“We can’t claim her as our wife,” I sigh despairingly. “There are too many things that could go wrong, too many ways this could end up disastrous. And it would be so unfair to her. She has a family, and a whole life in a completely different world than ours. I’m not saying we need to kick her out, or anything like that. She can stay here with us while we try and figure out a way to get her home. I’ll go and personally speak with King Janak first thing tomorrow.”
Reule’s face twists, and I can practically feel his pain like it’s my own. “Maalik, I think it’s too late for me. My beast has already claimed her, and I know this sounds insane, but...I think I love her.”
My beast takes control for half a second, and a deep, satisfied growl fills my chest. It occurs to me that Reule might have slept with Isla before we arrived home. That could be how they formed a connection so quickly, and why a connection is forming so easily and naturally for me, Audun, and Caelan too.
I bite my tongue before I ask him whether he did or not, and take a deep breath to try and remain calm and rational. “We just need some distance.” I glance anxiously out the window, trying to gauge how many hours we have left until nightfall. “It’s probably too late to take her to Runa’s now, but we’ll lock her in the cabin while the four of us spend the night up in the mountains. If your beast tries to get to her, we’ll hold you back.”
“I won’t!” Caelan snarls. “Why are you doing this, Mal? I’ve always wanted a wife, and Isla is perfect! If she’s mad at us later for claiming her, then we’ll do everything we can to make her happy and make this life worth it for her. Just because you’re afraid she won’t be able to love you, that’s no reason to punish the rest of us.”
His words hurt more than I’d like to admit, but I try not to let it show. Reule threads his fingers through his hair and tugs at the strands with a heartbroken expression on his face.
“I don’t think I can let her go.”
“We’ll still care for her,” I promise quietly. “And we’ll try to help her find her family. We just won’t make her our wife. I swear, the next Guardians’ Night where a Beasts’ Moon is present, we can truly choose a wife. I didn’t realize how badly you all wanted one. We’ll find someone just as perfect, someone who wants us and cares for us all equally.”
The kitchen is quiet, and nobody argues further with me. I can feel my brothers withdrawing again, pulling away from me and from one another. My chest feels tight and heavy, and I don’t know how to help them. All I know is that it wouldn’t be right to claim Isla, to take her life and her choices from her for our own selfish needs.
I meet her eyes, and she frowns. She looks almost as heartbroken as my brothers do. Even though she doesn’t speak a word of Briyan, something makes me think she understands much more of our conversation than I realized.
Chapter Ten
Isla
I don’t think Maalik likes me very much.
Caelan and Audun are being sweet, which is a relief, but I can’t help glancing over at Maalik every few minutes. I know I’m being stupidly obvious about it too. I had no idea what to expect when Reule’s friends came home, but I was still somehow thrown when they started arguing about me. I can only pick up on a few basic words thanks to Reule now, but it was pretty obvious their discussion revolved around me and this Úplněk Nestvůr thing.
From what I can gather, Reule wants me to be their mate and Maalik doesn’t. I’m so confused, and I can’t figure out what’s going on. Is it going to happen, or isn’t it? I feel so anxious, and I keep going back and forth between feeling relieved and feeling hurt. I know it’s not the same thing, like, at all, but knowing Maalik doesn’t want me makes me feel really shitty and reminds me of how I felt when Bryson chose Amelia to be his mate instead of me.
Reule made it seem like becoming their mate was inevitable. When he was showing me the book with the illustrations,