Chapter 18
1403 Words
“Why is he here?” Nadia yelled as her mate pulled her back to him to help calm her down.
“Calm down Nadia.” Kat said, taking my hand.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. Don’t tell me you forgive him.”
“Nadia Grace Nilsson! You have two choices. You sit down and hush your mouth or you can leave.” Alice said, standing up and putting her hand on her hip.
“But Mom”
“NO Buts!”
Nadia dropped on the couch and her mate, Oli, picked her up and sat her on his lap.
“Now that is better,” Alice said, turning to me and Kat. “Please, Kat, we all just want to understand. We all believed that the two of you had rejected each other due to a given situation. So please let me know what we are missing.”
I wanted to step on but my Tigress squeezed my hand and started talking.
“I didn’t let Brandon finish the rejection. For the past year he has been trying to tell me, but I refused to open any of his letters or take any of his calls. We ran into each other on my birthday and..”
“And what? You just forgot how he had taken a chosen mate and was s**t Alpha?” Nadia jumped in.
I had never had to work so hard to control myself as I did at that moment, but I didn’t want to say something I would regret later. Hopefully, someday soon they will be my future in-laws.
“You’re right. I was a s**t Alpha and I made the biggest mistake of my life taking a chosen mate. I lost my best friend and brother that day. I tried not to be selfish and do right by Kat, but wasn’t strong enough to accept Kat’s rejection before she ran away from me.”
“I did. I ran away but, seeing him again. I realized I didn’t want him to accept the rejection.”
“Why?” Nadia asked, her voice filled with anger.
“Could you have just walked away from Oli?”
“No, but he didn’t.”
“He didn’t make a mistake,” Kat finished for her. “You have no idea what it feels like to be without your mate. Your soul feels empty and the only one that can make it whole is just out of reach.”
Even without us being mated and marked, I could feel her sorrow and I wanted nothing more than to take it away. I was the reason she felt this way, but I was also the one that could take it away.
“What does Alpha say?” Nadia said, crossing her arms just like her Dad did the night before.
“I haven't talked to him yet.”
“Of course you didn’t.”
“Nadia! That is enough.” Carl's authoritative voice said, startling Nadia.
“You are OK with this?” Nadia said, looking at her father.
“I didn’t say I agreed with him, but he is her mate. Who are we to tell Kat who she can or can’t love? Did you forget I left everything behind to be with your mother?”
“No.” Nadia said softly, looking at her mate.
“Is Alpha Brandon who you want?” Carl said, looking at Kat.
“He is. I know it’s going to be hard but I want to try.” Kat said, looking at me. I smiled more than I had ever smiled in my entire life. I knew I would give up everything for her.
“What about you?” Carl said, looking at me.
“I love your daughter. I’ve loved her from the second she yelled at me. I would do anything to be with her.”
“Would you give up being an Alpha?” He asked, looking me right in the eyes.
“Dad!” Kat said angry.
“If that is what it took or what she wanted, I would give it up right this second.”
“Just like that, you forgive him?” Nadia said.
“I’m working on it.”
Nadia let out a heavy sigh and leaned back into her mate.
“I’m sorry Kat. I saw how hurt you were and I just want to protect you. You were not the same after the half rejection and Mark was the one that brought you out of it, but he’s gone and if you go back to that place..”
I wasn’t sure what Nadia was talking about but I didn’t like the sound of it.
“I won’t Nadia. I promise.” Kat said, getting up and hugging her sister.
“I swear, Alpha Brandon, if you hurt her I will kill you. My husband and mate is the Royal Commander and he has been training me for the past year. They will never question your death.”
It took everything in me to not smile. She was scary but I knew she was only saying these things because she wanted to protect her older sister.
“I have no plans on hurting her again. In fact, I plan to spend the rest of my life taking care of her.”
Unable to hold back anymore, I kissed Kat.
“That was intense.” Oli said, causing me and Kat to pull away and chuckle.
“Sorry guys, I’m a little emotional right now.” Nadia added.
“Why?” Kat asked, confused.
“Oli and I are having a baby.” Nadia squealed, followed by Kat and Alice.
Just like that, this family was hugging and happy. We spent the next hour talking about babies. Actually, the girls did most of the talking and the men added a few yes dears and oks.
We headed back to the packhouse and I kissed Kat before telling her I was going to talk to my brother.
She led me to his office and, as I was about to knock, Luna Liv stepped out.
“He is waiting for you.” She said to me, taking Kat’s hand and they walked away.
Stepping into the office, I couldn’t help but feel anxious.
“Take a seat. Do you want something to drink?” Bryan asked the moment I entered.
“No thanks.”
“How did the talk go with Kat’s parents?”
“Better than I expected.”
He nodded and leaned back in his seat.
“What did you want to talk about?”
“I’ve found additional information about Meredith and the witches. After you left, I tried for years to contact you and she had a block. Not just a blocked phone, but a supernatural block.”
“Why would they need to use a supernatural block?”
“They didn’t want to take a chance of us talking.”
“Why?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet. I will, I just need time. But I have some theories.”
“I’m listening.”
“The witches and rogues always seem to be a step ahead of us. What if they have a seer?”
“There hasn’t been a seer in hundreds of years.”
“That we know of. Hear me out first. It’s possible one was born and they found her first. What if….what if they saw you in a vision? People always say how much you, Zack, and I look alike. How many times did people mistake us for twins?” I paused, waiting to see if Bryan was on the same page as me.
Bryan chuckled at the memory.
“We used to love messing with people, didn’t we?” He said, making my heart hurt at how much I missed him.
“What if Meredith was never your real mate? What if that was a spell too? She wasn’t the brightest and I recall her yelling she was supposed to be the Luna of the Royal pack. I didn’t think much of it back then, but now it makes sense. I think either the seer didn’t see enough or Meredith is an i***t. Confusing a mate bond is only a temporary spell. It requires so much power. You even said you didn’t feel anything at all when you saw her again.”
- Writer
