Page 33 of Kidnapped Rejected Mate
“So,” Xeran says, standing in front of me, his face a blank mask. My friend of more than twenty years, and I can’t read theexpression on his face right now. He stares at me with a carefully neutral expression. “Why don’t you just start at the beginning.”
I shift in my seat. I don’t want to be here, talking to him. I want to be with Aurela. My wolf was disgruntled before, but he’s frantic now, throwing his body against the walls inside me. It’s taking everything in me not to leave this room and go to her.
Kalen, Felix, Maeve, and I managed to fix up the cabin in record time, especially with Maeve’s magic to assist us. The guys and I found the lumber, brought it over to the cabin, and Maeve lifted it for us, holding it while we secured it.
It’s not perfect, and there’s a lot of work to do, but the door and windows are covered with boards. It will be protected, at least until I can return and make proper adjustments, and respray the trees with fire protectant.
“Soren?” Xeran prompts.
I swallow, looking up at him, knowing I can’t put this off any longer. Rather than have this conversation in the pack hall with an audience, we’re in Xeran’s office. Lachlan sits to the side, insisting he be present. Kalen is behind the desk, taking notes from the meeting.
What I used to do.
Aurela is still unconscious, as far as I know, so she can’t start to tell her side of the story. I don’t want to lie to my supreme, but I have to protect my mate.
Xeran holds my stare, steady and sure, and I try to settle myself. He’s been my best friend for years. I’ve watched his leadership. Watched him fall in love with Phina. Watched him deal with Valerie fairly after the fire she started.
Xeran is not a cruel man.
“While we were fighting the fire,” I start, trying to keep my voice as level as possible, “I felt that Aurela was in danger. We’re fated.”
To say it out loud—other than during that moment with Lachlan—feels like getting a massive weight off the center of my back. Aurela and I are fated. And now that I’ve spoken it into the world, that means it’s true.
“Okay,” Xeran says, and though he tries not to show it, I know that fact is already softening him to me. Many shifters must choose their mates, butfatedmates, those of lore, are destined by the stars. A wolf can do little to resist the pull of that bond.
“We were…involved,” I continue. “In high school. But her parents came to me and told me I wasn’t good enough for her. They told me that if I continued to pursue her, they would send her away. Not just from this town, but potentially from the country. We were so close to graduation. They said they would pull her from school, and if she couldn’t finish out the school year somewhere else, she would just have to redo her senior year.”
Lachlan sits with his jaw clenched, his face not giving away a reaction to anything I’m saying. Did he know about it?
No. He would have reacted exactly the same way back then, if not worse than he did now.
“So I backed off. But the fated connection never went away. I just forced myself to deal with it. Until that night in the woods when I felt that she was in danger, and it was like I couldn’t control my body. I just started moving toward her, going toward her. I had to help her. My wolf wouldn’t let me do anything else.”
“So, you found her,” Xeran says, pushing away from his desk and pacing to the left, forcing me to follow his gaze and look to the side of the room where Lachlan sits. “Why take her up to the cabin? Why not bring her back to town, where she could get help?”
“Because…” I suck in a breath, reminding myself that I trust my supreme. He’ll be fair. The best thing I can do is be honest with him. “Because when I found her, she was curled up on the ground, holding hands with Tara.”
“You fuckingliar!” Lachlan is out of his seat immediately, moving toward me, but Xeran catches him with a stiff arm to the chest, glowering at him.
“Can you handle this?” Xeran asks, voice low. Deadly. “Because if you can’t, you’re going to have to leave.”
“There’s no way my sister was with that woman,” Lachlan says, growling out the words. “No fucking way, Xer.”
“Soren is entitled to tell us his side. If you can’t handle that, you’re going to have to leave.”
Xeran speaks to Lach like a mother handling an insolent child, and it works. Lachlan settles back into his chair, though his hateful glare doesn’t leave my face the entire time.
When Xeran turns to me again, gesturing for me to go on, I do. I tell them about getting to the cabin, and Aurela trying to get away. My fears about his missive, the pressure from my wolf to protect my mate. The storm, the mudslide. Fighting the cryptid, and Aurela’s comments about hearing Tara in the woods.
“Before, when Felix nearly died,” I say, referencing the first and last time we all ran into Tara in the woods, “Tara said something about wanting to get the group back together, right?”
Xeran stares at me for a moment. “Phina said she mentioned Aurela by name. And that Aurela was involved with that first fire.”
Lach’s jaw goes even more tense. Surely Valerie would have told him about what happened before we arrived. Maybe she did, and left that detail out. Or maybe he’s just being purposefully avoidant when it comes to his sister being involved in all this.
From what she’s told me, Aurela was more than involved. The one girl who got off without punishment or recognition is the one who, arguably, was the most guilty.
“So what should convince me that she’s not involved now?” Xeran asks after a long moment has passed.
