Destiny Concealed, page 25
“Yes, Alex, it is.” When she turned her head to look at him, tears sat unshed in her eyes. “If Ezekiel chooses to break the mate bond with me, I’ll be ruined. No male would ever choose to be with me.”
“I’ll choose to be with you,” he said desperately, reaching over and gripping her hands. “I’ll choose you until the very day I die.”
She gave him a watery smile. “I know, but you’re leaving tomorrow to go to a pack over four hundred miles away.”
“Come with me, then,” he said, the words spilling out of his mouth without any real thought. “Come with me and we can start over.”
“Alex— “
“Just hear me out,” he said, talking over her. “You can come with me and Casey. You’ll get a new life, away from the pack and Ezekiel. Away from—”
“My brother?” she interrupted. “Because if that’s what you’re asking me…”
Was that what he was asking? “I love you,” he blurted out. “I love you, and I would never ask you to do that.”
“Good, because I love you, too, and I would never ask you to give up your family for me.”
“So, you’re going to stay, but are you going to stay with him?”
She gave him a sideways glance. “If by him, you mean Ezekiel, then I don’t know.”
“What’s not to know?” he snapped back, suddenly angry with the thought of letting the other male touch his woman again.
Saskia sighed, exhausted by the conversation. “Breaking a mate bond isn’t like getting a divorce. I can’t just decide that I don’t want to be mated to him anymore. Pack magic bound us. Blood binds us still.”
That revelation left Alex cold. “So, you’re joined together forever?”
She shrugged. “Kind of, I guess.”
“This can’t be the first time this has happened,” he muttered more to himself than to Saskia.
She shrugged. “Wolves mate for life.”
The thought of Saskia being stuck with Zeke for the rest of her life made Alex’s gut twist. “If there is a way, would you take it? Would you break the mate bond?”
Alex knew he was torturing himself with the questions. She had told him she wouldn’t already, but he had to make her see that she wouldn’t be tainted. He would take her. He was a Bitten wolf. As far as their society was concerned, he was already the dirt they walked on.
She sucked in a deep breath again. “If I did, I would be irrevocably ruined.”
“So you’d stay with Zeke just to keep up the pretence of being happy, even though you’re desperately unhappy?” he demanded.
Saskia’s denim-blue eyes shot to his face. “I’m not desperately unhappy.”
“Really? So all the running away from your mate meant you were ecstatic with your whole life? Fuck, Saskia! Why can’t you take the out I’m giving you?” Alex’s voice had risen and Saskia’s expression had become more and more shocked.
When he was finished, she sat there in the passenger seat, twisting her hands together, her eyes fixed on something far away. “If you love me as much as you say, you wouldn’t have to ask that question. You would know why I can’t give everything up. I made my decision, Alex. I choose Zeke.”
Her mate’s name left her tongue on a whimper, and Alex could tell she was lying. He narrowed his eyes on her face, scrutinizing the tight lines branching out from her eyes, the tenseness of her jaw. She was pushing him away on purpose.
But Alex let it go. He didn’t want his last few hours with Saskia to be tainted with such heartache. He followed the city traffic through downtown Buxton until they reached Saxon’s apartment. Taking the last spot out the front, Alex put the car into park and let grief wash over him.
Saskia popped open the car door, looking over at Alex when he touched her face softly. “Can I come up?”
She looked between him and the building. “I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” she replied softly.
Alex took back his hand, anger filling him. Pushing it away, he took one final look at the woman he would love forever. Tears sat in her eyes, and he would have done anything to erase them for her, to make sure she never had any reason to cry ever again.
But he didn’t have that power.
He didn’t even have that right.
“Thank you for driving me home,” she whispered; her voice was so incredibly soft and gentle—haunting.
“Is this goodbye?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I’m afraid it is.”
Fuck, this wasn’t getting any easier. “Stay there. I’ll come around to your side.” Without waiting for an answer, he popped open the door and stepped out into the street. When he made it around to the other side, Saskia was trembling. Alex helped her from the car, taking her hand and pulling her into the line of his body.
She whimpered and melted against him, wrapping her arms around his waist. With one hand on her back, Alex’s other hand found the back of her head, pressing her to him. He didn’t want to forget the way she felt, or smelled, or sounded, or looked. He wanted to memorize every instant of this heartbreaking goodbye.
His tears fell into her hair. Roughly, he scrubbed the others from his face. When Saskia started to pull away, he pulled her in closer for half a second before finally giving in and letting her step away.
With arms wrapped around her middle, Saskia looked up at him, the misery in her eyes unbearable. Alex looked down at his boots, but it was Saskia’s warm palm on his cheek that drew his head up once more.
Placing his hand over hers, Alex closed his eyes and hoped she was changing her mind.
“I love you.”
That was all she said to him before running up the stairs and into the apartment building, catching the door as someone left. He watched her silhouette disappear from view.
Saskia chest was hurting so badly. There was a burning in her throat, and a sting in her eyes that wouldn’t go away either. As she raced up the stairs to her brother’s apartment, all she could hear were Alex’s words to her.
Really? So all the running away from your mate meant you were happy? Fuck, Saskia! Why can’t you take the out I’m giving you?
His words had shocked her, but the truth of them wounded her more. Yes, she was unhappy, but she wouldn’t let him ruin his life too by being associated with her. She just couldn’t do it.
While she’d been pressed to his hard body, she’d felt loved and protected and worthy. She’d felt his tears, smelled his sorrow, wanting so badly to reach up and tell him she was sorry and yes, she would go with him. It was only her honor that had stopped her.
By the time she reached the third floor, the few tears had become a torrent, running down her cheeks, blurring her vision. Fumbling with her keys, she opened up the apartment door and shut it behind her before breaking down completely, slumping against the wall.
Was she doing the right thing? Of course she was. There could be no future with Alex. He was being shipped off to Casey’s pack in the morning. It was a mercy to finish it when she did. She knew all of these things, but her wolf was fighting her decision. She knew her mate—her one true mate—had come and gone from her life.
For the second time.
Dragging her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, she bowed her head and let the tears come. She wept for Zeke and Alex and Saxon. But mostly she wept for herself.
“Saskia?” Saxon asked. Saskia lifted her head slowly, her neck stiff and her face puffy from crying. She blinked up at her brother, watching as his confusion turned to concern. Getting down onto his haunches, he pushed some of the hair away from her face, exposing her swollen and bruised cheek.
“What the hell happened to you?” he snarled, gripping her chin and tilting her head in different angles. His eyes had slipped to his wolf’s, a low steady growl building in his chest. “Who did this to you?” he demanded. Saskia could feel the power of his wolf emanating from his body, something she hadn’t felt in such a very long time.
“Zeke hit me,” she whispered. Saxon was stock-still except for his nostrils. They were flaring wildly, dragging fresh air into his lungs. The growling became louder, forcing Saskia to lower her eyes.
“Why?” he demanded, his voice more wolf than man.
She drew in a cleansing breath and released it before telling her brother the whole story. Everything. Even the part where she and Alex made love. When she was done, Saxon was pacing in front of her, agitated like a caged…well, wolf. Each time she mentioned Zeke’s name, he clamped his teeth together, growling around a curse.
When he eventually calmed down a little, he asked, “What did Rhett have to say?”
“He’d have to think about a suitable punishment.”
Oh, boy. She really shouldn’t have said that. Saxon was back to raging beast in a heartbeat. “A suitable punishment?” he snarled. “Death would be fitting.”
“Saxon, please just listen,” Saskia pleaded. “We’ve both done something wrong here. I betrayed my mate, and he lashed out at me.”
As soon as the last words had left her tongue, she knew she’d made a mistake. Saxon marched toward her, getting up close into her personal space. In her mind, she could see her wolf’s ears flatten against her skull, her lips peeling back from her teeth.
“Don’t make excuses for him. He struck you, and that’s not okay. No worthy male would strike a female. Ever.”
Saskia nodded because that was all she could do and watched him resume his pacing. “All right, so this is what’s going to happen: you’re going to move back in here with me and I’ll go around and get the rest of your clothes and anything else you want from the house over the next few days.”
“I don’t think you should go around there,” she managed to say, quickly adding, “If Zeke is there, you’ll get into a fight.”
“I can take him,” he shot back, cracking his knuckles like he was picturing the fight already. There was no doubt her brother would win. He was a strong fighter, and he would be fighting for her. “For your sake, I’ll go when we know he’s at work.”
Yes, that sounded like a much better plan. Getting up slowly, Saskia stretched out her legs. “I’m going to take a shower then go to bed,” she announced softly, moving toward her bedroom.
“Wait,” her brother called. “Where’s Casey?”
“I’m not sure. Isn’t she staying here tonight?”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah. The last I saw her, though, was when I dropped her at the pack house this morning. She wasn’t there?”
Saskia shook her head. “No, I didn’t see her.” She noticed how worry was pinching his expression, making him look older. “I probably just didn’t see her while I was there. I had other things on my mind.”
His jaw muscles popped. “Get some sleep, Saskia. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”
She nodded and slipped into her old room. Taking off her jeans and pulling on an oversized tee, Saskia curled up under the blankets and tried to forget about the look of utter desolation on Alex’s face as she turned to leave him behind forever.
THIRTY-FIVE
Casey became aware of her surroundings very quickly—a sharp, vivid rush of awareness that left her floundering for a moment until she reminded herself that if her eyes were open, and she was still drawing breath into her lungs, she was still alive…for now.
She may have been awake, but lucidity wasn’t with her yet. She was lying on her side, her face mashed up against something rough. Her head felt too heavy, too slow to function properly. Taking in a deep breath, she let it out, willing some of the fuzziness to go with it. Casey kept up with the breathing routine until her eyes and brain were once again linked together and working in harmony.
What had happened to her?
The last thing she could really remember was leaving the pack house after telling the Helheim alpha everything that she’d seen in town.
“And what is it that you saw?” Rhett had asked.
“A female werewolf with a human guy. She bit him.” This statement had made Vaile chuckle. She glared at him. “She bit him then drove off.”
“And the guy she bit? What happened to him?” Rhett asked calmly.
“She took him with her. Duh.”
Rhett turned to Vaile. “Did she just say ‘duh’?”
“I think so, yes,” the Helheim beta replied with a smirk.
Argh, they were so infuriating. “Look, I memorized the licence plate. All we have to do is look it up and we’ll find her.” She looked at Vaile. “You’re a cop. It should be easy enough.”
Rhett sat forward in his seat, lacing his fingers together on top of the blotter. “Casey, you must be mistaken about what you thought you saw.”
She’d stormed from the house, refusing their offers to take her back into town. She’d been so angry. It was just like being back home where she was pushed out and dismissed by her father and brothers.
The details of what happened next were unclear, but she pushed through the mental haze and the events slammed against her like a wrecking ball against a building wall.
She remembered that a car had stopped, had pulled up right beside her on the empty road. She couldn’t see past the dark tint on the windows, but the next thing she knew, she was hitting the gravel, her body losing complete control. Touching her cheek, her fingertips came back flaked with dried blood.
“I see the little snoop is awake,” a female purred sweetly. Casey’s eyes swiveled around. The woman who had spoken was standing in the doorway. Casey’s instincts kicked in. She tried to sit up but found her wrists and ankles bound.
The woman took a few more steps into the room, crouching down elegantly in her vintage Chanel. Her perfume was cloying, making Casey’s nose wrinkle.
“What’s your name, female?” the woman asked.
“What’s yours?” she snapped back, grunting as she tried to break through the bonds.
“I don’t think you are in any position to make demands,” the woman replied in a sugared drawl. “Answer me.”
Casey’s wolf wasn’t afraid of this woman. They were probably equally ranked when it came to dominance, which wasn’t a bad place to be in. “Crystal,” she spat.
Vintage Chanel tutted. “Don’t lie to me, or I’ll be forced to put you to sleep again. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”
Fuck. Casey couldn’t afford to have any more drugs pushed into her system. She needed to remain as alert as possible. “Casey,” she replied, hating that she’d had to submit.
“Where are you from, Casey?”
“I’m a Helheim wolf,” she lied.
Vintage Chanel laughed. “No, you’re not.” She leaned closer and inhaled. “You don’t smell like a Helheim wolf.”
“Alfheim pack,” she muttered in reply.
“What are you doing here?”
“Helping out a friend.”
The woman harrumphed then stood up.
“What are you going to do with me?” Casey asked frantically, watching as the woman turned around to leave. She glanced over her shoulder, her golden eyes glowing.
“I don’t know yet.”
Ezekiel’s skin was still twitching from being forced to change back so quickly. Rhett had just left his house, taking Saskia with him. When Sabel had ushered her out the door, Zeke saw the huge red welt on the side of her face, the outline of his fingers clearly visible on her soft skin.
He hadn’t meant to lash out and strike her, but his wolf was in pain. He’d lost himself completely and by the looks of things in their house, his wolf had raged, destroying almost everything.
Being forced to shift back had been a humiliation for both him and his wolf, but there was no way he could have resisted the command from Rhett. Forcing himself onto his feet, Zeke wandered into their bedroom and rummaged around for some clothes to put on as well as some shoes to avoid getting his feet cut up on the shards of glass scattered around the floor.
As he walked past the door, he eyed the huge hole gouged into the wood by his claws and shuddered. His wolf would have hurt Saskia if she hadn’t shut herself in their bedroom. At the time, that was what he’d wanted, too, but now that common sense and his humanity had returned, the thought of harming a single hair on her head made him feel sick.
Fully dressed, Zeke set about picking up the pieces of furniture he’d knocked over and sweeping up the other pieces that hadn’t survived his rampage. He just couldn’t believe Saskia would do that to him—bring another male into their mated bed and betray him and his love.
Although, if he was truly being honest with himself, he had seen it coming; he just didn’t realize it would be so spectacular. He knew she was unhappy even when she’d told him everything about who Alex was and what he meant to her. She’d said she’d chosen him, Zeke, but he knew she wasn’t happy. It really was only a matter of time.
When the house was relatively straightened up, he pulled a spare blanket and pillow from the linen closet, dragging his sorry ass over to the couch. There was no way he could sleep in their bed tonight, not after finding out what he had. Slumping down onto the cushions, he ignored the huge tear in the fabric, ignored the foam spilling out from it, and pulled the blanket over himself, praying he could forget about the whole night.
A heavy pounding on the door woke him. Sitting up, he stared at the front door for half a second as the hammering continued. Blinking, he realized it was morning. His legs protested as he stood up from the couch. Stretching his arms over his head, he padded to the door and opened it.
Standing on the small front porch were Vaile and Sabel—both looking as serious as a heart attack.
“You have ten minutes to get dressed and come with us,” Vaile said, his voice hard. Zeke’s gaze bounced from his beta to the captain of the guard then back again. They were here to take him to see Rhett. Ezekiel nodded mechanically. After dressing in a pair of black slacks and a collared shirt, he returned to find Vaile and Sabel exactly where he’d left them.
Following them out to their car, he got in the back, made suddenly nervous by the silent routine they were both holding up. He let out a resigned sigh and sank deeper into the car’s leather.
