Page 5 of Secrets & Curses of Fate

“We’ve got it,” Henry insisted. “Haden, you should show her the plans you’re making for the house you want to build.” Henry looked at me. “Haden is only living here until he can get his house built.”

“I would love to see it.” I smiled at him.

He looked at his parents and gave them a look like he knew they were up to something. He stood and held his hand out for me. I took it, and Haden led me up the stairs to a small bedroom. I knew it was his immediately—it smelled like him. There was a desk overfilled with plans and paper, and his walls had sketches pinned on them. But the rest of the room was tidy.

He just stood at the doorway with me, holding my hand and letting me take in everything. I stepped toward the desk, eager to learn about this home he had envisioned for himself. Honestly,I was just so nervous that I needed to do something with my hands so I didn't stand awkwardly. Haden walked with me, not letting go of my hand. I reached out with my free hand and started to trace my finger over the plans for the house sitting on top. It was a large home with open living spaces and a second story. I looked at the picture of the outside he had drawn and colored. It was dark wood, with lovely stone accents and big windows.

“It’s a large home.” I glanced over my shoulder at him.

“I plan on having a big family.” He smiled.

I averted my gaze from him as I bit my lip nervously. A big family. I never gave much thought to my life after I met my mate. I didn’t think about children or the type of home we would share. But now that I had seen a glimpse of what he pictured, I realized how badly I wanted all of that. Haden squeezed my hand softly until I looked at him.

“Why did you come here today?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You said you have seen me before and wanted to speak with me. Why did you decide that today was the day to approach to me?”

I would rather not tell him that I heard him and that woman exchanging heartfelt words or that he was my mate.

“It just felt like it was time. I just wondered if you would feel the same about me.”

He moved slightly forward, easing the embarrassment of my oversharing.

“And what do you feel?”

“A strong connection to you,” I said honestly.

He smiled softly.

“Me too. But I have to come clean about something.” He looked over at me. “I have seen you around for two weeks, Ardella. I told myself this morning that if I saw you again, Iwould talk to you. Imagine my surprise when I find you standing outside of my family’s home. It’s like our paths were meant to cross today.”

He had seen me before and was drawn to me. My heart was racing. His gaze dropped to my mouth. This was overwhelming. I was feeling all sorts of things toward him that I didn’t understand. Where were all of these feelings these past two weeks? Being this close to him was… different.

“You can kiss me if you like,” I said, feeling confident in the way he was watching me.

Haden dropped my hand and pulled me to him; his fingers slowly moved the hair from my face and skimmed over my cheek before grabbing my face on both sides and leaning in closer. Our lips met softly, but it ignited a fire inside of me. Haden pulled back and stared at me like he didn’t know why a simple kiss felt like that.

We both rushed toward each other at the same time. Our mouths clashed as we deepened the kiss. Haden held me against him with one hand on my lower back and the other on the back of my neck. I ran my fingers through his hair as his tongue swept across my lips, and I parted them to let him in. He hummed as our kiss quickly became desperate.

A sudden loud crashing downstairs made us pull apart and look at the bedroom door.

“What was that?” I asked, out of breath.

“I have no idea.” He looked back at me and gave me one last lingering kiss. “Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me downstairs with him.

Chapter 2

Della

When we entered the kitchen, his parents looked at us.

“Sorry, your brother dropped his cup,” Penelope said as she narrowed her eyes on someone to my right.

I glanced at Haden's brother before dropping his hand immediately as if it burned me. There was another Haden sitting at the table. He looked up, and I froze, blinking as if that might clear the confusion blurring everything. I scanned his face—same mouth, same jawline—but not the same. This version of him was a little different. His eyes were lighter. Still stormy, but notHaden’sstorm.

Mymatewas sitting at the table with the blonde woman.

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