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Anger spikes. I glare up at Cael. “I’m not up for auction. You don’t own me. This entire farce isn’t binding.”
“We could pettifog about the legalities that outline exactly why everything I’ve said is within my rights, but it’s hardly the point.”
I grit, “No. I would really like to pettifog for a moment.”
Cael sighs. “You are one with your mate on footing of equal stance whereby neither of you is under the protection of one-sided ownership. Ollie’s oath to me as his liege, therefore, grants me jurisdiction over you as well as him. If seen unfit, all is broken so long as both of you concede to willing exile from all my lands and all my people.”
Ollie’s grip crushes my hand as my lips part, hanging open.
So the choice is either Ollie goes through with this or we leave everything he’s ever known and find ourselves potentially dealing with places that have rulers like Markov? That’s our choice?
“That’s blackmail,” I whisper. “To…to what end? What purpose does success or failure serve you?”
“That’s just it. Failure isn’t possible. With some limited instruction, you could decimate Ollie’s brothers without laying a finger on them, too. But, again, that is not the point.” Cael lowers himself, bending one knee into the mossy floor. Wings splayed behind him, he tilts his face to look into Ollie’s eyes. “You trust me.”
“I thought I did.”
“You do. Your mate is here and yours because you do. You would not risk her happiness, and neither would I, and that is what you trusted in every step of the way. Or have I mistaken the reason behind the you-shaped indent in the carpet of my office?”
Ollie closes his eyes, and tears trace down his cheeks to rest suspended on his chin. “Explain this to me. I have never bested my brothers. Not once. I cannot take the smallest chance of losing her. I do not want to lose my home.”
“You were not an alpha the last time you met them.”
“One mate does not an alpha make.”
“Millions of devoted fans do.”
Ollie’s eyes snap open. “That—”
“Does count.” Zylus clears his throat, stepping forward. “We aren’t as inclined as you to undermine your accomplishments, but we are nosy enough to acknowledge your success. You are more than an inspiration for millions, Ollie. You have shared pure parts of yourself with millions. You have undermined every inch of what you’ve given because you have given it freely to one person only, but Willow and I are not oblivious to the comments you reply to, the fan letters you answer, the words you offer to those who have shared their hurts with you, or the responsibility you’ve taken upon yourself.”
Cael murmurs, “It is unorthodox when compared to the way your brothers live and run their pack, when compared to what you have been taught to accept as right and wrong, but that hardly matters. All that matters is the fact you have millions who look up to you and respect you. That is a pack, and it belongs to you alone.”
Ollie looks between them. His mouth opens and shuts. He wets his lips. “Why didn’t either of you tell me sooner? That…that would have fixed everything.”
Zylus nudges Ollie in the thigh with his foot. “Because. You’re a mess.”
Cael nods and folds his arms. “An absolute mess.”
“And you do this thing where you underplay just how wonderful you are,” Zylus continues.
“Which is very uncool,” Cael adds.
Zylus drops into a crouch and angles a dark brow. “Maybe it was a little mean to Brit, but I think she’ll agree it was important because you’re important.”
My head’s spinning. It seems like something incredible just happened, but I’m a little disoriented. Maybe I should take my earplugs out and the hair pin off now that the room is less overwhelming? I lift my hand and undo the clip first, finding sharp spikes of Ollie’s rage and fear once I’ve set it down beside me. “I…am not following,” I say. “Ollie’s an alpha because of his fans?”
“Correct.” Cael clarifies, “So you never had to worry about saying goodbye to how you interacted with your human family. You’ve strength enough to remain visible to them as long as you desire.”
My heart jumps. “And…and you didn’t tell us?”
Ollie covers his face with his hands, but he doesn’t cover the way his ears are blistering. “I can’t believe this.”
Zylus wraps an arm around his shoulders. “Hey,” he soothes with that silken vampire voice of his. “You’re really important to us.”
“Brittny didn’t deserve to deal with this stress because I am pathetic.”
“Unless I’m mistaken, you’re really important to her, too.” Cael ruffles Ollie’s hair. “Because she didn’t have a clue what she wasn’t giving up, yet she still picked you, and now, in exchange for a month of uncertainty, you will never be able to think you were an accessory to her becoming fae without any consequence. You will always live with the knowledge that you were precious enough to choose over everything else in your mate’s world.”
