Taken by my mate

Covyn

We went to the kitchen, but I called the cooks to come and cook for us. Evadiene must have been really out of herself because she didn’t even argue that she could do it herself. She didn’t ask what was being made, and honestly I didn’t think she knew what time it was.

When the food was prepared I took our plates and led her to my office, closer than my bedroom, for some privacy. She sat in a chair across the room but I picked her up and pulled her over to beside mine at my desk.

“What a week this has been,” I began softly and she nodded. “Please eat,” I encouraged handing her the plate.

She took it, picked up something random with her fingers and ate it. I watched her chew and swallow it like it happened in slow motion.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

Her head turned to me. “I haven’t seen my brothers in so long. I was thinking about how much they must have changed and how much I’ll miss them.”

“How much you will miss them?” I asked and her cheeks flushed.

She looked at Sequoia, and then back to me. “I’d love to be straight with you Covyn.”

“Then I’ll ask until I can figure it out. You’re not acting like your usual self today and I want to help fix that.” I gave her a weak smile. “I was up late last night with Ellion, and I remembered our conversation in the garage. What I said about the bird, that must have felt like a prison sentence to you. I’m sorry.”

She looked surprised. “Thank you.”

“When was the last time you could tell anybody anything about you?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know, a few hundred years at least. I move a lot so I don’t get attached.”

“What about them? What if they get attached?”

“They always do. As long as I don’t, they’re safe.”

“How do you avoid getting attached?” Her words were colder than I expected from her and I waited eagerly for her replied.

“It gets easier all the time. I’ve met thousands of people, I remember them all, and to all of them I was special.”

“You are special,” I returned and I caught the small smile she tried to hide.

“Don’t do anything rash, stay, and tell me what to do.” I begged, “how do I stop your brothers from attacking my pack?”

She closed her eyes and sighed. “The only way to end it all would be for the one I gave up my life for to die at their hands, but I would only do what I did for a very good reason. I would remember everything as they died, and so would they. They deserve to live and love a life without me.”

“That doesn’t mean you deserve to die.” The words came out a whisper but they still made her flinch.

She looked over at Sequoia who looked around at the doors, and put her head down. It took me a moment to realize she was confirming the second doors were closed to make the room sound proof and I chuckled at her.

She shifted and came over to hug Evadiene. “Don’t be angry.”

“How could I be angry with you Coy, ever. But sometimes it’s easier when you can’t talk to people.” Evadiene smirked and poked her in the cheek.

She turned back to me. “There’s no other way. Your boarder should have kept out the negative intentions from Caius, unless he found a loop hole, but it’s not like him to exploit those…”

“There were three boys in your picture. So there’s Varro who I met and thankfully didn’t want to kill me, Caius who sent a corpse to try and kill us, and who is the third?” I asked, changing topics to keep her talking, and wishing I could hold Evadiene how she held Sequoia.

She sighed like remembering them brought back fond memories. “Osric, the oldest of the triplets, he’d like to fancy that he’s the boss of them, and maybe they do follow him a little bit more, but they’ve all had their time in the spotlight.”

Sequoia let go and shifted to curl up on one of the chairs. We watched her spin around a few times before kneading a pillow into submission and laying down. Evadiene laughed, explaining to me that how she teased the pillow was often called ‘making biscuits’ by cat people. She often bugged Sequoia about it but I could tell she loved it.

“And your father, who is he?” I asked.

She smiled. “He’s really cornered the market on power. A name everyone’s heard, stories everyone knows but no one believes, and yet people still seek him out. Balthasar, the devil of the cross roads.”

“Wow,” I admitted. “Willing to bet he never would have given me his seal of approval.”

She turned to me sadly. “Covyn….”

“Evadiene, don’t say it. I have been an asshole, I’m second to admit it, after you of course, but I will never stop caring about you. I just…” I pulled my hair. “Urgh, I don’t know what to do. Can’t protect you and my pack, can’t fight your family and not hurt you.-“ I moved to take her hands in mine, “-Tell me what to do, anything and I’ll do it. How do I help you and keep you?”

She looked like she was biting her cheeks to keep from speaking.

“Please Evadiene, tell me.”

She was shaking her head. “You can’t scrap and growl your way out of this. This isn’t that kind of fight…..”

“Then what can I do?”

“I know what you’re thinking.” She pulled her hands away to wrapped them around my cheeks. “Lesser people have tried to solve their problems by making deals with my father, and lost. We are trained from birth in the art of making deals, it runs in our blood, and there is no way any other species can comprehend just how much goes into every deal.” Her eyes looked at me with so much intensity, and I could feel her anger. “Do not make a deal.”