Wait, what? Dean could have expected anything except a mentioning of The Folk. He had no dealings with the Sidhe, and in fact, he'd never met one in all of his years. What could they want with him?

  Dean suspected this must all be a huge misunderstanding, but he wasn't above taking advantage of it. As such, instead of replying, he stayed silent and waited to see what Boris would say and do next.

  His patience paid off when the rival Alpha approached and undid Dean's shackles. No longer forced upright by the silver bindings, Dean went down on his knees. He hated himself for the show of weakness, and he didn't allow it to last. Summoning the image of Will and that of his sons, he struggled to his feet.

  He even managed not to sway, and he noticed a look of surprise, and maybe even begrudging respect of Boris's face. In seconds, it was replaced by a dismissive sneer. "Follow me. You have a visitor."

  Boris walked out of the cave and Dean trailed after him, suppressing the urge to shiver. The cave had been freezing, but the surface wasn't much better, since it left Dean exposed to the winds. It wasn't as cold as it could have been, though, and Dean was thankful that whoever had decided to host the Gathering at Lake Baikal had at least had the foresight of not doing so in the dead of Siberian winter.

  A car was waiting for them, and obviously, Boris reached it first. He retrieved a change of clothes from the trunk and tossed them at Dean. It wasn't out of any sense of helpfulness toward Dean—likely, the Gathering wanted to get him at least halfway presentable for the Sidhe—but Dean was still thankful, if not to Boris, to whoever had led to his release.

  He quickly got dressed, wishing he could have cleaned up a bit before, but knowing he didn't have time for it. Boris entered the car and Dean followed his example, very much aware of the other two vehicles stationed further back, and the other two wolves watching him from inside this particular one. Even if he'd wanted to flee—which he didn't—he wouldn't get very far.

  As the car started, Dean wished he could ask some of the many questions that popped up in his mind. But Boris Maximoff hated him, a petty grudge ranging from a time when they'd both been far younger. Dean didn't even remember the original reason anymore. It had only gotten worse when the truth about Dean had come out, since Boris's mate, Elena, had notoriously anti-human views.

  The Maximoff pack was very influential in Russia, and Dean suspected they, together with Wendel Adler, had been instrumental in his sentencing. But that didn't matter right now. Dean had other things to worry about than Boris's hatred.

  The drive didn't last long, and soon the Maximoff residence loomed ahead. Dean knew the house provided a stunning view of the lake, but to him, it seemed ominous.

  Boris's underlings parked in front of the sprawling mansion. Boris left the car without looking at Dean, and Dean followed, still without asking any questions. It was only when he actually stepped into the house that he felt it. Will. Will was here.

  Dean's mind started to work furiously. How? How could this be? Sure, the Gathering had known his mate's identity, but there was no reason to bring Will here since they'd already decided to punish Dean for the imagined slights and be done with it. Were they planning to use Will against Dean? There was no other explanation, even if Dean couldn't understand why.

  He pushed past Boris and ran, knowing his panic showed far more than he'd have liked but unable to help himself. Will might have survived fifty years without Dean, but he was still human, and still so very vulnerable. Anyone here could kill him.

  The guards he passed didn't try to stop him. Perhaps Boris had warned them of such possible behavior on his part. Some simply watched impassively, while others had that disgusted sneer which Dean had come to associate not only with a dislike for humans, but also strong homophobic notions.

  Dean ignored them all, his wolf instincts fully focused on his target, tracking down the lingering traces of his mate's scent. He could smell no panic, but Will was ridiculously brave, and always had been. Moon be blessed, for all he knew, Will had ventured here with some sort of hare-brained plan of rescuing Dean.

  He didn't have much time to process that idea because he finally reached the room where the trail ended. He burst inside, and his gaze instantly went to his mate.

  Will seemed unharmed, but Dean couldn't be sure, couldn't know for certain until he touched his beautiful human. His mate got up from the couch he'd been sitting in, and Dean rushed forward, crossing the remaining distance between them.

  He took Will into his arms, squeezing him tightly, inhaling the familiar scent of his hair. No blood, no fear, no pain. Thank the moon.

  "It's okay, Dean," Will whispered, hugging him back. "I'm fine. We're all fine."

  The words finally got Dean to snap out of his panicked trance. "Jessie? Finn?"

  Will broke away from the embrace and smiled up at Dean. "They're okay. Finn won the challenge with Wendel Adler. Jessie is struggling a bit, but Andreas's return helped. Everyone is worried about you." His expression sobered and he clenched his fists. "What did you think you were doing, offering yourself like that? Surely, there had to be another way."

  The anger blazing in Will's eyes made Dean wince. He didn't have an answer for that. When faced with the Gathering's decision to track down Jessie, he'd panicked and simply traded himself for his son. Finding a compromise hadn't been an issue, not with everyone as incensed as they'd seemed. Perhaps he should have tried, but Dean didn't think it would have worked.

  "To be honest, I suspect nothing else would have stopped them," he told Will. "I just... It didn't seem like a high price to pay, as long as Jessie was safe."

  Will glanced away from him, taking deep breaths as if struggling for composure. Dean could empathize. He knew that, at heart, Will's priority would always be Jessie, which was one of the reasons why Dean was shocked his mate had come here to begin with.

  He was trying to come up with some way to reassure Will when he caught movement through the corner of his eye. For the first time, he realized there was someone else in the room. He looked up, only to face a big, blond-haired man who was eyeing him with obvious disapproval and maybe... jealousy?

  Dean scowled and pulled Will into his embrace again, instinctively trying to stake his claim. He had no actual right over Will, though, and his mate freed himself from his hold mere moments later. "I suppose I should make the introductions. Dean, this is my friend, Mathias Girard. Matt, this is—"

  Mathias cut Will off before he could finish the phrase. "I know who he is. Your so-called mate."

  The latter word was said with such disdain Dean felt it like a slap in the face. His wolf reared his head inside Dean and he narrowed his eyes at Mathias. "Do you have a problem with me?"

  "I do," Mathias shot back. "You see, I believe you're unworthy of Will, and I aim to prove that. He needs someone who can stand by him in his time of need, not a man who leaves at the first sign of hardship."

  "And I take it you think you can do a better job."

  "I already have." Mathias sneered. "I was there for him when you weren't. I held his hand when they cut him open to pull out the son you abandoned. I loved him while you loved someone else."

  Will went pale, his body as tense as a bow string. "Matt..."

  "Don't, Will. You know I'm right and so does he."

  It hurt, but Dean did indeed know that, at least in a way. Of course he'd been aware Will couldn't have survived on his own throughout his pregnancy. If nothing else, he'd needed help delivering Jessie. That didn't make it any easier to hear that another man had taken his place, that Mathias had stood where Dean should have been.

  He hated himself then, hated himself because he hadn't been able to support his mate, that he hadn't fought harder for what he and Will had shared. It wasn't anything new to him. The self-loathing came to him every single day, since that fateful night when he and Will had been forced apart. He had no right to Will, no right to make demands when he himself had betrayed Will so utterly. But his heart was as weak and selfish as it had always been, and he couldn't help but also hate Mathias for claiming moments that should have belonged to Dean.

  Dean shook himself and took a deep breath. No, that wasn't it. As much as it hurt to acknowledge it, Mathias wasn't the one at fault here. "Then I owe you a great debt," he told the man. "I thank you for supporting him at a time when I could not."

  Mathias gaped. He'd obviously not expected that reply. "Do you think I want your gratitude?"

  "Not at all, but you still have it," Dean answered without missing a beat.

  Mathias laughed. "Goddess, but you are arrogant. You don't have the right to be grateful for anything I did for Will and Jessie. They're not yours to be grateful for."

  Dean struggled to rein in his wolf, even if Mathias's words were straining the already frayed edges of his control. "Will is my mate, and Jessie is my son," he replied steadily. "I won't lie. I didn't do right by them. But I still love them, and I have loved Will for more than half a century. That is a truth you cannot deny."

  "Oh, and I take it the fact that you were bonded throughout these past decades conveniently slipped your mind."

  Dean had no intention of opening his heart further to a man who obviously hated him. If he really did reveal all the secrets he'd kept for years, it would be to Will and Will alone. "I'm not having this conversation with you. If I have explanations to give, it is to Will. He and Jessie are the only ones who have the right to judge me. Not you."

  Mathias opened his mouth, perhaps intending to spit out another insult at him. He never got the chance.

  A knock sounded at the door, and Boris stepped into the room before either of them could even bid him to enter. "I take it you're all set."

  "All set for what?" Dean asked, already dreading the response.

  "Surely our guest explained," Boris drawled. "He didn't? Ah. Well, you see, the whole point of you being released is to host a challenge between you and Mr. Girard. He feels that your unavoidable defeat would lead his rights over your mate to pass to him. The Gathering couldn't deny him."

  "Matt, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," Will protested. "You... You can't be serious."

  Boris was the one to reply in Mathias's stead. "Oh, he's very serious. The challenge is official, and already in place. It can take place within the hour."

  "Within the hour?" Will repeated, face as white as a sheet. "But... Dean is still suffering from silver poisoning. There's no way..."

  Boris waved Will's words off. "Stay out of this, human. You're only here because you're the prize of this challenge." He sneered. "To be honest, I have no idea what two werewolves could see in you, but well... Eye of the beholder and all that. Just be quiet and don't get involved. You've done enough."

  Impossibly, Will's shoulders went even more rigid at the latter words. Dean knew enough about guilt to realize his mate was blaming himself for Dean ending up in this situation.

  Ignoring the presence of the other two men, Dean took Will's hands and kissed them. "Hey, listen. This is a good thing. I'm fine. I can win the challenge—for you, for us. I won't fail you again, I promise."

  "How touching," Boris said behind him. "You shouldn't lie to your mate, Simmons. I thought you already knew that."

  The disgustingly saccharine tone made Dean want to punch Boris, but he didn't. Instead, he focused on Will's beautiful, pale face. "I've never lied to you, and I never will. I can do this."

  "I can't believe you can say that with a straight face." Mathias growled. "What about your bonding? How did it completely slip your mind to mention it to Will before you insinuated your way into his heart?"

  Dean goggled at his mate. He'd never approached this topic, because talking about Maria with Will would be awkward at best. However, it hadn't occurred to him that Will might have believed him to be already mated when they'd met. "No!" he snapped, instinctively defending himself even if he hadn't intended to rise to the bait. "It wasn't like that."

  Mathias arched a brow, his disdain obvious. He'd have probably said something more, but Will interrupted them. "Mathias..."

  Something in Will's tone—or perhaps the fact that Will had used the man's actual name instead of its shortened form—made Mathias back down. "This is a futile conversation. The challenge would not stand if both of the combatants aren't in optimum shape. There is no honor in defeating an opponent who is already halfway dead. We will wait."

  Without another word, Mathias pushed past Will and Dean, and stalked out of the room. Boris cursed in Russian, having obviously looked forward to seeing Dean ripped to pieces by Mathias. "Enjoy this little reprieve, while it lasts. Oh, and for the record... We'll be watching closely, so don't think the human can in any way convince his... friend to spare you. The terms are set—and you will fight to the death."

  Dean half expected the other werewolf to drag him off again and throw him back into a cave, but it didn't happen. Instead, Boris left the room, already barking orders at his staff and instructing them to keep an eye on both Will and Dean. A guard closed the door, and the relief that filled Dean was so overpowering his knees almost gave way.

  Then again, it probably wasn't relief at all that caused his weakness. Pride and resolve had kept him standing when he'd been in Mathias's presence, but with his rival gone, he suddenly felt drained. His body would heal now that the silver had stopped poisoning him, but the process had only just started. He'd have probably fallen had his mate not been there to catch him.

  "Easy there," Will whispered. "Come now. You need to rest."

  He guided Dean to the couch and carefully helped him lie down. A burst of shame coursed through Dean at this show of weakness, but he couldn't hide from his mate, and Will wouldn't judge him.

  Still, when Will moved to pull away, anxiety rushed over Dean. He grabbed Will's arm and kept his mate from leaving. "Don't go. I need to talk to you."

  "Whatever you have to say can wait," Will argued, shaking his head. "We need to clean your wounds and get you something to eat."

  "It's already waited for too long." Dean protested. "Please, Will, look at me."

  Will did, and Dean was so taken with the deep pools of his green eyes that he almost forgot what he wanted to say. It was the tension reflected in Will's gaze that reminded him of it. "I never lied," he told Will. "When we met, I didn't have a mate."

  "I went to track you down when you didn't show up for our meetings," Will said quietly as he sat on the edge of the couch. "The woman at the bed and breakfast told me you'd left with your wife."

  Dean winced. Given that he hadn't even been able to send Will a note, he could only imagine how hard the whole thing had struck Will.

  "That night, at the Gathering, my father cornered me. He knew about us, Will. He threatened to kill you if I didn't do what he wanted me to. So... I obeyed. But I always loved you. That has never changed, not even once."

  He wished he could say that there had been no other choice, but he had promise not to lie, and he didn't know that for a fact. At the time, it had seemed like that, but now... Dean had spent fifty years regretting that he hadn't at least attempted to find another way. And then, he'd been torn between the sons he loved so much and the mate whose absence left him so bereft.

  He didn't really expect Will to believe or forgive him, but his mate always had a way of surprising him. "Who was she?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly. "Your... mate?"

  The question shocked Dean to the core. He didn't know if he would have ever dared to ask about Will's past had it not hit him straight in the face today. But he supposed Will deserved to know, and Will had always been so very brave.

  "I noticed you didn't deny loving her," Will finished quietly.

  Dean sighed. "That's because I did love her, but not the same way I love you. In many ways, Maria was the only thing that kept me going—she and the sons she gave me. She was the only one to understand what I'd lost. We never really had a relationship as would be expected between mates. Our romantic contact was minimal at best. Toward the end, she was more my sister than anything else. But yes, I loved her."

  His voice must have held more pain than he'd have liked, because Will cupped his cheek gently. "What happened?"

  "Maria... The whole reason why the two of us were pushed together so abruptly was because she had a human mate too, a human girl. I'd tell her stories of you, and she'd tell me about her human mate. In any case, unlike you, Maria's mate never fell pregnant, and her DNA never suffered the changes that came with that. We kept an eye on her regardless, which is why we found out exactly when she died."

  It had been horrible. The blankness that had flooded Maria's gaze that day had filled him with a mix of dread, grief and disgusting relief. Her mate's loss had struck Maria so seriously that Dean had mourned with her, but in his heart, he'd also felt thankful it hadn't been Will to die. Even if Dean hadn't been able to track Will down—he now knew this was because Will had changed his last name—he'd felt his mate was still alive.

  "We went to the funeral together," he continued. "I held her hand. She was so cold, and I knew that day that I would lose her."

  "She didn't survive her mate's death," Will guessed.

  "She tried." Dean sighed heavily. "She did her best, for Saul and Finn. But it was so painful, and in the end, she couldn't do it. And I love you just as much as she did her mate. I know I failed you, and I don't deserve to make such claims. I know I wasn't there for Jessie when he most needed me. I'm so very sorry for fucking up every single thing I try. But if you don't believe anything else, believe this—I love you, and I always have."

  Much to his surprise, Will leaned over him and brushed a gentle kiss over his lips. "I believe you. Now, get some sleep. You've earned it."

  Dean didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to close his eyes, lest his mate be gone when he awoke. Will seemed to guess his thoughts. "I won't leave your side. We won't be apart again, I promise you that. Rest."

 

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