Page 60 of Banished Mates
I had watched them, my limbs tensed and stomach cramped. The way they moved around each other and how she treated him with such ease...
It made me feel like an interloper. My stomach tightened.
There wasn’t anything I wanted to fall back on. Not my role as pack Alpha, not my brother, nothing. Jace’s comment got under my skin and I’d let anger overrule me when I should have swept Willow out of there as Camden had. I rubbed my palm over my hair.
I just wanted her to look at me the way she looked at him.
Rowan growled as he yanked the shirt down, making his hate for clothing evident.
He seemed to take Camden’s arrival better than I did.
Was he the true reason she was so reluctant to remain with us? When she tried so hard to leave us at first?
A bitterness crawled up my throat at the thought.
I envied the ease of his communication with her.
I wanted that.
Resolve loosened the knot in my gut.
I’d already decided to learn sign language, so itwouldbe similar for me too.
I detested that more than anything—his ability to communicate with her with such ease. I scrubbed my fingers through my hair, pushing my fingertips against my scalp.
The trajectory I believed my life would take was shattered.
She was dead set on finding the people behind her kidnapping, but her resolve did not outshine mine. They caused her leeriness when she first slammed into my life and they must pay for that.
She didn’t mention it, but the way she popped out of bed, or suddenly tensed up when she woke up wasn’t lost on me. My lovely mate struck me as the sort to push through, never showing anything got to her. She appeared to be someone who had to keep many things to herself and knowing about her being an Omega and hiding it from Camden explained much. Willow needed to learn to rely on me, but I would take it day by day as to not spook her.
Since she came into my life, I didn’t spare a thought to returning as a pack Alpha—no longer was it an incessant longing gnawing at me like it used to be.
I’d been going through the motions the entire time, knowing my past pack, Invern Pack, would eventually need me. As much as Jace cared, he was still too young of an Alpha, but now... he must truly take on the role because I would never return. It shouldn’t be difficult for him. He’d learned everything underneath me, which he’d taken advantage of by taking my mate. My cheek fluttered with how hard I clenched my teeth. He was lucky I had not killed him and should count his blessings Willow was standing whole when I arrived.
When she showed up, not only did she bring me joy, but she emulated hope of making a return possible because she was a mate to Rowan and me, but after the initial thought, it slowly faded. The Invern Pack was full of old-fashioned werewolves that would surely have an issue with how I would put Willow’s needs first, and I didn’t want to put her through that.
A low chuckle came from my bedroom, and I gritted my teeth. Camden was too comfortable with my mate.
Accepting the leftover scraps may be the only option I had, but it caused a block in my throat to thicken since he’d shown up.
If she went back with him...
I couldn’t allow it.
Willow
The airport hadme onedgeand Kit, Rowan, and Camden were making it worse. Each time I twitched, one of them was scanning the area. It worked in my favor since they were taking my concern about being an Omega to heart. The fortunate part was it wasn’t badly crowded, so the concern of a werewolf finding me was low, added to that, one of them swept through any space I walked through.
I wanted a smidge of privacy in the restroom at the very least, but I’d had to talk my mates into letting me go on my own. It sounded as ridiculous in my head as I’d felt raging about it. What was worse was getting Camden to translate me exactly and not use his own little twists and turns of phrases. But I eventually got my own way.
I pounded on the little knob again to get the spout to continue to spit out water. It shut off too quickly. I hurriedly rubbed the soap off my hands.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Kit’s tone. Was there an underlying sadness in his tone he attempted to hide? A sick feeling churned in my gut.
Yanking the paper towels from the dispenser, I scrunched it into my hands as the water from another sink ran.
The hair lifted on the back of my neck. My wolf was sensing another werewolf nearby. I whirled, prepared to slam my foot out and take off running. I wouldn’t have much of a choice, considering I couldn’t shout out for help.
