“The two families involved got pissy and sent in enforcers to grab the kids when and if I found them.” I figured it wasn’t time to mince words. “One thug clocked me when I was close to finding Evan Chandler, putting me in the hospital. I went back out and we tracked Evan and Lisa to a park. They agreed to leave with me because the two enforcers were near, waiting for the right time to make their move. We avoided the punks and I took the kids to a safe place before I went home.” I drew a deep breath. “Then the two enforcers showed up at the house to try and intimidate me into telling them where the kids were.” I couldn’t resist grinning. “Bran made them leave.”
Jess’s eyebrows rose. She looked at Bran. He shrugged.
“And then we came here.” I brushed crumbs off my lap. “How’s that?”
“Better than the rambling diatribe I got from your mate.” She crossed her legs. “Let’s cut to the chase. What do you need to make this right? Not just for you but for everyone since you look bound and determined to save the world.”
“I need everyone to leave these kids alone.” I took another sip of coffee. “They’re both turning eighteen soon enough and legal adults get to make their own mistakes.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Jess replied. “You were hired to find them, not become their life coach.” She rapped the side of her mug with her knuckles. “The enforcers might have been a bit of overkill but that’s because the feud is still very much alive and well in their minds. It’s something bigger than just two kids who think they’re in love running away.” She sat back. “They can’t disappear anyway, go underground and vanish. The Board won’t let them. I assume you made that clear to them.”
I nodded, not wanting to start a discussion about how much control the family had over our lives. I had my own views but this wasn’t the time or place for it.
“Is there any wiggle room? Something between locking the kids up and letting them go?” Bran asked.
“Not from where I’m sitting. When they’re returned to their families they’ll be separated forever.” Jess took a sip. “They’ll be sent as far apart as they can, probably to family friends on opposite sides of the country until they get over each other. As long as it takes to break them up for good.”
“But when they turn eighteen they can leave,” I protested. “Walk out of wherever they’re being kept and do what they want.”
She peered at me over the edge of her mug. “Hitting a magic birthday number doesn’t give you the power to do anything you want. These are teenagers raised within the family, within their own family. It’s one thing to say you’re going to go against what you’ve been raised to believe in, another to actually act on those thoughts.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if they have the willpower to do it. True love or whatever, do they have the guts to break with tradition?”
“This isn’t tradition,” I replied. “This is cruel and inhuman.”
Jess cocked her head to one side, a sad smile on her lips. “We’re not human, Rebecca. We may play in their world, work their jobs, even love their men but we’re not human.”
She didn’t look at Bran.
I flashed back to Lisa’s confusion in Red’s camp. It all sounded very romantic until reality came to call. Despite their affirmations to me while we sat in the tree I wasn’t sure they were ready to turn their backs on their mutual families and go it alone with only each other for support.
“And they can’t go rogue.” Jess put her mug down. “Before you even contemplate that option. You know they can go to another Pride, they can go anywhere they want as long as they stay registered. But they can’t disappear, they’ve got to stay on our radar.”
“Which allows their families to know where they are at all times,” Bran added. “Which sort of makes it pointless because they’ll be grabbed anyway and their new Pride will probably let it go because they don’t want to be involved with the politics.”
Jess nodded. “Yes.”
Bran sat back, crossing his arms with a smug smile. “See. I can be taught.”
Jess chuckled.
I rolled my head around, hearing various pops and snaps. “I’m getting him a new leash for Christmas.”
“Good. Just remember to use a safe word,” she answered without missing a beat.
“What makes you think we don’t have one already?” Bran smirked.
“Duly noted,” Jess said dryly. “And before you toss the idea out of getting the Council involved, we all know the feud isn’t official and that the Grand Council ruled it an accident. Doesn’t mean the families involved don’t think it’s as real as the pie we just ate. They won’t kill anyone but you know now how far they’ll go to do what they think is right.”
“Duly noted,” I repeated. “But I have an idea.”
Jess motioned me onward. “Go ahead.”
“I want a meeting with the leaders of the two families. Here, neutral ground. I want to get this settled and settled now.” I touched my skull, wincing as my fingers ran over the invisible bruise. “This can’t go on.”
“I can have them here within a few hours.” Jess moved her mug to the tray, now holding the empty plates. “Let me make the calls. You two rest here—she’s safe now. There’s a bedroom upstairs that you can use.”
Her last two sentences were directed at Bran, who had shifted closer to me and who now pulled me into his lap, my head resting on his shoulder.
As Jess left the room with the dishes I let out a sigh. “I don’t know if I can fix this.”
“Then why try?” Bran mumbled. “It’s not your life. They’re not going to kill Evan and Lisa. They’ll just separate them.”
“If they’re really in love, pulling them apart isn’t going to work. They’ll find a way to communicate and run away again.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “Good pie.”
“Excellent pie. Now let’s go to bed.”
“No, no.” I stifled a yawn. “I’m going to just lie here and think until they arrive. ‘Kay?”
Bran didn’t say anything. His arm tightened on my waist, keeping me close and warm.
I closed my eyes and tried to think.
I woke up in a strange bed, my feet tangled in an ancient-looking quilt. For a second I panicked before my senses took in the familiar scents and sounds.
The farm.
Safety.
The pillow under my head gave a rumbled noise, rising and falling with a familiar rhythm. I stirred, then realized I’d drooled on Bran’s shirt.
He chuckled as I brushed at the damp fabric. “Won’t be the first time you leave me with the wet spot.”
I poked him with my index finger and sat up, yawning.
The mattress sagged in the middle and I’d ended up almost atop Bran, rolled against his side with my arm draped over his waist.
“How long was I out?”
Bran glanced at his watch. “About two hours. Which obviously you needed badly, given your cute snoring.” He winced as I pushed his shoulder to give myself enough leverage to swing my legs out over the side of the bed.
“Cute snoring?”
“Cute snoring. Snoring that’s cute. Actually, totally adorable.” He paused as the sound of car engines roared up the stairs. Multiple vehicles spun wheels on gravel and skidded to a stop.
“They’re here.” I spotted a bathroom through an adjoining door. It took two bounces to get off the bed and stagger toward the sink.
I wasn’t going to face down two angry family leaders with sleep in my eyes.
Bran rolled onto his side and watched me as I gave myself the once-over, splashing the cool water on my face and attempting to tame the wild mess of blond hair.
A come-hither beauty I wasn’t. The best I could do was pull my hair back into a ponytail and hope the dark circles under my eyes didn’t have people mistaking me for a raccoon.