Fate’s Design

Crystal Run

Kelsey POV

There had to be a catch. The sincerity in those beautiful blue eyes and the hope in that sexy baritone voice couldn’t be for real. Did he really know what I had been doing and want me anyway? That couldn’t be right. But he seemed so adamant, and my wolf was no help at all.

‘Girl, just look at him! He’s perfect! And he wants us. Our mate wants us.’ Tanya told me. ‘And did you see the beautiful fur on that wolf… Our mate is everything, Kelsey. Everything.’

‘T, you know how men are. This won’t last’.

‘You don’t know that. He’s different. He’s our mate and he wants us.’ She insisted.

Finally, I gave in. “Ok. What is it you want to know?”

“Everything.” He said, tracing his thumb along my jaw. The gesture made me shiver, which brought out a low, satisfied rumble from him. I blushed. It had been a long time since someone had flustered me, but damn it, this man was doing it.

“Everything is a lot… like… almost 21 years a lot.”

He laughed. “Ok, fine, smartass. I’ll be more specific.”

Mason POV

I couldn’t believe this woman could make me laugh when I was so hurt and scared… not that I was ready to admit that part. But I was terrified. What if she was in love with whoever she had been seeing? What if he was a better match for her? What if she saw him again after this? What kind of hell was I going to go through after we marked each other? But I couldn’t focus on any of that now. As my wolf had pointed out, our mate had an attitude and she wasn’t about to make this easy.

“I want to know who you’ve been with, what they really mean to you, and why you didn’t wait for me.” I told her plainly.

She sighed and pulled away. Had I said the wrong thing? But she took my hand and began leading me a little ways upstream.

“Come on. There’s a place close by where we can talk.” She said. That resigned tone was killing me. My mate didn’t particularly want to talk to me about this and I didn’t particularly want to hear it. But we had to do this.

She led me down to the water’s edge and sat down with her bare feet in the water.

“We’ll start with who.” She said, not looking at me. I took a seat next to her. “There have been a handful here and a couple of guys from outside, but the only one that was more than a one night stand was Alex Thompson. Gamma Theo’s son. None of them were anything special. Just a little fun.”

I had to fight back Caspian at her words. He wanted so badly to take control and tear this Alex guy to shreds for touching our mate. I couldn’t help the small growl that escaped and I’m sure she saw Caspian’s grey eyes instead of my blue ones when she looked over at me. “Even Alex?” I asked stiffly. If she kept going back to him, he had to be more than the others were.

“Alex… is complicated. I don’t love him, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

It was a relief to hear that, but it still wasn’t everything I needed to know. “Then what? Are you actual friends or just each other’s backup booty call?” She flinched slightly at my sharp tone, and part of me felt bad about it. But I needed to know what I was up against.

“Yeah, I guess we’re sort of friends. We’re not close, though… other than the obvious.”

“Who else knows about you two?”

She was quiet for a moment before answering, “Pretty much everyone.”

I growled again. This was just great. Not only had my mate been sleeping around, her whole pack knew it.

She sighed again. “Look, you might as well get it over with.” She said.

“Get what over with?” I asked, confused.

“The whole rejection thing.”

“Kelsey, I’m not rejecting you.”

“Ha! Yeah right.” She said with a snort. “You know what’s gonna happen if we go through with this mating, right?”

“Yeah. Dr. Porter explained it to me. But I would rather die in pain with honor than live knowing I rejected my mate.” I said seriously. Kelsey looked at me, as if assessing me somehow.

“You’re not like most guys, are you?” She stated.

“Hm. Guess not.” I said. I knew what she meant. Like Dr. Porter said, most people in my situation would reject an unfaithful mate and be over with it.

“Why do you still want me?” She asked.

“You’re my other half. How could I not?” I responded without hesitation. There was nothing she could possibly do that would change that. I would give up my life before I gave up my mate. Any honorable wolf would. So what was her deal?

“You really want to do this?” She asked skeptically.

“I do. But you still haven’t told me why you did it.” I reminded her. She wasn’t getting off that easy.

She sighed and tossed a stone across the water, skipping three times before sinking.

“I didn’t think my mate would want me and I didn’t think I would want my mate, so I figured what difference would it make?” She said, a hint of bitterness in her tone as she sent another stone skipping along.

I studied her for a minute before carefully asking, “Why would you think that?”

Kelsey POV

I couldn’t believe I was opening up to this stranger! What was wrong with me? But somehow, I couldn’t not tell him the truth. “My experiences with men have left a lot to be desired.” I saw Mason’s eyes flash gray again. He was fighting his wolf for control. “I learned early to not trust them.”

Caspian POV

‘Who hurt our mate?’ I asked Mason angrily. Someone had hurt her for her to say that and I wanted their blood for doing this to our mate. But Mason wasn’t listening.

‘Let me out, Mason! I know you can hear me.’

‘Dude, you have got to chill.’

‘Chill? Someone hurt our mate, Mason.’

We never used each other’s actual names unless all hell was about to break loose. Why’d I have to get stuck with a man with self-control? But then I saw Kelsey’s face. Mason was right. I was scaring her. I couldn’t do that to our mate. I would deal with the POS that hurt her later, but I would deal with him.

“What do you mean?” Mason asked her.

“I mean…” She sighed and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “I mean I’ve had some… incidents. Please don’t ask me to relive everything.”

I tried hard to get loose at that, but Mason was still holding me back.

“I won’t ask you for details. But can you give me at least broad brush strokes? What kind of incidents?”

“The kind that messes you up.” She said quietly. I saw through Mason’s eyes how beautiful she looked with the breeze blowing her hair. She looked like the tragic heroine out of some story. Our mate was perfect, and someone had hurt her. Badly.

I couldn’t take any more. I needed names and I needed them NOW!

“Who?” I said in a low, dark voice. I could tell it startled Kelsey to hear my voice, but I had more pressing concerns. “I want names. I will make every last one of them beg for death. Who dared to touch my mate and hurt her?”