said sternly as she gazed down at Trevor. “I won’t let him out of my sight.”
Trevor stayed silent, but I caught the small squeeze of the hand that Trevor gave Sam. He was a man of few words, but I had a feeling Sam was the only person who could keep him in his sickbed. He was definitely in love with her.
“That goes for all four of you,” Austin added as he made eye contact with Sam, Trevor, Mike, and Davis.
From across the room, I could already see that Davis’s shoulder was doing much better. Mike was walking a little slowly, but he was on his feet and moving around.
I sent a wave of affection through the mate bonds to my six guys. Seeing the love that Sam had for her guys made me incredibly grateful for my own mates.
My smile turned to a frown when I saw Blaze step into the room. He wasn’t my favorite person in the world right now, but I was making an effort. We needed to get along for the good of the pack, and he needed to see that I was a wolf he could trust. Being hostile toward him would accomplish the opposite of that.
Unfortunately, the rest of my packmates in the room didn’t feel the same. Sam stood abruptly and moved closer to me, her body tense. Austin put his arm around me, but his eyes were cold as he gave Blaze a curt nod.
The twins moved toward Blaze, standing on either side of him, ready to step between us if necessary. I sighed at how abruptly the mood in the room had turned toward animosity.
Blaze shifted his eyes toward me. “I saw part of what you did,” he said gruffly. “With the magic.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Did he seriously have an issue with me healing our packmates?
Blaze held up his hands defensively when he saw the look on my face. “I’m starting to understand why Austin sees you as such an asset to the pack.”
“Starting?” Jason mumbled with a dark look aimed at Blaze.
“I’m admitting that I made a mistake,” Blaze said defensively. “I acted too quickly and didn’t evaluate the whole situation.”
Austin tilted his head slightly. “You need to decide quickly whether you’re going to stand with the rest of the pack. There’s no room for anyone to wait on the sidelines, and I can’t have someone here who doesn’t support my mate and the mission of my pack.”
Blaze swallowed nervously and then fell to one knee. Austin’s body tensed beside me, and he dropped his arm from around my waist to stand in front of Blaze.
Blaze lowered his head. “I’m with you,” he said solemnly. “I pledged my loyalty to this pack once before, and I’ll do it again.”
“And my mate?” Austin asked coldly.
Blaze looked up at me, his eyes unreadable. “I will defend every member of this pack with my life, including Anna.”
There was a beat of silence and the tension grew even thicker. Blaze was apologizing now, but how much could we trust him?
“Stand,” Austin told Blaze. “I’m going to trust your word, but you also need to prove it through your actions.”
Blaze nodded. “I understand. I won’t let you down.”
Austin reached out to clasp hands with him. “The world is falling apart around us, and we’ll fall with it if we’re divided within the pack. We need to stay strong as a group.”
“I agree,” Blaze told Austin before looking around at all of us. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of wolves.”
Austin walked out with Blaze, the two of them discussing defensive strategies. I was glad Blaze made another step to smooth the waters, but I still didn’t trust him. He’d do what he felt was right for the pack, which may not always coincide with what Austin and I had planned. We’d have to keep a close eye on him.
“Be careful,” I sent to Austin with the bond. “Give Blaze a chance to redeem himself, but don’t put too much trust in him too soon.”
“Get some rest,” he told me affectionately. “We have our meeting with Arminius coming up.”
I groaned. Arminius was an ancient lamia who had proved to be helpful to us in the past. He’d given me a heritor box that he’d hid for my mother before she disappeared. The information inside had helped me to learn how to use my magic. Still, Arminius didn’t survive thousands of years by being a nice