No surprise there. Westlyn said that Jamie wouldn’t do it. Fine by me. He and I aren’t on the best of terms right now. I can handle him being my wife’s brother, but I’m not keen on him being my sister’s husband. Especially when he’s been fucking the MacAllister woman.
“Very good.” My father is pleased with Mitch’s decision; he’s the one Dad wanted for Shaw anyway. The second son of a leader, same as him. He knows Mitch will have a good standing within his brotherhood. Shaw’s place within The Fellowship will be solid.
“Kieran and Westlyn will notify the district registrar tomorrow of their intent to wed.” Already done. “Do we agree that the wedding will take place in four weeks?”
“No objection from us,” Thane says.
My father’s plan couldn’t have worked better. I get a beautiful wife… one who loves to fuck. A wife who sucks my cock. A wife who sees my pain and wants to make it better. She’s perfect for me. I couldn’t ask for more.
I’m going to be happy with her. And it’s such a surprise. I never expected that. We could really fall in love.
“Kieran will claim Westlyn tonight unless there are any objections.” I can’t stop the grin spreading across my face. I probably look like a teenage boy who’s about to get his first grope of a girl’s tits.
Thane flicks his hand in the direction of the empty chair. “I see only one bride here for exchange.”
I was waiting for someone to point out my sister’s absence. I hope her obstinate behavior doesn’t affect Thane’s decision to let me take Westlyn with me today. I’m not leaving this compound without her.
“My apologies for Shaw’s absence. I’m afraid she needs a little more time to adjust to the idea of marrying someone she’s never met. She is a Hendry and will fulfill her duty. I will see to it personally.” I hope my father’s promise is enough to satisfy the council today.
“Shaw isn’t the only one marrying a stranger she’s never met. It would have been a nice gesture for her to at least come meet the man volunteering to take her.” Mitch’s voice is laced with frustration.
I can’t say that I blame him. He came here expecting to leave with a bride.
My father clears his throat. “It is my solemn vow that Shaw will be delivered to Mitch by the end of the week.”
My father’s statement makes me nervous as fuck. I’m not sure that he is going to be able to make good on it. Not with the way Shaw is behaving. And if he does, I fear she’ll be difficult to handle once she’s in the hands of The Fellowship.
“Your daughter clearly isn’t onboard with being a treaty bride.” Mitch has no idea how right he is.
“Shaw is young. Headstrong. She has her own ideas about what she wants for her life, but I will steer her in the right direction.” My father has been trying to steer her in the right direction for over a week, and he’s not been successful yet.
“The lass sounds obstinate.” Mitch doesn’t know the half of it. “I don’t want a difficult wife.”
“I admit my daughter is stubborn, but she isn’t unbending. I swear to you, Mitch, that you won’t find a more beautiful wife within The Fellowship or The Order. And she is pure. Arabella and I have ensured that she will be a virgin on her wedding night. You won’t be disappointed with her.”
The conflict in Mitch’s eyes is real. No one understands it more than I do—but he’ll marry Shaw because it’s his duty as the son of a leader. “I will go through with the marriage.”
Thane turns steely eyes back to my father. “Deliver Shaw to us by Friday; otherwise, the agreement is off, and we will expect Westlyn to be returned.”
Hate it for The Fellowship, but that’s not going to happen. I will not return Westlyn again. Ever.
“We want this treaty, Thane. Probably more than you do. I give you my word that Shaw will be here.”
“Then this meeting is adjourned.”
This meeting went much more smoothly than expected. Jamie didn’t make any arguments about my taking his sister. Probably because his lover would be one of my alternatives and he doesn’t want to give her up.
“Wait. I need to know what this means for my sister.” I should have known Jamie wasn’t going to let me walk out of here with his sister without saying something.
I reach for Westlyn’s hand. “She is my mate and will leave with me when we go. I’m claiming her tonight.”
He hates this outcome. I see it in the pained expression on his face. Just as I will hate giving Shaw to Mitch. “I need a few minutes with my sister in private.”
“You can have as many minutes as you like, but Westlyn is mine. It’s been decided.” Even more so than you know. There’s no going back.
“You haven’t delivered your end of the bargain, and you’ve not officially claimed her. Nothing is in stone yet.”
That’s where you are oh so wrong, brother-in-law. I’ve claimed Westlyn. Made her mine forever. She may already have our firstborn inside her as we speak.
I open my mouth to tell Jamie how wrong he is, but I see Westlyn’s pleading eyes begging me to not say anything.
I’m not one to back down from a challenge, and that’s exactly what Jamie is doing—challenging me. It’s hard as fuck, but I concede for her.
I release Westlyn’s hand, and she follows her brother into the hallway. The fucker is going to try to convince her to not leave with me. I know it. But his arguments are useless. Westlyn wants me as much as I want her.
It’s unpleasant sitting at the conference table with The Fellowship council in silence. We’re going to be allies. We should be able to have a civil conversation. “I know everyone around this table loves Westlyn, and I’d like you to know that I will treat her well.”
“You’d better,” Sinclair says.
I don’t care for the ultimatum I hear in his voice. “Just as Mitch had better treat Shaw well.” This is a two-way street.
“You don’t have to worry. I will be good to your sister.” Westlyn tells me that Mitch is one to keep his temper. He demonstrates that in his statement. That’s good. Because I have a feeling that Shaw is going to push him to, and probably beyond, those limits.
“Westlyn speaks highly of you. She has eased many of my concerns about your marrying my sister.”
“Well, no one has eased our concerns about Westlyn marrying you.” Ellison has found her voice.
“We spent two days together, and then she volunteered to marry me. I don’t think she’d have done that if things hadn’t gone well between us.”
“You raped her.”
“I did no such thing.” I see the disbelief on Ellison’s face. “Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.”
My father gets up from the table. “I think Westlyn and her brother have had plenty of time to talk.”
I couldn’t agree more. We open the door and step into the hallway. Jamie hugs Westlyn, and I don’t mistake the daggers I see in his eyes when he looks at me. “I love you, Wes.”
“I love you too.”
I’m taking Westlyn again, this time with the consent of her brotherhood. In their eyes, I will be officially claiming her tonight.
It’s done.
She is mine.
“We did it, doll.” I cup my hands around Westlyn’s face and pull her in for a kiss. She tastes sweet and
fruity and pungent. “Mmm… someone has had wine.”
“I drank a few glasses to calm my nerves. I was nervous something would go wrong.”
“No need to be nervous. I told you that there was no way I was leaving without you.”
“I know, but I worried Jamie might do something crazy.” She had every right to worry about that one.
“You mean do something crazy like pull out his Glock and point it at my face?”
Westlyn twists her body for a better look at me. “How do you know he carries a Glock?”
“Because he pulled it out and pointed it between my eyes.”
“What?” Her voice rises. “When?”
“At the first marriage treaty meeting.” I shrug. “It was nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. My brother pointed a gun at your face.”
I shot him first. I’m probably lucky that he didn’t put a bullet in me. “He didn’t shoot me, so that makes it nothing. Wasn’t the first time that’s ever been done and it won’t be the last.”
“I don’t like hearing things like that. Reminds me of the danger that you’re in.”
“Goes along with this way of life, and being in a leadership role increases the danger.” I’m always going to be targeted.
“I know, but I’d rather not be reminded. And I’d prefer that my brother and husband didn’t shoot, or threaten to shoot, each other anymore.”
“I promise I won’t shoot your brother again… as long as he doesn’t try to take you from me.” If that happens, I will be forced to put a bullet in him.
“He isn’t going to take me from you.” She sounds confident.
“Is that what you talked about in the hallway?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say to you?”
“That I didn’t have to marry you to save Ellison because they had a plan. And that he would find a good match for me… a man I could love.”
Jamie is a good brother for wanting Westlyn to be happy. I don’t begrudge him for that. I want the same for Shaw. “And you said?”
“That I wanted to marry you.”
“I bet he didn’t like that much.”
She giggles. “He didn’t love it.”