With a quick twist of his hands, the shifter threw Ethan's arms away, then gave him a powerful shove for good measure. "Who the f**k do you think you are?"
Ethan stumbled back a couple of feet, but leaned forward quickly enough again, apparently intent on making a second run at the guy. "You come anywhere near her again, and you'll answer to me, Pack be damned."
Shock giving way to political awareness, I reached out and grabbed his arm, then hauled him around so he and the shifter weren't facing each other down.
"Ethan," I whispered fiercely. "Calm down."
Gabriel rushed toward us, Fallon and Adam behind him.
"What the f**k is going on in here?"
The ballroom went completely silent, all eyes on the vampires creating chaos in the midst of their party.
The shifter rolled his shoulders, as if tossing off the insult, then pointed at Ethan. "I was having a conversation with this vampire, and then this ass**le pushed me. And now I'm going to push him back." Thank God I was a vampire, as that added dose of strength was the only thing that allowed me to hold Ethan back. He made another drive, enough to carry me forward a couple of feet before I could stop him again.
Adam and Fallon jumped between the two of them, ready to intervene if he tried again.
Ethan, I mentally told him. Stop it! Enough!
"He grabbed her," Ethan said through clenched teeth, then shook off my arms. "I'm fine." He pushed his hands through his hair. "I'm fine, and you need to get your shifters under control." Gabriel stared at Ethan, his expression fierce, his hands clenched into fists. Magic rose again, a suffocating cloud of it, as he decided our fate. I cursed mentally, assuming this was the end of our shifter detente.
But just then, Tonya stepped behind him. One hand on her stomach, she reached out with the other to touch Gabriel's back. As if answering her caress, Gabriel glanced between me and Ethan. And after a moment, I watched understanding soften the fury in his face. He'd figured out that Ethan had nearly taken a shot at one of his Pack members because that Pack member had nearly taken a shot at me. After a moment of silence, Gabriel took a step toward Ethan, then leaned in as though offering advice to a colleague. "If you want this friendship to work, then you will keep yourself in line. I get your reasons," he said, pausing for emphasis, "but this kind of shit will not fly. Not with my Pack. Not with my people." Ethan nodded, his gaze on the ground.
Gabriel's voice softened. "Are you going to be ready to work the convocation tomorrow?"
"Of course."
After a moment, he nodded. "Then I'm taking your word on that, and that's good enough for me." He stood straight again. "We're done here," he announced to the room. It's over. It's over, and everything's fine, so let's get back to dinner, shall we?" Then he took Tonya's hand and approached my aggressor, clasping a big hand on his shoulder. "Let's go have a drink and talk about manners." As he moved into the crowd, the din of noise and conversation began to envelop us again.
"We should go," Ethan said.
I nodded and let him lead me out.
He was silent on the way to the car. That silence and the ensuing tension thickened the air in the car until we were well away from the Breckenridge property and on our way back to Hyde Park.
I'd seen his protectiveness twice now. His gestures had been powerful, but they also put uneasiness between us - as if the gestures were too powerful for a relationship as new and green as ours.
"My reaction was uncalled for," he finally said.
"You thought he was going to hurt me."
Ethan shook his head. "I've been critiquing Morgan. I've complained that he overreacts. That he allows his emotions to get in the way of the needs of his House." My stomach twisted, and I had the sickening feeling that I knew where this conversation was going.
"Ethan," I said, but he shook his head.
"If Morgan had pulled that stunt, I'd have taken him out. I'd have hauled him out of the room and reminded him of his obligations. Of his duties to his House and the rest of them. I'm frankly surprised Gabriel didn't take action of his own."
Gabriel hadn't, I thought, because with a touch, Tonya had reminded Gabriel of the reason Ethan had acted - for me.
"You stepped in to protect me. It's understandable."
"It's unacceptable," he countered.
That word stung like a punch, and I turned my face to the passenger side window so he couldn't see the tears that had begun to fill my eyes. However grand his gesture at the Breck house, Ethan was preparing his excuse.
"I could have mooted all of Gabriel's overtures, destroyed all the good rapport he's building between shifters and vampires, because of my reaction. Just like that," he added, snapping his fingers.
Then he went quiet for a moment.
"It's been a long time for me since I've cared for someone. Since I've allowed instinct to take over." His voice softened, as if he'd forgotten I was in the car. "I should have seen it coming. I should have considered the possibility that I'd react in such a way." Was I supposed to appreciate the admission that he cared for me when he was drowning in regret about it?
"What if Gabriel did offer an alliance, friendship, because of what you'd done for Berna? If we continued our relationship, and our emotions became intertwined, entangled, and it came to the same end as yours and Morgan's - what then? All the bitterness? The bad feelings?" What was I supposed to say? Was I supposed to argue with him? Remind him of the physical bliss?
Reassure him that he wasn't Morgan, and that our relationship was different?
"If we form an allegiance with the Pack, we'll have made history. We'll have made an allegiance that's unique in history. And now my reaction has put that allegiance at risk. If that's how I'm going to react, then I'm not ready for this - maybe not capable of it. Not when it puts the safety and security of the House at risk." He was quiet for a moment. "There are three hundred Cadogan vampires, Merit." And I'm one of those three hundred, I silently thought, and forced myself to ask the next question. "So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying I can't do this. Not now. Things are too fragile." I waited to speak until I was sure my voice wouldn't waver. "I don't want to just pretend it didn't happen."
"I don't have the luxury of remembering. A girl isn't reason enough to throw away my House." I swallowed the lump in my throat and, with tears drying on my cheeks, made my decision. I'd spurned Ethan's advances when he'd offered just sex. But I'd given in when he'd said he needed me.