“Standard treatment for stupidity.” Her hands were on her hips and she appeared to be shaking her head in despair.
“Stupidity?” In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that only Helen would dare say that to the Alpha.
“Yes. And if Elise was here, I might slap her too, though she’s young and in a new pack, so I’m more inclined to forgive her, but you! You’re the Alpha, our supposed leader! You, of all people, should be able to read your own mate. Haven’t you used your bond to figure out what she’s really feeling?”
“I did, right afterwards. She was confused, scared, sad... I blocked her out after that. I’m not a suitable mate for her. Giving her a bit of privacy was the least I could do.”
Helen snorted. “What you did was convince her that you didn’t care; that you didn’t want her near you.”
“That’s not true!”
“Whether it is or not, that’s what she thought. Of course she was confused and scared! All of a sudden she had all your thoughts in her head and she couldn’t sort them out. And you—you were feeling pretty down on yourself for the circumstances surrounding the bonding, right?” Kane tightened his lips, but nodded. “Well, Elise took that to mean you hated her and regretted bonding with her, not just the circumstances surrounding how it happened. She was crying her eyes out this morning because she loves you, but she’s under the impression you don’t love her back.”
Kane stared at the floor, wincing as an actual pain attacked his heart. He never meant to hurt Elise. It was the last thing he wanted to do, and by trying to make things better, he’d actually made it worse.
Looking up, he found Helen observing him with a look of pity in her eyes. She reached out and cupped his cheek. “Kane, you did the wrong thing, but for the right reasons. I know you’re worried about becoming your father, but one fight with your mate doesn’t mean you are him.”
Kane wasn’t so sure of that fact, but didn’t bother to argue the point. Helen had always had a soft spot for him, and her assessment of his character was more favourable than he knew he deserved. “So, what should I do?”
“Are you looking for another slap on the head?” Helen scolded him. “Hook up that wonderful connection you now have with your mate. Go find her, explain how you feel and then have some great make-up sex!” With that, Helen shoved him out the door.
*****
Standing at the edge of the woods, Kane wiped his sweaty palms on his pant legs and shoved his hands into his back pockets. He’d faced a challenge fight to the death with fewer qualms than he had at this moment. For some reason, he was inexplicably nervous about opening up a connection with Elise. What if Helen was wrong? What if she didn’t love him? What if she really hated him for the blood-bond?
“Hey, Kane!” The sound of Julia’s voice behind him broke into his thoughts. He turned to observe the athletic blonde jogging down the path. “Are you waiting for Elise?”
He cleared his throat before answering. “Yeah, something like that.”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t returned yet. I ran into her and Rose over an hour ago. Somehow, I got the impression that they were just taking a short walk.” Julia leaned against a tree and stretched her leg muscles while talking.
“Really? I wonder why they aren’t back yet.” Kane frowned. To the best of his knowledge, Rose wasn’t an exercise fanatic and didn’t go on long walks. Then again, he didn’t know the girl very well; she never drew attention to herself and it was only recently, since she’d been dating Daniel, that he’d taken much notice of her.
“Yeah, it is sort of strange, isn’t it? And you know what else? Rose was acting odd. I mean, she’s always quiet, but...” Julia paused and then shrugged. “I don’t know. Something was off. When Elise asked me to join them, Rose had this weird look on her face. I think she was relieved that I couldn’t go with them.” She bent down to tighten her shoelaces. “At the time, I didn’t think that much about it, except that maybe Rose wasn’t feeling well, but now that they aren’t back... Well, I suppose Rose could have gotten sick along the way. That would explain why they’re so late.”
Kane narrowed his eyes as he considered the fact. “Do you know where they were going?”
“Umm...they were headed towards the lake, but I’m sure they didn’t actually go that far, since it’s still out of bounds.” Julia stood and bounced up and down a few times, while efficiently readjusting her ponytail that had started to loosen.