A Mate's Revenge(5)
“Tell me about Avan.”
Illia nodded, pulling Besh’s attention back to the conversation. “She has found her mate. I suspect that was her reason for leaving without notification. But rest assured, she will return, and with a man. He will be a great help to the pack.”
“Who is he? A human?”
“That’s all I have.”
Jax was quiet, taking in the information. His shoulders relaxed a fraction at the news that another one of his guardsmen hadn’t turned on him. Not that Vesh had actually done any turning. Alpha had set all that in motion to get her brother out of the way. She could only hope he was safe. That the Ravendales hadn’t found him. Cael would surely kill Vesh for betraying them so many years ago. If not for that, then to get back at her for testifying against him.
“And about my mate?”
Illia glanced at Besh before running her tongue slowly over her front teeth. “Your mate can’t conceive because of the level of stress she’s under.”
Jax scoffed. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s it, Elder.”
Illia’s eyes cut sharply to him. “I’ve never been wrong.”
“One of you was. Trager is happily mated. Was that your vision? Or another’s?”
“We weren’t wrong about Trager. We were confused. His mate can’t bear children. It is true, he won’t have a family. But it was your decision to throw him from the pack. You were the reason for the prophecy in the first place. Our visions are never wrong, Alpha.”
Jax scowled, the scar on his chest flexing with his irritation. “Fine, carry on.”
“Your mate needs a break. Time to heal. Her body and her mind. She will bear children, but not under these circumstances. If you want young, leave her alone. See to your own needs for a while.”
Jax stared at her horrified. “I’ll make use of my mate when I please, understand that.”
Illia shrugged as if it mattered not to her. “Your choice, of course. But a little understanding could go a long way to fixing the problem.”
Jax met Besh’s gaze with a wicked glare, because he knew as well as she did, no amount of understanding was going to change her mind about him. She wanted out or she wanted to be dead. Those were the only two acceptable options for her.
Chapter Two
Cael stared at the female across the table. She was beautiful. Toned and tan, with blond hair to her waist. She was his, but he didn’t want her. He’d scented her the night he and Lexar snuck into the Ozarka camp and ever since, he’d been trying to figure out a way to break it to her easy. He wasn’t the mating type.
After his only true love betrayed him, he’d spent most of his years praying to the Elders, to the Creator, to whoever was out there listening, to never allow him to find his intended mate. Not because he’d have a hard time refusing her—it’d be easy since his heart was too shattered to ever love again—but because he didn’t want to ruin her life by not giving her what she deserved: a proper mating, a family, a future.
His prayers went spectacularly un-fucking-answered.
The five members of his pack had crowded around the small table, each of them staring at the woman—Avan, Vesh had called her. Her scent assaulted him, making his wolf chuff. But the animal knew what Cael knew. Intended or not, she wasn’t the one for him. There was only one soul in the world that matched his and the fucking fates had gotten it wrong with Avan.
Images of Isabesh flashed through his mind like a strobe light. Some remembered from their time together—her peeking from behind the trunk of a tree, her sleeping soundly in his arms, her as a wolf chasing prey through the forest, her looking desolate when Jax discovered their plan to run away. Others were imagined—how her eyes might be black and bruised from the fists of the brutish alpha, how she might be a shell of a person from living unloved for such a long time, how she might look when she’s finally free of her nightmare.
His wolf whimpered for her.
Yes, the animal was pulled toward his intended. It was natural instinct. But Cael’s heart belonged to only Isabesh. She’d betrayed him, trampled on everything they had, and sentenced him to a life of loneliness. And still, he ached for only her.
With shaking hands, he tipped his beer bottle up and chugged the rest of it down.
Whether he could forgive Isabesh or not, he wouldn’t leave her at the hands of a monster. Jax needed to die for what he’d done to her, to them, to the pack. Cael was going to be the one to do it.
He was so close to having his revenge.
Avan met his gaze boldly. She wasn’t the least bit intimidated by him. Why should she be when they were practically a foregone conclusion? She didn’t doubt that he’d take her as soon as possible, give her his mark, and claim her future. She didn’t know how wrong she was.