"Last night. I … " She caught herself, remembering they weren't alone. "Hey, Sasha?" Kira turned to see her friend watching them with wide eyes. "Can you do me a huge favor?"
Sasha laughed. "I'll cover for you. But you owe me."
"Of course. Thank you."
"No problem." Sasha walked close, and lowered her voice. "But you're going to have to explain to me how you've had such a hot brother that you didn't bother telling me about. Damn, girl, that's not the type of thing you keep from a friend."
Kira laughed and looked to her brother, who, judging by the humor reflected in his face, had heard Sasha loud and clear.
They waited until she went back inside and Kira grabbed her brother's hand. "Come on. I want to talk to you, but we should probably get away from this."
Kade nodded. "No other shifters around here?"
Nash's face flashed in her mind, but she squeezed her eyes. "No." She lied to her brother. "Just me."
They each took an ATV and Kira drove them out past the campsites, to where the river curved. It wasn't totally secluded but it was far enough away from people that they could talk. And man, did they have a lot to talk about.
Kira had to bite back the growing guilt she had for lying about Nash. No doubt Kade would be able to sense the shift in her, just as she had with him. A topic she was definitely going to get back to just as soon as she could. But for him. Not her. She couldn't explain it, but she didn't want to tell her brother about Nash. Not yet. She needed to feel things out first, see where he stood on everything. Mainly, accepting her back into the clan.
Was that even possible?
Would her family welcome her back?
Could she go back?
For too long, Kira had erased the hope that she would ever be able to go home. It seemed like such an unattainable goal. How could she ever go home if they didn't want her? But now, he was here. Why now?
"Why now?" Kira fired off the question the second she'd shut off the ATV and before Kade had even swung his leg over to stand. "Why are you here? Why now?" she asked again. Kira hated that she could feel the tears building in her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Not now. Not in front of Kade. She shook her head and looked away, forcing herself to calm down as emotions rolled through her.
"Kira."
She could feel him. Sense him, right behind her. "I don't know what to say."
Kira spun around. "Tell me why." Anger she didn't know she was holding onto flew out of her. "Tell me how you could have turned your back on me like I was gone forever."
"You were." His anger matched hers. "You chose him." Kade's words were like a dagger through her heart. It was too easy to remember the pain of that day as her brothers walked away. "Do you have any idea how it tore me up inside to stand by and do nothing while you made that mistake? It killed me, Kira. It shredded me." His handsome face twisted; his eyes darkened as he recalled the day. "And yes, I walked away," he continued. "Because it was what you wanted. I would have done anything for you. I still would," he added more softly. "You're my sister. My twin sister. That means everything. And I know now that I did the right thing because I can see your happiness. I can feel it."
Guilt flooded through her. She was happy. But not for the reasons Kade thought. She had to tell him the truth. "I am happy." She looked down at her feet and kicked a rock. "But I'm not with Ryan anymore."
"What? But he's your mate, Kira. Your fated mate and I know how that-"
"He's not." She looked up, ashamed to look her brother in the eyes, but she forced herself. "He fooled me. It wasn't real."
"But it … you said … "
"I know what I said." For the second time, she had to blink back tears. Damn. It was easier to be mad. "But I was wrong. It wasn't real. None of it. He used me to further some sort of stupid family vendetta against Grandpa that apparently was only important to him. It was all so stupid and-"
Kade gripped her upper arms and shook her. "Why didn't you come home? Why did you stay away?"
She couldn't do it. She couldn't hold back the tears any more. She didn't look away as the tears spilled over her cheeks. "You didn't want me, Kade. I wanted to. But only if you all wanted me back."
"Of course we wanted you back! When you left, you took a piece of me, Kira. You must feel that, too."
She nodded. Of course she felt it. She'd felt it every damn day for far too long. "I tried to reach out to you, Kade." She sniffed and tried desperately to make herself stop crying. "Every night, I'd run in the forest and reach out. But you weren't there." A sob escaped her throat as she remembered those early days of loneliness and desperation. "But you weren't there, Kade. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. It was like instead of you, there was a big black hole. It was so … empty."