He’d lost his mate and his brother.
“We’ve been over this, bro, and honestly, I’m getting fucking tired of it.” Toby bent down to grab a limb in the path and pulled it to the edge out of the way. “It’s her job to question the unexplainable. The fact that she didn’t go running to her peers with this at any moment she was here should be proof enough that her morals won over.”
“She could’ve asked about the DNA.” Yeah, it was a flimsy argument, but Rob still had too much pent up anger to rationalize his thoughts.
Toby sighed. “You’re absolutely right. She could have. Just like Dad could’ve been more helpful and told her what was going on with Jack rather than ignore his own son’s health.
All of the brothers were not very happy with their father. Thomas had tried to apologize, and he had seemed sincere, but Rob was too raw to do anything more than just nod at his father when he’d uttered his guilt. He believed his dad didn’t fully understand the dangers, but that didn’t change the fact that his father’s negligence had played a hand in Jack’s attack.
When Rob didn’t respond, Toby stepped up to him and put his arm on his shoulder. “Look, man. I love you. All I’m saying is give her a chance to explain. You owe her that. Too many things happened that made this snowball out of control. I’m not saying she’s not completely innocent in all this, but is it really fair to make her carry all the blame?”
“You have no idea how I feel about what happened that day,” Rob said as he yanked his shoulder out from Toby’s grasp.
“Because you don’t talk about it.” Toby crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes.
Shit, he knew that, but it didn’t make it easy. “I’m hurt, okay?” And that was the understatement of the century.
Toby relaxed his stance. “I know. You love her.” He raised a hand, halting Rob’s rebuttal. “Let me finish. I know you love her. I’ve been there. I know it doesn’t go away. You will never be happy without her. That’s why you need to talk to her. If not for any other reason than to just give her a chance to explain. She’s your mate. I can see it. And as your mate, you need to put aside your pride and hear her out.”
Rob squeezed his eyes shut and lifted his head to the sky. He could go see her. He’d continued taking the medication she’d made before she left. Hell, so had Jack. Even though she’d left that day, Ariel had still tweaked the dosage for his brother and had told Krista to get him some Phenergan to take thirty minutes before his daily dose as an added precaution. Thomas watched both of them as they gave themselves the shot after breakfast each morning. Apparently, the modifications Ariel had made and the addition of the nausea medicine had helped him.
“I’d have to get her address from Krista,” Rob mumbled, lost in his thoughts.
“You don’t have to,” Toby said, a little too cheerful. Rob’s gaze flew to his.
“What does that mean?”
“She’s coming here to bring a large supply of the compound she created. She wasn’t going to, but you know what kind of matchmaker Mikaela is. She talked Krista into coaxing her sister to deliver the shipment. It didn’t work at first—not until Krista laid on the guilt, suggesting that she should check on the two of you in person to verify your progress.”
Ariel was coming home. Rob’s heart pounded so hard he felt the blood rushing through his system.
“No,” he roared. “I don’t want her around Jack!” He’d said that before he’d consciously thought it.
Toby grabbed him. “Chill out, man. Dad insisted on everyone being present for the inspection. I would not allow him to be alone with her. Hell, if my mate said you couldn’t be alone with her, then I’d stop you, too. I love you, but Krista comes first. I’m sure that’s a lesson you’re learning.”
“The hard way,” Rob muttered.
Toby slapped his back. “C’mon. We need to get you cleaned up. She’ll be here in a few hours.”
Rob moved woodenly beside Toby, not sure if he was ready to see Ariel. He knew he needed to talk to her eventually, but part of him had put it off because if it didn’t go well, he wouldn’t have another encounter to look forward to.
This was it.
And Rob was fucking scared things wouldn’t work out any better than last time he’d seen Ariel.
* * * *
Ariel was fucking scared things wouldn’t work out any better than last time she’d seen Rob. The look in his eyes that horrendous day had haunted her dreams and plagued her waking thoughts. She knew it was low of her to even consider outing them. Even if she never went through with it, she never should have considered harming others to further her career. What kind of person did that make her?