Page 39 of Kidnapped Rejected Mate
Lachlan stares at Soren with that unnerving, intense look that seems to run in our family. Ever since getting with Valerie, Lach has been softer. Less quick to anger. But it’s like this thing between Soren and me has thrown that out the window, returning him to the angry, impulsive man he was before getting his mate back, before having his first child.
“Yes,” Soren says simply. An explanation, but not a plea. He’s telling Lachlan the truth, not asking for permission. “We are fated. I’ve known that since high school, and would haveacted on it then, but your parents forced us apart. Told me they would send her away.”
Lachlan sucks in a breath, turning and burying his hands in his hair. He looks up into the bright sky, his designer sunglasses reflecting the clouds.
I’m fated to him. And he knows what that means.
I’ve had the sneaking suspicion that, of our group, I’m not the only one with a fated connection. Lach and Val, Xeran and Phina, Maeve and Felix—it seems like there was something in the water for our crop. Our generation of the pack is rife with these bonds, and I wonder if something more divine knew trouble would come. Knowing we’d need bonds like these to keep ourselves sane.
“Okay,” Lach says finally, turning to me and his sister. “I don’t—I mean, it’s going to take a long time for me to get used to this.”
“Lach—” I start, but Lachlan holds up a hand to me, the universal sign forjust wait.
“It’ll take some time,” he repeats, his face softening. Valerie comes to stand at his side, giving me a soft smile. “But I will. And I’m—I’m happy for you, Aurela. I knew Caspian sucked, but I didn’t know that he was…”
Lachlan trails off, and Valerie takes his hand in hers, saying, “We wish we’d done more for you, Aur.Iwish I’d pushed harder.”
“I had to want it for myself,” I say, and for the first time, I realize that’s true. Yes, my parents are awful, and yes, they’re a huge part of the reason I’ve been hiding away for years. Yeah, the thing with Soren cut me to the bone. It made me feel like I was nothing.
But that’s also something I toldmyself. I was my own biggest enemy, feeding lies into my own head. Keeping myself locked up.
My parents are convincing, and I grew up in a way that made me defer to them. When Declan took power, it started to feel like the pack was an unsafe place for an omega. And I’d been told my entire life that if I wanted to be safe, I needed to find an alpha to take care of me.
But now, I know that I could have made different decisions for myself. I could have pushed back when Soren broke things off with me. I could have asked for the truth. I could have left this town like Maeve did.
I could have come clean about my involvement with the fires, not allowed my parents to cover up the fact that I was there that night.
“You’ll need to come to a dinner,” Lachlan says, his gaze landing on Soren. “If you want a chance at my parents blessing this thing.”
“It would be nice,” Soren says, his hand going around my waist and pulling me in close to him.
“Yeah,” Lachlan agrees. “It would.”
***
“So, something I forgot to mention,” Soren says when we pull up outside his house and he cuts the engine to his vehicle. “I live with my grandfather still.”
I blink. Back in high school, I knew that he lived with his grandfather. His parents died when he was young, and his grandparents took him in, raising him. His grandmother died shortly after that, and it was just him and his grandpa.
“Or, rather,” Soren says, swallowing and getting out of the car, “he lives with me.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, sliding out and following him up to the porch. We stand on it together, facing one another, and my heart hammers with the reality of this situation.
I came home with him. I’ve been gone from home for more than a week now, and while my parents know that I’m okay, Lach said he’d handle them. Make sure they didn’t come looking for me before Soren and I were ready to talk to them.
When we step into the house, it’s quiet. Soren walks quietly and carefully, moving with the certainty you have when you know the layout of your home well. He cracks open one of the doors in the hallway and peeks inside.
“He’s asleep,” Soren whispers, turning to face me in the low light, and somehow, he looks even more handsome to me with every passing second.
“That’s okay,” I whisper back. There’s only one thing I want to do with him, now that I’m alone with him. He takes my hand and leads me through the house and to the end of the hall, cracking open the door to a room.
His scent floods toward me at once, and I luxuriate in it for a second. The knowledge that this is his place, and he’s letting me in.Bringingme here.
Just like he brought me to the cabin.
I hate Tara for everything she’s done to this town, and for what she did to us in high school, but there’s a part of me that can’t help but be grateful for all this. Because it led to this moment. Me with him. Soren pulling me into his room and shutting the door so gently, I could cry.
And when he turns around, I’m already stepping into him, my arms around his neck, his lips dipping down to catch mine.
