Page 112 of Claimed

“I want to hate her, but I can’t.”

“Oh,” I whisper. “Yikes.”

“Erica saw me pining for him like I’ve been doing way too long as he waltzed off with yet another woman to notch into his bedpost. But Erica texted Danica and asked her not to go there with him because it would hurt me. I didn’t know about the text until after the fact. But Jase saw the text, reamed me out, crushed my heart, and stormed off. Then all the drama started with your brother and now…Jase is out of town.”

“Oh,” I repeat.

“So, where he and I left things last night and now he’s left town to go track down his sister and your brother and it’s his turn tomate and he’s going to a shifter village with how many mating-aged women? A dozen at least?”

I blow out a breath. “I can see why you’re concerned.”

“Ugh!” She dramatically drops her forehead to the kitchen island.

“But if he’s meant to be with you, it’ll be you, right?”

“What if he’s not meant to be with me?” she asks.

“Then maybe whoever you are meant to be with is just around the corner?”

“Not all shifter females have a fated mate though, do they? Alphas aren’t the majority, they’re the rarity.”

I shrug. “I guess.”

“My parents are fated. You and Grey are fated. A lot of people around me have it or will eventually get it. I don’t know what I’m gonna get. Maybe I’ll just be the town librarian forever and that’s all I’ll be.”

“Is it an awful thing to be?” I ask.

She stares into her teacup. “No.”

I lower my voice so Luke and Grey will hopefully not hear. “Most of the people in my pack live a hard life of strife with not even a fraction of the blessings you’ve gotten. I’m not trying to be insensitive, I’m just saying, if you saw where I come from you’d realize you’ve got a lot of wonderful things in your life, Bailey. Maybe not absolutely everything you want, but you’ve got everything you need. And there’s no reason to think you won’t have more wonderful things coming your way including a partner to spend your life with. You’ve got a loving family, a wonderful pack, an amazing place to live. You’ve got a great role in your pack, and I saw how many people you interacted withlast night – people around here care about you. You don’t go to bed hungry, nobody is physically or sexually abusing you, and you don’t even have to think about whether the water that comes out of the tap is poisoning you. Plus your pack has a council of leaders who care very much about you as well as the well-being of every single person you care about. That’s a lot of good.”

She’s frowning. “How bad is it where you come from, Stacy?”

The concern on her face has me realizing just how much I’ve word-vomited about my own existence.

My face goes hot and I whisper, “Bad.”

She reaches across the island and squeezes my hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you,” I say, returning the squeeze but not letting go. “Thank you for being so welcoming to me since I’ve gotten here. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

“I’m sorry if I sound like an entitled princess over here, especially after all you’ve been through.”

I jiggle her hand a little. “You don’t sound like that. I’m sorry you had an argument with Jase. I’m sorry if your love is unrequited. I hope it works out exactly how you want it, but if it doesn’t, I just want you to know you’ve got a lot of things to be thankful for. But I get it… I think. Though I’ve never loved anyone before your brother that way and it’s very much reciprocated, to imagine how awful it would feel to not get it back… I feel for you. I hope Jase comes back and identifies you as his mate. If that doesn’t happen and he comes back having chosen someone else, I hope your true mate is near and ready to light you up as much as Grey has done for me. He’s changed my life. Everything about me is slowly becoming more… me…it’s really quite incredible.” I smile and let go of her hand.

“I’m so happy for you,” she whispers.

And I know she means it. But it’s obvious that she’s not given up hope on Jase yet, that she’s still feeling all the feelings associated with the argument last night and with the worry that comes with him having left town today.

“Things were pretty bad when fate struck and showed him who I am supposed to be to him. My life changed in a heartbeat for the better. For the absolute so much better. So don’t lose heart, Bailey, okay?”

“I’ll try,” she says softly, giving me a watery smile.

I think about the fact that beyond her being the librarian, she told me she’s working on a genealogy project and talked about the shifter archives. I’m wondering if I can get some information from her about records regarding my pack, my mother. I need to think on the best way to approaching opening what could be a very ugly can of worms.

Grey’s phone rings. Bailey perks up, seeing it plugged in on the counter beside the fridge. Feeling a spike of panic, I stretch my neck and see it reads that it’s Jase calling and Grey isn’t in the room. I think he’s outside, but Bailey bolts and grabs it from the counter.

It happens so fast, I must react because she shoots me an apologetic look as she says, “Hello?”

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