Mistaken Consequences

Chapter 36: Uncle Tavish

He was too late. Hamish had told himself that he'd be okay with it if Tavish wanted to keep his distance after, but it still hurt. By trying, he had let himself hope and he'd been let down. Tavish wasn't interested in reconciling.

"This isn't the way back to Norwich," Tavish said when Hamish turned left out of the campus drive instead of right.

"We're not going back to the apartment. We never were. Mom's going to gather everyone and they'll meet up with us."

Tavvy sighed heavily. "Where are we going then?"

Hamish had planned on telling him about Lily. The Den represented so many things in his life, both happy and sad.

It was where Tundra had chosen him, of course, after he had recklessly decided to follow a girl into something he knew nothing about, all because he knew she loved it.

It was the place where he and Cassie had had their first kiss. It was where he'd held her in his arms for the first time, in the bedroom that had once been hers but become only his. It was where they'd talked about their dreams for the future – dreams that he'd come to realize had never been more than fantasy for her.

It was his sanctuary after Cassie had died, and it was his prison. His oaths had kept him tethered there for nearly ten long years now.

And then there was Vera. He would never forget meeting her in that basement, over a year ago now. She had fascinated him and Tundra both. What woman walked into a werewolf den and acted so utterly commanding, completely unphased by the fact that any one of them could have turned on her in a heartbeat? The same kind of person who would stand alone against her entire organization for something she believed in.

Hamish had dreamt of Vera that night, the first night in years he'd dreamt of any one person other than Cassie. For the first time in ages, he had hope. Maybe not hope for a way out, but hope for a different way. He'd almost gotten it too. For a few months, life had been normal again. No Tundra. No Knights. No Order. No deaths. The freedom hadn't lasted, but a trickle of the hope had. Hope that things wouldn't go back to the way they'd been before.

And then Vera had become pregnant, and the Den once again felt like a cage. One he was desperate to escape. As long as he was there, his life was still on hold - he had always known the Den would never house the pitter patter of little feet.

It had felt like the right place to talk. To explain his long absence and to show that he was determined to change things now.

It hadn't worked. Tavish had no interest in being a part of Hamish's life, and the idea of Tavvy saying no, refusing to even meet Lily, was too much. So he would wait. He would let Lily win over her uncle herself.

"We're meeting somebody," Hamish did admit.

"That lady you mentioned?" Tavvy asked flatly. "I thought you said you weren't proposing."

"I'm not. And she wouldn't accept, if I did."

Hamish focused on the road ahead, overly intently. Outside of Lilith, he'd never explained to anyone how he felt about Vera. Outside of Lilith, there was nobody he could trust not to push, not to interfere. He wasn't sure if he could trust Tavish, but then, Tavish would also have to care to say anything and that didn't seem to be the case.

"I lost all interest in dating after Cassie died. Vera was the first person I'd met in years that I might have tried again for. She's absolutely brilliant. She's fearless. She's selfless. If there's something she believes in, she'll fight for it with everything she's got-"