Page 68 of Loup Garou

Pulling myself together, I took a deep breath and let out a shaky laugh. “It was so bad that I’m still shaking. Sorry. Crazy moment again. Those happen a lot. It’s a good thing I didn’t force you to take me. This way you’ll have more time to observe my oddities. And I’ll have time to tell you…” I stopped, unable to believe I’d almost let him in on something that only a tiny handful of people knew about.

“Time to tell me what?”

Cupping his face, I kissed his lips gently, not caring what sort of policy I’d instituted. “I promise to sit down with you and talk about it when you’re done today. It’s for the best. Going too far from home is silly when I know you’ll want me to leave you alone.”

He baulked. “I get that something big went down. I was there when you found out your father already knew. I’d never send you away.”

“Oh, for this you will. If you were just any other man, you’d get over it, maybe not even have an issue with it. But you’re not ordinary and this isn’t something you’ll get past.”

“Linds?”

“Hey, Exavier, Pat’s about to have a heart attack. He wants you back in there!”

Exavier stared coolly down at me as the sound of Eion’s voice moved around us. Turning slowly, I found Eion standing at the end of the long hallway. He’d let his black hair grow longer and now wore it tucked behind his ears as it brushed over his wide shoulders. I knew then why the drummer for Loup Garou looked familiar. He was my ex-boyfriend.

When in the hell did he and Exavier start playing together?

Exavier picked then to slide his hand partially under my shirt. My skin flared with need and I came so close to hissing that it was almost pathetic. He kissed my cheek, putting on a show for Eion. Finding out about Eion and me had no doubt been eating at him from the moment I told him. “I love you, Linds.”

“I love you too,” I whispered back. The second it left my mouth I knew what Exavier had done. He’d gotten me to say what he knew I’d never told anyone else. He’d gotten me to confess my love for him in front of Eion.

Eion’s blue gaze locked on me, his face paled. He said nothing. He only shook his head and stared at me with complete disbelief in his eyes.

My heart shattered as I realized he had no clue who Exavier was to me. The truth was, he wouldn’t even care. I couldn’t blame him. Had roles been reversed I wouldn’t have cared either. “Eion?”

He turned quickly and went back through the door. I went to go after him and found myself still pinned beneath Exavier. I pressed on him. He didn’t move.

“Please.”

“Let him go. He needs to get used to it—to us. I know how he feels. Trust me. But you’re my mate. He needs to understand that. And he needs to know there will never be any casual sex—or sex, period—between the two of you.”

Disappointment in Exavier’s behavior pierced through me. “I get you feel vindicated now, but what you just pulled was wrong, Exavier. He didn’t deserve to find out this way.”

He snorted. “No. I didn’t deserve to find out you’d ever been with him, let alone spent years with him.”

I let my eyes go hard as I glared at Exavier. “I need to go to him.”

“What makes you think he’s hurting more than I am? Do you think I’m fine seeing the way the two of you just looked at one another? I’m not. You sure the hell didn’t look at me like that when I showed up at the rec center. You didn’t even know me. Your own mate.” He shook his head and let out a soft laugh. “It’s killing me knowing he was there with you the entire time it should have been me, Lindsay. It should have been me.”

“Let me go to him.”

His hot power pushed against me. “Did you hear me?”

Doing my best to keep hold of my temper, I nodded. “He’s what I need to talk to you about tonight. Don’t try to make me leave him like that.”

“What more do you have to tell me? I get he was your first, that you kept seeing him. What else is there?” The look he gave me told me he already knew my secrets. I wasn’t surprised. He’d been there when my father confessed to knowing I’d been pregnant. Though it had never been spelled out for Exavier, it didn’t take a genius to figure it all out. Apparently, he just wanted to hear the whole truth from my lips. I couldn’t blame him. He deserved as much.

A surge of Eion’s pain hit me. Crying out, I clutched my heart and stared at the end of the hall. “Let me go to him. Please. I need to make him understand.”

“How the hell are you picking up on his emotions?”

I stared at Exavier. “How do you know what I’m feeling?” I would have waited for him to answer but another wave of Eion’s grief struck me hard. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. “Let go of me. Don’t make me choose because you will not win this one, Xavs. He needs me right now. He needs closure.”

“You’re taking him over me?”

“Don’t make me. Let me go to him. Let me explain us to him. It has to do with what my father and I were talking about at dinner. It’s him, Exavier. When we sat at dinner and my father talked about talking with a man, it was Eion. It was never Tim. I won’t leave Eion like that.If you push me, I’ll pick him over you because I couldn’t live with myself for leaving him in this much pain.”

Exavier pushed off the wall and moved far away from me. I didn’t wait to assure he would be fine. I ran straight for Eion. When I opened the door, I didn’t see him anywhere. Spotting the exit, I took it.

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