Page 18 of Twisted Mates

“He had no right,” he hisses.

“Please, Xander.”

He studies my face, his blue eyes taking in every detail. The sharp lines of his cheeks and jaw soften and the coiled muscles under my hand relax. He releases a long breath. “I’m sorry, Alexia.”

“Me too,” I respond, letting him go.

“Do you need my help?” Xander asks Kai.

He shakes his head. “We got this.”

Xander nods and looks at me for a long moment like he wants to say something. But instead, he looks at Kai and says, “Call if you change your mind.”

“Will do,” he says, and without another second’s hesitation, we’re out the door.

It’s not as cold today, and some of the snow has melted. The sun beams down on us as we jump into Kai’s Land Rover and make our way down the mountain toward the highway. We don’t speak until we’re cruising at 80 MPH, I finally look over at him.

“Kai, I’m sorry I’m causing you so much stress.”

He grips the steering wheel harder and shakes his head, glancing over at me. “You’re not. It’s my father. I can’t believe he did this. Taking your job from you, then demanding that we...” His cheeks flush and he clenches his jaw.

“I know,” I say softly. “But if I hadn’t chosen you?—”

“You didn’t. Luna did,” he says, looking at me from the corner of his eye. “Right?”

“Right, but still. You wouldn’t be dealing with this.”

“Stop, Lex. We can’t play the ‘what-if’ game; it just is what it is. We have to deal with it now.”

I fall silent and stare out the window. I know he’s right. I just can’t believe my career that I worked so hard for is flushed down the toilet. My boss probably thinks I’ve lost my mind. I don’t even know what the letter said, what the reasoning was. It’s notlike the world knows shifters exist. He couldn’t have said,We are writing to inform you that effective immediately Ms. Rush has found her mate and now she’s stepping up as the queen of the Crescent pack.

“Where’s your office?” Kai interrupts my inner monologue.

"Just outside of the park entrance. You will see a building to the right before we reach the gate.”

“Gotcha,” he says. I guess Kai never had a reason to come to my work before. He didn’t spend much time with me while I was in college, and I didn’t share with him all my most embarrassing moments. Truth be told, we have a history but neither of us know much about the other’s present life.

Several minutes later, Kai exits the highway and follows the country road for a short distance. We pull into the parking lot, and I sigh as I get out of the car. I can’t believe this is it. This rundown building housed my dream job. By no means was it glamorous. I studied stats about tree growth and water levels and the population of wildlife. But it was what I studied so hard to do. And I loved it.

Kai opens the glass front door for me, and we step inside. I stop to talk with Ronald, the older park ranger who mans the front desk. He asks me question after question about my health. And a wave of guilt washes over me. I’ve lied to everyone in this office in order to keep the secret of what I was truly doing these past months. The regret lingers even when the conversation comes to an end.

“That was awful,” I whisper to Kai as we walk down the corridor that leads to the lab where my office is—well, was.

He gives a hushed apology, and we fall into an awkward bout of silence. It’s like there is a canyon between us. We are fighting to walk this together, but it feels like being alone. I just need to keep reminding myself that I’m not. Kai is here. He sympathizeswith my frustration and wants to help. But from the look on his face, he feels just as helpless as me.

We reach the labs, and the automated sliding door opens for us. Everything is in a shade of gray from the pictures on the wall to the empty reception desk at the front. It’s sterile, clean exactly the way a laboratory should be.

The only thing bright in the room is the smiling face of my supervisor, Sophie. “Well, well,” she says in a sing-song voice. “You made time to come and say goodbye. Are you sure you were gone on medical leave and not searching for that new fancy job you landed?”

I try not to cringe and force a smile on my face. She has been given an entire story about my life, and I have no clue what it is.

But I can’t mess this up. It’s too important to the entire pack. “I know the timing is suspicious, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am going to miss y’all so much, though!” I say, crossing the room to her.

She holds out her arms for a hug, and when I step into her embrace, I nearly cry. Sophie and I aren’t best friends by any means, but she’s definitely my closest work friend, and I look up to her. While she isn’t myboss, I went to her for advice many times during my tenure here.

“Aww, we’ll miss you too, but don’t worry. We’ll have to make sure we go out for drinks sometime.” She gently pushes me back and looks me over from head to toe. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good and ready to move on with what’s next for me.”

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