Page 49 of Forsaken

Kinsey snaps her fingers as she takes a right, heading down a narrow street. “That’s the pack where the alpha heir ended up at Greystone, right?”

I nod in agreement. “It’s rumored the brother bribed the future alpha’s mate to reject him so he could become alpha. The guy went Feral. Of course, no one knows what became of him. He’s probably skeletons in the woods by now,” I say off-handedly.

“Did you tell Nathan about this? What does he think?”

“I honestly can’t remember if I did or not,” I tell her. “There’s been so much that’s happened. If I did, he obviously thinks it’s a pipe dream, too.”

Kinsey tosses her auburn hair over her shoulder, her fingers tightening on the wheel. “I don’t blame you for seeing no way out. Your situation seems impossible. But you’re forgetting that you do have friends on the inside. We can ask around.” Before I can tell her she’s crazy, she lifts a finger to shush me. “They wouldn’t trust you if you were asking, but I’m a respected member of the community. Plus, I know how to talk to people. There are going to be so many shifters from other packs here tonight. There’s got to be people from Twilight coming.”

I shake my head. Tonight, the festival starts. There’ll be many other shifters from different packs here, but most of them will be higher-ups. Regular shifters don’t usually get to travel from one pack territory to another.

Unless it’s shifters who’ve remained unmated for a long time. They’ll often accompany their alpha to these parties to see if they mate with anyone from a different pack. That’s why every party has a run involved. We all gather together under the moon in our shifter forms and frolic through the forest.

I always thought it would be kind of cool to mate with someone from another pack. The waiting around part wouldn’t be fun but being able to experience another way of life would be cool.

Kinsey doesn’t bring it up again, but I recognize the set of her shoulders. She’s not going to let this go. “I worry about Nathan, too,” I admit, changing the subject.

“That he’s going to go all alpha on Sean’s ass? I’d like to see that.”

“That would be fun, but no. I don’t know when Gayle, or Gayle and Sean, will try to do something to him like Sean did to me. If they are together, wouldn’t Gayle try to break her mate bond with Nathan?”

“Unbeknownst to them, it’s already happened.”

I smirk, rubbing my hands down my thighs. “Why do you think that happened?” I ask. “I don’t get it.”

Kinsey reaches over and pats my hand. “Don’t question things that make sense. Though, if I had to guess, you can’t breathe life into things that you keep rejecting. Even if fate had something to do with it. When Jonah rejected me, I was ready to say fuck it. I didn’t care if he was mine or not. I’m glad it turned out that he was just a stubborn asshole who thought I was trash.”

I laugh. “I bet you haven’t let him live that down.”

“Hell no. When we have pups, I’m going to make him eat out of the palm of my hand.”

I could see her following through on that threat, too, but the mention of pups brings me back to Nathan. I wonder if we’ll ever get the chance to do that.

Kinsey peeks over at me. “You know, shifter babies aren’t everything. There’s a lot of fun to be had between the two of you.” She gives me an exaggerated wink that rinses all my negative thoughts away. “Which reminds me,” she says, hitting the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it in the two of you before.”

“We’re all kind of preoccupied with ourselves at Greystone. Plus, it didn’t really become a thing until after you were gone.” I leave out the part where our very first kiss happened just before she knocked on my door.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way you return it. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that you guys are the real thing. He’s much more your match than even your own—” She stops herself. “I don’t want to call him your mate because it just seems so wrong. I bet Nathan’s beside himself with worry. And when he gets like that, he’s bound to do something stupid. I dealt with it with Jonah.”

I rub my temples. More and more, I’ve been waiting for Nathan to blow up at the wrong things; to give us all away.

“I’ll have Jonah speak with him,” Kinsey offers. “I’d like to tell him what’s going on so he can help, too. But I also don’t want to betray your trust.” She waits for my answer. When I don’t give her one right away, she says, “I wouldn’t offer unless I was absolutely sure that he’d be on your side. Yes, he’s been engrained since he was little into the pack system, but my situation opened his eyes. He’d help, I’m sure of it.”

I swallow the pit of uncertainty. “Yeah, let’s do it. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

20

“So, I guess you’re my babysitter?” Nathan asks Jonah. He’s not happy that we all need chaperones, but what are we going to do? He can’t stay in the cabin and protect me at the same time.

Jonah grunts in response. Looks like neither one of them is crazy about this predicament we find ourselves in. My stare lingers longer on Jonah. I know he’s a good guy because he did the right thing by Kinsey, but the only thing I want from him is reassurance that he’s not going to turn Nathan and I in for breaking the mate law.

His shoulders are still, and he looks a bit uncomfortable; however, that might not have anything to do with us. It could be because Kinsey has basically inserted herself into this whole mess, and since she’s his world, he would obviously be worried for her.

Kinsey pats his chest. “We’re fine, aren’t we?” she says, giving him a look.

He relaxes a little, some of the thick tension sliding off him with her touch. He nods. “Yes, completely fine.” He drills holes straight into Nathan and me when he says it, and some of the tension eases off my shoulders.

The other member of our rejected mate trio has already left for the festival with her mate, so it’s only the four of us here. We don’t discuss anything until we get into Kinsey and Jonah’s vehicle. Nathan reaches over to hold my hand and my heart flips. We’ve never been able to show our affection outside of very small spaces. We’ve hidden touches, cut lingering glances short. And right now, my heart soars as his fingers entwine with mine. Coming together out in the open feels right.

---