through your thick-ass head.” Eagan shook out his shoulders, the disgust on his end this time. “I won’t take an oath to leave her unclaimed. I won’t do it. Not even for the opportunity to work off her debt. Whether we mate will be our decision. Mine and hers. And most certainly not yours. Not some asshole faux-leader who let his mate die instead of promising her he’d stay faithful. That shit is yours, man. And you need to quit pouring it onto your clan. You need to own it, and deal with it.”
Magic stood slowly, his whole body trembling with rage. “Get. OUT.” His roar blasted through the room like a siren of warning.
But Eagan wasn’t done. And if Magic wanted a fight, he’d give it to him.
Owyn and Renner both stood from their chairs, clearly wanting in on the brawl. Well, fine.
“Shit,” Owyn spat. “He’s gonna change. Right here in the lodge. Motherfucking shit.”
Eagan frowned, gauging Magic’s behavior.
Oh. Owyn was right. Shiiiit.
“The back door,” Owyn tossed out.
“No,” Renner said. “It’s broad daylight. Someone will see him.”
Magic hated his cat more than anything. He fought it, but it was gruesome to watch, his skin stretching and twisting as he struggled to remain human.
“Magic, man,” Renner spoke carefully. “Just… calm down, yeah? Let’s not make a scene for our guests.”