Page 260 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything I learned last night,” I said.
“Talk to me,” he said. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” Night was totally focused on me, on hearing what I had to say. His devotion to me made me want to giggle and blush and hide, but the heaviness on my mind kept me from giving in to those impulses.
“When I saw you in Blossom’s memories, she told you that you and I had a destiny to fulfill, but she didn’t give any details.”
“I…I remember her telling me that,” Night said. It was fascinating to see how his eyes brightened when he recalled old memories. “I never really understood it. Mom told me that when something is fated or destined to happen, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. All we can do is accept it and fight for our right to see it through. But that doesn’t make it any less bizarre to know there’s a future for you that you can’t really control.”
I nodded. He was just as uncomfortable with the unknown as I was. “I wonder what our destiny is and when it will happen. Violet said all of you are starting to remember more about my mother because we’re getting closer to achieving our destiny.”
He stroked my cheek again. “I don’t know, love, but whatever it is, we’ll face it together.”
Those words sent shivers through me, and I touched his chest, letting my hands splay across his heart. “In the memory, Blossom said you were my protector.”
“And she was right.” He gave me a sharp-toothed grin. “I’m willing to fight anyone and anything to protect you. If I had to go toe to toe with fate itself, I would.”
I snorted. “You talk a big game, Night, but you said that no one can go against fate.”
“I’m sure I’d find a way. And it wouldn’t stand a chance against me.”
We laughed, and I knew for sure that the ritual had brought us closer. Night and I were on the right path with our relationship; we had both taken huge steps to treat each other as equals. As soulmates.
“You make me feel so alive,” I said. “I want to know everything I can about you.”
“Yeah?” He sounded hesitant.
“What’s wrong, Night?”
“It’s just…I’m not proud of much of my past. We already disagree about how violent an alpha is meant to be, and I’m worried about what you’ll think of me when you find out what I’ve done to get to where I am.”
I shook my head. “I want to know everything,” I said again. “Good and bad. I can’t guarantee I won’t be upset about some of the things you tell me, but I won’t stop loving you, and I won’t abandon you. We can’t change the past. We can only move forward.”
“That’s true.” He relaxed again. “Okay. From now on, why don’t we tell each other one thing about ourselves that the other doesn’t know? We’ll do that every morning, and we’ll keep going until we run out of things to talk about.”
I gasped. “Oh, I love that idea! Do you mind going first?”
“Nope. I thought Dom would tell you this story last night, but I’m glad he didn’t.” He smiled. “When I was a kid, I was terrified of spiders.”
“Really? You?” I thought about the little boy from my mother’s memories, the one who was full of energy and didn’t yet know how to scowl. “Actually, you know what? I can see that.”
He snickered. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, when Dom and I were four, we were playing hide-and-seek in one of the caves near Warg territory. I wedged into a tight spot inside the cave, but I hadn’t had my first shift and couldn’t see that the crevice was literally crawling with the little bastards.”
I suppressed a shudder at the idea of being surrounded by spiders. “Gross,” I said. “My soul would simply have left my body.”
“That’s how it felt for me. For years after that, I was terrified of spiders. Just seeing one made me feel like death itself was breathing down my neck, tickling me like their little legs.” He grimaced. “Dom, of course, liked being a dick about it. He used to catch them and leave them in my room, or put them on me when I wasn’t paying attention. He used to say it was to help me get over my fear, but that was bullshit.”
“That’s terrible!” I shouldn’t have laughed at young Night and his arachnophobia, but the way he told it, I couldn’t help the giggles. It was no wonder that he and Dom were so close. They’d grown up attached at the hip. “I’m sure you’re not still terrified of the creepy crawlies,” I said. “How did you get over your fear?”
“That’s the worst part. Dom’s torture did help me…kind of. I knew the only way to get him to stop was if I stopped reacting to it. At first, I pretended I wasn’t afraid of them anymore, but at some point, the fear actually disappeared. And then he found other ways to fuck with me.”
“I guess it all worked out for the better, then.” I rolled onto my back and looked up at the white ceiling. “When I was growing up, my mom was my number-one fan. She was always supportive of me and told me I could do and be anything I wanted…but the one thing she couldn’t support was my dream of being a singer. Apparently, whenever I opened my mouth to sing, I yowled like a cat being electrocuted—or so she said.”
Night burst into one of those full-belly laughs I loved so much. I grinned, staring at him.
“So, no lullabies for the baby, then?”
“Oh no, there will be. You’ll need to be prepared for the sounds that come out of my mouth.”
“Sure, I’ll prepare for that…by getting earplugs for me. And tiny ones for the baby.”
