A Mate's Revenge(18)

“Do you think he’s really dead? Do you think Vesh could kill him?”

Cael nodded. “I do. His bond with the alpha is completely broken. He swore allegiance to Ravendale after he mated Braeh. Besides, Avan wants the pack. That means the alpha has to die.”

“To you, you mean. He swore allegiance to you.”

Cael shook his head. “To the pack. I don’t do things like Jax. Pack comes first, and it’s my job to see that they’re taken care of.”

“What’s she like? His mate? Is she good for him?”

“Very.” Cael shifted, relaxing against the back of the couch. “She’s got the smartest mouth you’ve ever heard. She puts him in his place a lot.”

The ghost of a smile touched her lips. “But is she kind? Will she accept what has happened to him?”

Cael knew what she was asking. “She’s got a big heart. I think you’ll like her very much. You’ll meet her soon.”

Isabesh focused on the fire again. Several minutes of silence passed before she released a huge sigh.

“I went to the alpha because I was afraid he’d kill Vesh if I didn’t.” She wrung her hands, and Cael knew this was going to be it. The moment of reckoning for them both.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” she whispered. “I just wanted my brother safe. I thought if I went to Jax and explained to him that I was already ruined, if I told him of my past, and that I’d found you. And that you would take me away so no one ever discovered the truth. I thought…” She let out a sad humorless laugh. “I thought he’d let me go. I figured I’d be back with you by sunset. How could the alpha of the largest wolf pack mate a female who was a whore? He’d never stand for it, that’s what I thought.”

Cael’s heart boomed in his chest, in his ears. His hands itched to touch her, to offer comfort or support. For himself as much as for her.

“But I severely underestimated his wrath. He…” She shook her head. “He was furious with me. With us. For embarrassing him. He already knew what my mother had done to me and Vesh. He hadn’t even minded. Said as long as he was my last, he could live with my ‘transgressions’. Transgressions, he called them. As if I’d had a choice in the matter.”

Her hands shook as she brushed the hair back from her face. Cael’s wolf pawed at him, desperately wanting to help. Nuzzle. Protect. Take the pain away. But all he could do was hear her out.

Isabesh met his gaze with tear-rimmed eyes. “I realized my mistake. Right away, and I tried to leave. I didn’t think he could keep me there. Legally, you know, he couldn’t. I could deny him, and that’s what I would have done. I was coming back to you. Even though I knew he’d hunt us. I knew it was dangerous and I didn’t care because—” A sob escaped, cutting off her words, but Cael was frozen, unable to move. “Because you were the only person who’d ever really loved me. Despite everything, you loved me, and no one would keep me from you.”

Move, damn it. Move. Take her into your arms. But something, some gut instinct, told him to wait.

Isabesh let out a shattered sigh. “But then… the alpha offered me a deal. One I couldn’t refuse. He got wind that you were asking the elders for a forum. Of course they would have questioned me about mating Jax, and he was desperate not to be humiliated further. He promised me he’d let you live, and Vesh too, if I called you out in front of the pack.” Her gaze pleaded with him. “Please understand, I needed you two safe more than I needed to be happy. But there was one more thing Jax agreed to that sealed the deal. He… he swore to never take me during my heat. Not until my final heat, that way he could still have an heir. I agreed, hoping he’d die before my last heat came. I… I guess I got my wish.”

Cael stared at Isabesh wide-eyed. She’d made a deal for his safety? She’d committed herself to Jax’s abuse for his safety? So he’d lived. Without her. Broken and half a fucking man. He would’ve rather died fighting for her. She had no right, no fucking right, to make that choice for them.

He bolted to his feet, but couldn’t figure out where to go.

“Cael?”

He turned his broken gaze to her. “Isa, how could you?” he breathed. His chest felt like it was being crushed in a vice grip.

She stood too, meeting him eye to eye. “How could I not?”

“All those years, Isa…”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she tilted her chin up stubbornly. “All those years you were safe and healthy and alive. I knew you wouldn’t understand.”