The sound of my ringing phone jerks me awake, and I grab my chest, my heart pounding like a drum against my sternum. Groaning, I look over at the window and squint my eyes; it’s bright. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was. It was late when I got home last night, and Dany was already asleep. When my head hit the pillow, I passed out.
My phone stops its incessant ringing, but then it starts up again. I grab it off my nightstand to see that it’s Soren. “Hey,” I answer, my voice groggy and hoarse.
“Good morning. You didn’t call me when you got in last night.”
Laying back on my pillow, I rub my eyes. “It was late. I didn’t want to bother you.”
Soren exhales sharply. “I’m your mate, Rae. Nothing you could ever do would bother me.”
Even through the phone, I can feel his frustration. It’s as if our bodies are connected even though we haven’t completed the bond. I never knew it could feel like this. When I was young, my mother would talk about what it was like to be mated, how the magic between mates is the strongest power in all the world. It’s supposed to be the most magnificent experience, but it scares the hell out of me. For some reason, I’m just not ready to seal the deal.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe, hating the guilt that’s found its way into my soul.
Soren sighs. “It’s okay. I’m on my way to work, but I wanted to see if you plan on staying with me tonight. You’ve been really busy the past couple of days. We haven’t spent much time together.”
I rub my chest, hoping the shame I feel goes away. “I know. Right now, I don’t have any new clients, so I should have some downtime.”
“Good. Then I’ll see you tonight?” Soren asks, his voice sounding optimistic.
“You will. I’ll give you a call later.”
We hang up, and I look at the ceiling. Why do I feel so confused? What terrifies me even more is that I’ll let my guard down and Soren will be able to feel my uncertainties. The last thing I want is for him to doubt me, but what scares me is that I do have some concerns. Soren is my true mate. Doubt isn’t supposed to be in the equation; we’re supposed to have a happily ever after. Is there something wrong with me?
Dany rustles around downstairs in the kitchen, and the scent of breakfast hangs in the air, making my stomach growl. I’m afraid to talk this over with Dany because it'll make it real once I speak it aloud. But, on the other hand, if I pretend the doubts don’t exist, maybe they won’t evolve into anything.
Throwing off my covers, I slide out of bed and slip on a pair of leggings and a sweater. Dany is at the kitchen table when I get downstairs, reading the newspaper and eating her scrambled eggs and sausage.
“Morning,” I call out.
Dany lifts her coffee cup but keeps her eyes on the newspaper. “Same to you. I didn’t think you’d be up this early.”
Yawning, I grab a mug out of the cabinet. “Me either. I’m just glad last night didn’t go as bad as I thought it would. I thought for sure I would end up putting Amanda’s husband in the hospital.”
Dany growls low. “What a scumbag. I’m glad you were able to out him. I can’t stand cheating bastards. They all deserve to get their balls smashed with a sledgehammer.”
“Ouch.” I laugh. “But I totally agree.” Once my coffee is poured, I fill my plate with eggs and sausage and carry it all to the table. I sit across from Dany, and she places the newspaper down on the table.
“You missed seeing Micah last night.”
My heart speeds up, but I can’t bring myself to look at her. “How did that go?”
When Dany doesn’t answer, I steal a glance at her. Big mistake.
Dany smiles and shrugs nonchalantly. “It went fine. Micah’s still as hot as he was back in the day.” She wants a response, but I turn my attention back on eating, refusing to give in. “He asked about you,” she adds.
Still keeping my focus on my food, I hunch my shoulders as if I don’t care. “Oh yeah? What did he say?”
Dany snickers. “He was just asking how you are. Stark and I told him about you and Soren. If I’m not mistaken, I could’ve sworn I saw a hint of disappointment on his face. I guess that kiss you two shared left an impact on him.”
My head snaps up. “Please. It was a stupid crush. I mean, who wouldn’t? The Lyall brothers were hot.”
Dany narrows her gaze. “Yes, but you and Micah had chemistry. As soon as you turned eighteen, things changed between you two. It’s like something clicked. I was sure he would end up being your mate.”
I had thought it, too … and I continued to think that way up until I met Soren.
“Well, we were wrong,” I snap. “Soren’s my mate or will be when the time’s right.”
Silence fills the air as I finish my food and get up from the table. I clean off my plate in the sink and set it in the dishwasher. When I glance back at Dany, she’s still at the table, nursing her cup of coffee.
“Where’s Micah staying?”
Dany’s lips pull back when she turns to me. “Over off of Pine Knob Drive. Why?”
My heart races so fast I feel out of breath. “I didn’t get a chance to see him last night. I figured I’d go over and say hello.”
Dany waves toward the door. “Go then. Soren’s at work, so you don’t have to worry about him.”
I glare at her. “What does that have to do with me seeing Micah?”
She stares right back. “You tell me.”
The best thing I can do right now is to shut up before digging myself into a hole. “I’m going to go,” I reply, rushing to grab my keys off the counter. I intentionally refrain from looking at Dany as I escape out the door.
When I get in my car, I take in a shuttering breath and release it slowly. In all honesty, I am glad Soren’s not with me; it would be awkward as hell. This will be the first time seeing Micah in seventeen years since our kiss. I head down the driveway and begin the short journey to Pine Knob Drive. The guilt is back, but there’s something inside of me saying I need to see Micah, that it’ll help put my mind at ease. Maybe now I can get closure.
***
It takes a few minutes to get to Pine Knob Drive. There are only a couple of houses on the street, and they’re really far apart. Micah and his brothers always drove fast, fancy sports cars, and when I get to the cabin at the end of the road, there’s a black one in the driveway. I pull up right beside it and immediately pick up on Micah’s scent; rich, woodsy, and fresh like the morning rain. After all these years apart, there’s no mistaking that it’s him.
A part of me is afraid to get out of the car, but I have to see him. The closure I need is essential. I won’t be able to rest until I see him and feel nothing. Once out of the car, I walk up to the front door and ring the doorbell. No answer. A few seconds pass, so I ring it again. Nothing. I knock a few times, and still nothing. Biting my lip, I look around to ensure no one’s around before trying the handle. Unfortunately, it’s locked.
“Where are you, Micah?” I grumble to myself. “I’m not leaving until I see you.”
I wait for a few more minutes and then decide to walk around the side of the cabin to the back. Micah’s scent is stronger and gets even more potent headed out into the forest. There’s even a set of footprints in the snow. The wind picks up, and I stumble on my feet as it pushes me toward his trail, like an invisible force demanding I go. Do I really want to be alone in the woods with him? My body screams yes, but my mind tells me no.
“Damn it,” I hiss, taking a step off the porch. “I shouldn’t be doing this.” The wind whips by me again, the force pummeling me forward. “Okay,” I whisper, holding up my hands. “I’m going.”
The wind stops abruptly, and I suck in a breath. It didn’t feel like magic, but it also didn’t feel natural. Could it be a coincidence? The message is clear; whatever it is wants me to go into the woods.
Heart thudding out of my chest, I follow Micah’s trail. My cell phone vibrates in my pocket, and when I see that it’s Soren, I become overwrought with guilt. I feel as if I’m betraying him somehow. Why do I want another when I supposedly found my true mate? It’s not the way our shifter magic works. I turn off my phone and slide it back into my pocket.
Tiny, panted breaths escape from my lips as the pull for me to move forward grows more intense. The connection I have with Soren slowly fades away, and all that’s left is Micah’s name on my lips. Clutching my chest, I fall back against a tree.
“What the hell is happening to me?” It feels like the pull I have with Soren, but he’s nowhere around. Instead, everything inside of my body begins to tingle and awaken like it’s been under a deep sleep and finally allowed to live.
Closing my eyes, I bend over to catch my breath. But then, that’s when I feel him. I’m afraid to look up, but my body moves of its own accord. The second I open my eyes, they lock on Micah, his chest heaving up and down. Whatever I’m feeling, it’s going through him as well.
His hypnotic blue eyes are just as I remember them, and his blond hair looks as if he ran his fingers through it, with each strand landing perfectly on his head. Words escape me, and all I can do is stand frozen in place. Micah takes a step closer and another. Seventeen years ago, we were in the woods just like this, only it was dark, and the moon shone its bright rays upon us.
Micah stops a few feet away. “How can this be? My wolf is going crazy inside of me. All I can hear in my mind is mate.”
I shake my head, my voice jittery and lost. “This isn’t right. You can’t be my mate.”
Micah’s eyes begin to glow a brilliant blue, and I can feel his wolf on the surface. “That’s not what it feels like to me. Trust me. I wasn’t expecting this either.” He moves closer. “Raelynn.”
My body tenses and I step back. “I don’t understand. I can’t have two mates. That’s not how this works.” The tingling intensifies, and I grab my chest. “I have to go.” As fast as I can, I run back the way I came, but Micah stays right on my heels. Even though he’s not touching me, it’s as if I can feel him all around me.
When I get to the cabin, Micah grabs me around the waist and swirls me around, pinning me to the side of the house. My body ignites where his skin touches mine.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
Micah presses his body to mine. “Neither do I, but we have to figure this out. You’re my mate, Raelynn. I feel the certainty of it in every fiber of my being.”
I do, too, but I can’t bring myself to say it out loud. The confusion of everything has my mind reeling. “I have to go. I only came here to see you before you head back to Wyoming.”
Micah jerks his head no. “I’m not going anywhere now.”
Knots begin to coil in my belly. “If you don’t, someone’s going to get hurt. There can only be one mate. Now, please, let me go.”
His jaw tenses, and he stares down at my lips, then back up to my eyes before letting me go. “I would never hold you against your will, Raelynn, but we have to know what’s going on.”
Without another word, I rush away and get in my car. My hands shake as I race down the road, not even caring that I slide all over the place with the snow.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck. What am I going to do now?”
===
Micah
I watched Raelynn leave even though the alpha inside of me wanted to claim her right then and there so no other could. When Soren finds out what happened here, it will be a bloodbath. There’s no way I can leave now, but it’s going to be impossible to get Raelynn without a fight. Soren isn’t going to let her go, not when she’s supposedly his mate as well.
What the fuck am I going to do? I didn’t come here to start a war. Hurrying inside, I grab my phone. Strange things have happened within my family, especially with Zayne. No one ever thought a wolf could have a child with a faerie, but he did. The rules have been different with the Lyall men, almost as if the Great Luna planned to mix things up.
My fingers shake as I press Zayne’s phone number on the screen. I feel like a caged animal, forbidden to go after what I need to survive. In this case, it’s Raelynn, but she feels so far out of reach.
The line rings for what feels like an eternity before Zayne answers. “Hey, brother.”
I get straight to the point. “We have a problem.”
“What’s going on?”
“Raelynn’s my mate. I’ve never felt a pull so strong in my life.”
Zayne laughs, which is something he doesn’t often do. “That was fast.”
“No shit,” I grumble, running a hand through my hair as I pace the living room floor.
“What’s the problem then?”
I stop and stare out the window, only I can’t focus on anything other than Raelynn. “She already has a mate, or soon will. She has the connection with the Black Hills pack alpha,” I reveal.
“That makes no sense. We only have one true mate.”
At least, that’s what we’ve always known to be true. “I need your help. We have to find someone who can shed some light on this.”
Zayne blows out a breath. “I’ll ask Laila. She’s been reading through all of Seraphina’s journals. If anyone knew about this, it would’ve been her.” Laila is my niece, a half-fae and half-shifter hybrid with more power than anyone I know. I just wish Seraphina was still around to give me her wisdom.
“This has to be quick, Zayne. We have to figure this out fast because there’s no way in hell I’m going to be able to handle seeing Raelynn with another man. It’s not going to happen.”
“Fuck, Micah, don’t do anything stupid. You’re outnumbered, so play it smart. Maybe Raelynn will come to her senses and leave with you.”
A burst of laughter escapes me, but there’s no humor in it. “Since when have things been easy for us?”
Zayne sighs. “Never.”
“Exactly,” I state. “I’m fucked.”