Chapter 20

Erin’s POV

“Why the hell is Gavin here suddenly?” I couldn’t help but ask Emily in pure panic.

I was hoping the panic wasn’t revealed on my face, but I was completely frozen as Gavin and Henry continued to stare at one another.

“I don’t know but you can’t deny that this is exciting,” Emily chuckled in return.

I rolled my eyes at my wolf; she found the most ridiculous things exciting. One of these days, she was going to get me in a trouble.

Henry held his hand out to Gavin as he said, “Hello again, Alpha Gavin.”

Gavin kept his eyes locked on Henry’s; they were dark and filled with threat. I wouldn’t even dare speak or breathe for that matter. My breath was caught in my throat as my heart thudded violently against my chest.

Eventually, Gavin reached his hand out and accepted Henry’s hand. They shook hands and I felt myself sighing with relief. But then I realized it was far from over; their handshake continued. It seemed as if their hands were strengthening; their knuckles growing white. It was a battle of strength.

“Enough,” I said to them, placing my hand on top of theirs. “Enough of this,” I said again.

Gavin scoffed and released his hand from Henry’s.

“Gavin, why are you here?” I asked, peering up at him, keeping my tone even.

He finally pulled his eyes away from Henry’s to look down at me.

“I’ve come to speak with you,” he said in a low tone.

I felt my face warming under the intensity of his stares; I had to look away from him to recover.

“That’s a great idea,” Henry surprised me by saying. “How about we all have a talk?”

“I wanted to speak with her alone.”

“I don’t see why that’s necessary, Alpha. Whatever you have to say to Erin, you can say to me.”

I saw Gavin’s jaw tightening; I thought for a moment he was going to argue but he didn’t.

“How about we go to a coffee shop? There’s one nearby. It’s quiet, so we’ll be able to talk without interruption,” Henry suggested once Gavin proved he wasn’t going to say anything more.

“I can’t just leave work,” I say to him.

“Leave that to me,” Henry said, bending down and kissing the top of my head. “I’ll be right back.”

Henry disappeared into the building, and I saw the serious concern in Gavin’s eyes as he too stared at the building.

“Why are you here?” I asked him again, bringing his attention back to me.

“As I said, I need to talk to you.”

“There’s nothing for us to say…”

“Maybe not you, but I have some stuff to say.”

I pressed my lips firmly together; I was about to tell him off until Henry returned.

“Shall we go?” He asked, looking down at me.

I gave Gavin one more look before walking toward Henry’s car.

“We’ll take separate cars,” I said over my shoulder, getting into Henry’s passenger side.

Henry and Gavin looked at one another briefly before going to their separate cars. Just as Henry got into the driver’s seat, I snapped him a look.

“This is a terrible idea,” I muttered.

“It could be fun,” he laughed. “Did you see the look on his face?”

“Yes,” I said, staring down at my hands. “He looked angry. Do you suppose he’s the reason you caught on fire?”

“The heat wave? Maybe,” Gavin said, furrowing his brows together. “I knew he had abilities, but I didn’t think heat wave was one of them.”

“He’s known to have many abilities. I thought most of them were rumors though,” I admitted.

I thought back to our moment in the bathroom when he disappeared from the stall and reappeared at his table like nothing had happened. Then, I thought back to our moment in the restaurant when he froze time and… my face warmed at the memory. I shook my head to clear it.

“What is it?” Henry asked, peering over at me as we drove to the coffee shop with Gavin trailing behind us in his own car.

“It’s nothing,” I lied, forcing a small smile. “It’s just that he might have seen me use my powers to create the rain.”

“I know, that’s exactly why I suggested we go to a coffee shop,” Gavin said, giving me a lopsided grin. I frowned, unsure of what he meant, so he continued. “He’s very powerful, I need to sit him down and really talk to him to get into his mind. I’m going to alter his memory and make him forget what he saw.”

Henry was incredibly talented when it came to his abilities. He had never failed before; though I had to admit that I was worried that Gavin was too strong to fall for a memory manipulation trick.

Henry didn’t seem worried though, quite the opposite. He was confident and I admired that the most about him.

We reached the coffee shop within a few minutes; it was only down the street from the restaurant. I sat at the table while both Gavin and Henry ordered drinks. At first, I thought they were going to argue about who bought my drinks, but I was surprised to see that Gavin had backed down and allowed Henry to do the honors.

He sat my coffee in front of me and sat beside me while Gavin took the booth across from us.

“I’m glad we can finally have a sit-down conversation,” Henry said, sipping from his cup. “I know you meant a lot to Erin in your youth. She spoke highly of you as her first love.”

“Is that so?” Gavin asked, raising only one brow as he glanced at me.

I kept my head lowered, staring at the liquid that occupied the cup. I watched it swirl around the cup, following the motion of my eyes.

“Of course,” Henry nodded. “I know our last encounter wasn’t exactly a pleasant one and for that, I apologize.”

What did that mean? What happened during their last encounter?

I wanted to ask them, but I thought against it; I didn’t want to start any further trouble.

“I appreciate you for returning the ring to me,” Henry continued. “It meant a lot to both Erin and me.”

Henry fell silent as he took another sip of his coffee. At this point, Gavin cleared his throat and leaned over the table, so he was a bit closer to me.

“I came here because I wanted you to know that Susanna and I are over,” he said to me, keeping his eyes steadily on mine.

I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do with that information.

“I’m sorry for that,” I say to him, hoping that my tone was unbothered. “She seemed like a good fit for you.”

His jaw tensed as it often did when he didn’t get his way.

“Erin—”

“I hope you can keep your word and accept that Erin has accepted my wedding ring back,” Henry said quickly, pulling Gavin’s eyes from mine so he could glare at Henry. “As we spoke about earlier, the deal was that you leave Erin alone if she accepted me as her husband.”

What?

When did this conversation happen? Is that why Gavin gave him the wedding ring back?

There was a part of me that was a little upset that Henry didn’t speak to me about this first. He hadn’t even mentioned Gavin when he asked me to accept his ring.

I feel that was a little deceitful on Henry’s part, which was unlike him.

“Would it have made a difference?” Emily asked. “If you knew what the deal was, would you have chosen Gavin over Henry?”

I didn’t answer.

I realized, through the chatter of my wolf, that both Gavin and Henry had fallen silent. Henry had said he was going to try to erase Gavin’s memories; now I just had to hope that it worked.

Neither of them spoke for what felt like an eternity; I saw both of their eyes darkening. A small smirk appeared on Gavin’s lips as he leaned across the table, continuing his gaze into Henry’s eyes. Henry appeared to be relaxed, as he often did when he used his powers. But Gavin’s response was something I wasn’t expecting.

Henry pulled his eyes away from Gavin, his brows furrowed together and a look of confusion crossing his face.

I touched his arm, bringing his attention to me. Unsure of what was happening, I asked, “Henry… are you okay?”

He looked around my face for a moment longer, recognition crossing him as he glanced over at Gavin. Then back at me, a small and fond smile crossing his lips.

“Erin, my dear sister, is this wealthy and handsome man your fiancé? When are you planning to have your wedding?”