Filed to story: The Wolf Prince’s Fated Love
“Can you believe those assholes knew about Gael’s engagement and kept it from us? We should put them all on an iceberg. Back to Alaska!” Brielle slammed the suite door behind the rest of the males with a little too much vigor and then slumped back on the chaise lounge closest to me, pale faced with fury.
“They’re loyal assholes,” I mumbled, not really invested in the conversation. I wanted to forget this day had ever happened.
Shay sat on the floor next to my plush chair, playing an invisible piano, with Olivia hovering attentively between, periodically checking one of our pulses or offering water or a snack.
Oli was a healer through and through. And while at any other time I’d be annoyed by someone hovering over me, I really, really didn’t want to be alone right now. I felt lonely enough being essentially rejected by my mate. The girls were keeping me afloat with their presence.
Even if I was worried about Bri using too much power and how not great she looked right at the moment, she’d waved off
Shay’s offer of a power-up. I was pretty sure fury was keeping her afloat.
It was bad enough everything that had gone down with Gael, but I’d thought Brielle’s head was going to blow off when she’d found out that Kane also knew about the fiancée and hadn’t said anything. She’d kicked everyone with a penis out of the room and told Shay to put on, and I quote, “angry chick music.”
Shay had delivered, but frankly, I hadn’t made it to angry yet. I was numb with shock and, if anything, sad. I’d finally opened up and shared everything with Gael, and it hurt to know he’d been holding back something so big of his own.
A demanding knock at the door had Brielle growling, but Olivia shot her a stern look. “I’ll see who it is. You don’t move a muscle.”
I bit back a grin at the quiet order, even as I dreaded seeing who was at the door.
Olivia only opened it a crack, but I knew as soon as I saw her tightly pressed lips as she turned around and looked at me that it was Gael.
“Gael would like to speak with you, Leigh. Are you feeling up for it, or do you want me to tell him to come back in a few hours?”
Did I want to talk to him? No. But was it reasonable to shut him out without a conversation when he was the father of my child? No.
I had been replaying the moment in my head ever since he walked out of sight. He hadn’t looked happy to see her, and he’d apologized to me before anything else. There was a small part of me that was holding out hope that he wasn’t a dirty, lying cheater, but that part was small and fragile.
Whatever he had to say could shatter the last bit of faith I was hanging on to.
Or you could find out that he is the man you thought he was.
That kind of hope was dangerous, and I shut it off quickly. Time wasn’t going to help.
No, I had to woman up and hear him out. I owed that to Petal, even if I didn’t owe it to him.
I dragged in a deep breath through my nose and nodded. “I’ll talk to him.”
“Not alone, you won’t.” Shay lifted her lip in a snarl, eyes flashing gold with her wolf.
I shook my head and smiled at her. Crazy, perfect bitch.
Olivia didn’t argue, just opened the door and waved him in.
Goddess, it hurt to look at him. He was the perfect specimen of a male, and that only pissed me off. I wanted to hate him, to rage at him, to pound on his chest and tell him exactly what I thought about him leading me on while he was engaged.
But I also wanted to climb his ripped body like an oak tree and drown him in kisses until he remembered what we were to each other. Brand him with my bite, so he sent away any other female who even thought she could touch what was between us.
There was everything between us, and that just made it worse. More confusing.
“Leigh.”
My name on his lips sent a shudder of feeling through me. Sadness, fury, and the overwhelming desire to bite him filled me. So, I said nothing-letting him come to me.
And come to me he did. He crossed the room with lightning speed and shocked the hell out of me when he slowly sank to his knees in front of my seat. His eyes never left mine, and my breath caught in my throat at the obvious humility.
He was no man with something to hide, and something inside me settled at the sight of this powerful alpha on his knees for me. Gael looked desperate, and in the months I’d known him, whether we were on the run or under attack-or even just going toe to toe in an argument-I’d never once seen him look like that.
“Gael.” I whispered his name, and his eyes fell closed like I’d punched him.
When they flickered back open, they were burning with intensity and the glow of his wolf. Everything inside me balanced on the edge as he spoke, leaning forward but not touching, not crossing that invisible boundary.
“I owe you a thousand apologies, but I’ll start with this one. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about Celeste. You should never have been blindsided, but I promise you with every fiber of my soul, she is and always has been a family obligation and nothing more to me. If you’ll let me, I’ll tell you everything. Anything you want to know, nothing held back.”
I sucked in a breath through my nose, hope trying to rear its ugly head. For once, though, my wolf was the one not letting him off the hook. He’d touched someone else. Someone who had laid claim to him, a claim that was ours.
She was alpha enough that she wanted revenge.
Retribution, she growled, surprising me with an actual word. Most of what I got from her was pure feeling, instinct. We coexisted mostly without conscious words, which meant she was dead serious now.
But what about Petal?
I dropped my hand to my belly, trying to sort through my very muddled feelings. Pregnancy hormones were not helping this situation, not even a little. Goddess, when had my life gotten so damn complicated? I just wanted to move, to get the restless, jangling energy out of me and clear my mind.
“Will you take a walk with me?” I blurted, hating the frantic sound of my voice. I wanted to be someone who was cool, calm, and collected-but that had never been me. I’d always been too much.
Maybe it was time to stop apologizing for that. I was who I was, and if we were perfect for each other, shouldn’t he be okay with that?
“Hell yes,” he answered without hesitation, and that tiny spark of hope in my chest flickered happily before I could squash it back out.
He stood with lithe grace and offered me his hand. I didn’t take it. My wolf was not
letting him off the hook that easily.