Page 29 of My Unbearable Mate

I nodded, because I couldn’t tell her what I was really feeling with Beau on the other side of me.

She pointed at the screen. “Does that say Alba?”

I enlarged the display so we could all see it more easily, and she wouldn’t have to be so close to it. “It does.”

“It also says she’s been dead for longer than any of us have been alive,” Beau said. “At least, I’m pretty sure you guys weren’t around then.”

“We weren’t.” This time I didn’t hesitate to growl. Alba had left this realm ninety years ago.

“Where’s Anders?” Clover said. “I had a feeling he was her mate.”

I scrolled over to the side, and there was another name there. Clover frowned at the screen.

“Huh, they had to be connected somehow.” She jumped in her chair as I scrolled down. “There he is! He was her son! That’s why they seemed so connected. Wait, why is that name crossed out?”

“Looks like maybe he got rejected too.”

My mouth dropped as I saw the name under the strike-through.

Shirley Crowley.

“No.” Clover clutched the arms of her chair, and I was shocked her bear didn’t rip through her skin. “That can’t be. The time doesn’t add up. My Nana?—”

“Has powerful enough magic to keep her alive much longer than she should be.” I drummed my fingers on the keyboard, knowing we had to dig deeper but having no idea what we would find. “Which means she’s powerful enough to suppress your magic too.”

Clover’s eyes were wide. Panicked. “We don’t know that yet.”

“Are you still doubting there’s magic inside you?”

“I’m forty years old, Bell. I haven’t felt magical a day in my life until I was brought to that camp, which apparently doesn’t even exist.” She shook her head. “What if they made me magical?”

“We need to find someone who can answer these questions. This definitely is not my area of expertise. You could be right, but we also have clear proof that these bears that abducted you have a strong connection to your nana.” But that wasn’t the only thing I was curious about. “When was the last time you shifted?”

She wrinkled her nose, like the question annoyed her. “Not for a long time. Why?”

“It’s strange that you didn’t shift when you were, by your own account, taken from your car by two naked bear shifters and held hostage in a camp. You could have burst free from them if you were in your bear form. But for some reason, you stayed human.”

“I wanted to shift, but I couldn’t. It’s been a while.” Her body was still tense. The heat that rolled off her confirmed her bear was in there…but she wasn’t coming. “When I asked Nana about it, she said that it could be I was becoming too human, forgetting who I was. I hated that explanation.”

“You should.” It pissed me off too. “Someone’s holding your animal hostage, and we need to find out why.”

Clover covered her face with her hands. “I feel like my whole life has been a lie. It’s gross.”

“Not all of it.” I put my hand over hers and drew it away from her beautiful face. “The way I felt for you was real.”

“And I threw you away,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry, Bellamy. You deserved better than me.”

“Uh, should I head back to the office?” Beau was already out of his chair. “Seems like things have taken a turn into personal territory.”

“Stay,” I instructed. Then I turned back to Clover. Fuck, she looked completely destroyed. “You deserved better than whatever lie you were told. Now you have a decision to make. We can find this locket, but we might uncover some things you might not want to know. You can walk out this door and forget about the damn thing. Go on with your life. Or you can find out the truth for your clan. It’s your choice.”

She let out a long exhale. “Will you still take the case no matter what I decide?”

“The clan let me down long ago. Not sure I should be the one digging around on my own.”

She wrapped her arms around her chest and lowered her gaze. “I’m in. It’s time I learn who I really am.”

Chapter

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