Chapter 44 Kent felt restless. After he and Riley had a rather quiet lunch, they had gone to take separate showers. He checked on her before he went to his office. She had been working on reports at the desk in her room and assured him that she felt fine. When he walked into his office, they were already waiting for him. Patrick was in one of the armchairs. Penny and Max sat on the couch, Max's arm around her shoulder. Kent looked at them, the three people who knew him better than anyone else, his three closest friends who had seen him through some of the worst events of his life. He took a deep breath, sinking into the armchair beside Patrick. "Max said you wanted to talk about the rogue issue," Penny prompted. Kent nodded. "Riley has already figured out that we know what the rogues are after. I explained that I needed to talk to the others involved before telling her, but I strongly believe that we need to tell the council reps what we know." Patrick steepled his fingers in front of him. "I agree." Kent looked in surprise at Patrick, who shrugged. "We're no closer to solving this problem," he said. "The council can't do anything when they don't know the true depth of the problem." Penny looked at Max. "What do you think?" Kent winced slightly at the pleading note in her voice, Penny had been the one who had brought food to him everyday for weeks after Lily died. She was the one who used to sit in the chair in his room, talking about nonsense for hours just to fill the silence. He wouldn't have made it through his grief without her, and it always cut him to hear pain in her voice. Max looked at Penny and then over at Patrick and Max. "I'm not willing to take the risk. If we tell them, this could be devastating for my family. You know what could happen." "But the pack is bigger than just your family," Patrick pointed out. "We have to focus on what is best for the pack." "That's easy for you to say," Max retorted, "when you're not the one who will pay the price." Kent pinched the bridge of his nose. "But Pat's right. We have to think about the pack." "I did this for you," Max snapped, leaning forward to glare at Kent. "Penny and I did everything to protect you. I never even asked for any of this, but like hell will I let my family suffer for it." Kent flinched back in his chair as though he had been smacked, his chest tightening. "That's not fair," Patrick cut in. "You can't place the blame solely on Kent for this." "I'm not," Max replied curtly, "I'm just stating facts. We're in this position because we made a decision together four years ago, a decision that was made to protect our alpha. I would expect that same protection to be leant back to me." 1/3 +8 Points > "Max," Penny said softly, putting her hand on his arm, "you're being too harsh on him." Max stared at her for a moment before sighing, dropping his head into his hands. "What if we don't tell everyone from the council?" Kent suggested, swallowing hard. "What if we only told Riley?" "We might as well just tell the council," Max replied, dropping his hands. "I like Riley. She seems like a good person, but she also is here to do a job. A job that she is apparently the best at. She didn't get to be the best by keeping secrets." "But she's Kent's mate, right?" said Penny. "She's going to be our luna. We can trust her, right?" Max looked at Penny for a moment. "Has he told you everything? Has he told you about how she isn't even sure she wants to accept him?" Penny frowned. "Riley said something, but she didn't go into details." Patrick looked at Kent. "How are things going between you and her? She was with you all morning." Kent stared at Patrick, not sure how to answer that question. How were things between him and Riley? He thought about her curled up against him this morning. He thought about their wolves running through the forest earlier, about holding her against his chest after she admitted that Paul had never let their wolves meet. "Listen, Kent." He looked up to see Max watching him. "You're my best friend. I trust you more than anyone in the world, but I can't risk my family. Once she accepts you and is really going to be our luna, then we can tell her." Kent stared at Max for a long minute. "I can't just make her accept me. I can't just force her to be in a relationship with me." "I'm not expecting you to," Max replied, shaking his head. "I know you wouldn't do that. Do you think there is a chance she is going to accept you?" "Yes," Kent said quickly, mostly because he wanted to believe it. "Do you think she's going to accept you soon?" Kent thought about yesterday at the hospital, at the look of relief that had crossed Riley's face when he walked into the room. He thought about how she had asked him to stay with her last night, tucked into his side like she belonged there. "I think things are going well with us right now. I think..." He paused, unsure. "I think there's a good chance it will happen." Max nodded. "If she accepts you, then we can tell her." the/arm Kent drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. "Let me tell her myself when it's time, ok? If you don't phrase things right, Riley will misinterpret them. She'll know I'm not lying to her when I explain things, ok?" Everyone nodded in agreement. After they all left, Kent walked over to one of the windows, staring down at the training grounds. Afternoon groups of beginning and mid-level warriors were in session, but Kent barely noticed them. 2/3 Chapter 45 Chapter 45