“You’re missing the point here.” Tristan looked up at the sky. “Why am I not surprised?”
“What?”
Tristan grabbed his arm and squeezed tight. “I’m pissed as hell at you.”
“Yes, I know. I screwed up. Again!” He shouted at the alpha, and even though his wolf howled for him to stop, he couldn’t help it. At that moment, he wasn’t Tristan the alpha; he was Tristan, Rex’s brother. “I didn’t bring home a witch. I’m always fucking everything up. I can’t even mate properly. Everyone finds a mate, it’s easy.” Tristan laughed. “Easy?”
“But I can’t even manage to get mine to want to be with me. I only get a pretend mate. I can love her forever but she can’t love me.”
“I can feel every single member of this pack, Rex.”
Rex growled. “Why the fuck are you bringing it up again?”
“Because, clearly, he can feel me as part of the pack.” Rex jerked like he’d been struck. Elizabeth. He whirled around. He’d not smelled her until she’d spoken. He should have. Why hadn’t he? His heart in his stomach, he couldn’t manage to form words. There she was. Beautiful, healthy and standing before him on Westervelt. Was he dreaming? Had he fallen down and struck his head? Had Tristan killed him and this was heaven?
“Elizabeth, I presume.” Tristan stepped forward and gave her his hand to shake. She took it.
“You must be Tristan. His brother, the alpha.” She scratched her head. “Should I bow or something? I don’t know how to do this and he’s not told me anything.” Tristan laughed. Rex could hardly think. Why did Tristan keep laughing at these really strange times?
“Do people bow to you in your coven?”
She raised an eyebrow. “How do you know it’s my coven?”
“I can smell power when I’m around it.”
“I have no idea how they’ll treat me. I’m new at this. No one bowed to my mother.
But, seriously, I don’t know what to do.”
“You’re human. I don’t expect a lot of bowing from you. Not to mention, you’re going to be my sister-in-law, or already are depending on how you feel about mating.
Different rules.”
“Are we related?” She looked at Rex like she wanted him to answer.
“I think I’ll leave Rex to tell you about it. One question before I make myself scarce.
How did you get on my island undetected?”
“I popped in.”
“Popped?” Finally, Rex couldn’t stand it anymore. “What do you mean popped? Is it safe for you to pop?”
“What do you care? You left me. Unconscious. In Florida. Never to see me again.”
“And that would be my cue to leave.” Tristan turned on his heel. “You don’t miss the next meeting, brother.”
They stood in silence and watched him walk away. Tristan had been a buffer and now there was none between them. She thought he left her? He set her free. What the hell was she doing here?
Ask her.
I intend to. If he could find his voice. “You mated me because you thought you had to deliver me to your family to get help. It was misguided but I get it. I’m certainly not going to ruin the rest of your life by demanding you as some kind of payment.”
“Is that what you think?” She looked genuinely surprised, and then, to his utter horror, tears fell from her eyes. His wolf wanted to howl. Whatever had happened, he needed to comfort her. He stepped forward but she took a step back.
“Let me tell you what I have to say. Don’t touch me. It’ll confuse things.” He nodded. Touching her did strange things to him; it could make things harder to understand, especially if his cock had anything to say about it. “Fine.”
“I wanted to turn information about you over to Drea. Stuff about mating, about wolves. I thought she could use it somehow. It’s awful I ever thought it, but I came up with the idea before I ever even knew you. Things changed fast for me and I should have called off the idea, never phoned them. My only excuse, and it’s not a good one, is by that point I was so invested in the idea I had to go through with it.”
“I told you. I understand. You can be done with this.” Her eyes flared. “Oh, can I?”
“What do you want from me?” He shouldn’t be hollering at her and yet he couldn’t keep the tone of his voice down. Too much had happened for him to be calm.
“I did not know Kendrick was there. I need you to believe me.” He nodded. “I do. I can even understand why you did what you did. I set you free.”
“Do you love me?” Her hands were fisted at her sides.