Her secret mate

Left or was made to leave?

Too shocked to do anything else, I just blinked a few times as his words echoed in the room and, I guess, in my head.

Did... did he mean she was dead?

My whole body froze from the shock his words put me under.

The way he said it... the way he worded it... it implies that she was dead... but the way he said it, mixed with the look on his face... was her death not a natural one?

Did he kill her?

The realization that he may be the one to blame for the death of his destined mate made me feel sick in my stomach.

I knew that this was a very delicate situation and that I had to be very careful with all this. After a few deep breaths, I forced myself to calm down and think very carefully about what I was going to say. One wrong word, and it could lead to my death.

"Ummm... mmm... what do you mean by "not with us"?"

I tried to make my voice as light and flat as possible. As little emotion as I show, the better it will be. I'm not sure if he was buying it, but he just nodded.

"Yes, she is."

"How... how did it happen?"

My question must have uncovered something in him because he became very still as his eyes unfocused as he stared ahead of him.

"She was attacked."

Okay, that sounds a lot less evil than what I came up with. Maybe I was just overreacting and it was just a crazy accident.

"Attacked?"

"Yes, she was walking home from the pack house and a stray rogue attacked and killed her."

I blinked a few times while staring at him. There is no way that he believed it to be true, right? There is no way that a rogue would just wander into some pack territory like that, undetected and just kill one girl.

"A rogue? In you fathers pack territory?"

It looked like each of my words were a hit as he flinched.

"Yes. There was a mix-up in the security schedules and for a few hour window no one was watching the borders, and he just wandered in."

From the look on his face and the way he said each word... it was clear that he did not believe any of it, but why then he was saying all this? Why was he not questioning all of this?

"Darcy..."

I started, but he stopped me.

"But it doesn't matter. Nothing would have happened."

I stared at him once again confused.

"But... but she was your destined mate?'

He just shook his head as he continued.

"It would not have mattered because too much has already been invested in our union. The deal between our packs has too much value... us getting mated and married will bring the strongest packs together, and we will form the biggest alliance this world has ever seen. Something like true destined mates is nothing compared to what we will create once our packs become one."

I was too stunned to speak.

What the hell has happened to him?

Who is this man in front of me? Because sure as hell this was not the Darcy I knew... it was not the Darcy I loved.

It was not Darcy who was ready to fight the whole world, just to be with me.

This was not the Darcy who pushed though all the obstacles just and stood up to anyone who tried to stand between us.

The words he just used... they sounded so not like him...

What the hell is going on here?

What sort of messed up dream world was this?

"Darcy..."

I started, not sure what I was going to say, because I did not know what I wanted to say or what I should say in a situation like this.

His eyes shot open and turned to me.

For a second, once out eyes met, I saw the real him beneath the veil of lies and masks he had been hiding behind and my heart broke.

The fearless alpha I grew to know and love over the years was broken. His eyes looked filled with pain and loss, so deep and undeniable that I could almost feel it myself... but it was gone behind an empty mask the next moment.

It was shocking to see the sudden change... or maybe it was shocking to see him in so much pain, that he managed to hide so well for so long.

If my calculations are right, it all happened months ago, and he has managed to hide it from me for all this time.

Sadness filled my chest as I stared at him as a realization hit me.

Darcy was too smart not to put two and two together. There is no way that he believed that story of the girl that he felt the maiting pull towards just being attacked like that. If it would have happened anywhere else other than his father's pack, that might have been possible, but not in his father's pack, not the place that had tighter security than most banks.

My best guess is that deep inside he knew the truth, deep inside he knew what had happened, but he just didn't acknowledge it... or maybe he could not acknowledge it because it would destroy him. Losing a mate like that is a sure way to destroy anyone, especially if it's your fault, and I am sure that he knew that she was probably been taken out because of him.

Nausea started to rise in my chest as I tried to come to terms with the information I heard today.

"Is there someone you felt the pull towards?"

His sudden question pulled me out of the haze of thoughts that I was lost in.

Air got stuck in my lungs as I tried to act as normal as possible.

"No, I did not feel anything, that was why I panicked."