Chapter Seven

Ryan

Sloan offered to take me to the warehouse when he was heading there to pick up some supplies. My gut reaction had been to decline the offer. I was going to stay here. Why would I go there? Why would I open myself up to that hurt?

But then I looked across the room and saw Becca twirling around, telling everybody she was a fairy princess, and I realized that if I was losing my beast, I needed to fight. And if that meant getting my heart broken, then so be it. The children deserved someone who put them first and for the long-term, no matter how hard that battle might be.

I arranged for a sitter and drove to the warehouse with Sloan. With each mile that passed, my nerves ratcheted up, but oddly, my beast settled more and more. It was as if he knew I was finally doing what he'd been asking the entire time. He didn't understand what I already knew; King probably already knew who I was and was ignoring it. He was strong, stronger than me, and the mating pull wouldn't destroy him the same way. And I couldn't blame him. How would he know what it would do to me? He couldn't. And I didn't want him to know because he'd mate me to save me, and that was not a good reason.

When we arrived, Sloan headed to go find Mav, and I went straight to King's room. I wasn't sure what I was going to say when I got there. I guess I was hoping I'd knock on the door, he'd open it, and everything would suddenly be okay. That the world would magically align itself. But that wasn't how real life worked.

I reached up to knock, but before I could, the door opened.

"I think…I think you're my mate." The words tumbled out of my mouth, and the world stood still.

A minute later, I was in his room. The two of us alone, me sitting on the edge of the bed, him kneeling in front of me, asking if I was okay.

"Yeah. Yeah." I wasn't sure if I was telling the truth, but he looked so heartbroken. What other answer could I have?

He reached out, cupped my cheek. "No, seriously, look at me. Are you okay?"

I lifted my eyes to meet his. "No. No, I'm not. I haven't been okay since my birthday." Tears started to fall down my face. "I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know."

He cursed under his breath. "I did, and I wasn't man enough to say anything. I wanted better for you, and look what I did. I made things worse."

He wanted better for me? That made no sense.

"What do you mean, you wanted better for me?"

"Look at me." His voice was firm yet pleading. How could he even hint at being unworthy? He was everything anyone could ask for in a mate and more.

"I am." I leaned into his touch. "You're the kindest and fiercest and… You—"

"No." He shook his head.

"Yes…y-you're King."

He shook his head again, this time closing his eyes.

"I'm a monster. You don't know the things I do… Or maybe you do. It's probably better if you don't, but I'm a monster."

"You aren't though. You keep people safe, and sometimes that means seeing the ugly side of our world and doing things we don't want to do. Trust me, I know about that. I've lived that life." It was people like King that made this world a better place. How could he not see that.

"You can't understand."

"But I do." Tears were freely falling down my face, and I waited for him to meet my eyes before beginning again. "My alpha father went mad…feral at…he went feral." I didn't want to talk about the reason why. I would have to, but not now. It wasn't the important part of my story. "And my grandmother, his mother, she did what she had to do. And in all these years, not once did I second-guess her choice. You know why? Because she was right. It needed to happen. It sucked, and it destroyed her, but it needed to happen. Don't let what you need to do destroy you."

He grabbed the back of his neck. "I just…when I scented you, I hoped… I hoped you wouldn't scent me back, that somehow I could keep you protected, but I made it worse, didn't I?"

Did he feel my beast? Sense how lost he'd been without him?

"You brought me here."

"Not really. I didn't know you were coming."

"No, but your beast—he made sure I came, because this is where I need to be."

He looked at me, silence building between us. I didn't break it. It was up to him to decide what was next.

"I'm almost twice your age, and my job sucks, and I have a past, and…" He tilted his head, his eyes staring into mine as if they held all the answers. "You really don't care about any of that, do you?"

"No, I don't. How could I? I've seen the very best in you, and it wasn't because you were showing off or because you thought that was what you needed to do. No, it's just who you are. And sure, your job requires you to make tough decisions, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the time you aren't who you were meant to be."

"So, where do we go from here?"

"You're my mate, King."

"And you're mine." He leaned in, brushing his lips against mine, and I threw my arms around him, knocking him over until both of us were on the ground.

"Oops," I giggled.

"You're crying." His thumb wiped a tear from my cheek.

"Yeah, but it's not a sad cry. I'm crying because I found you and understand what you are to me."

He pressed his forehead against mine. "Mate. You're my mate, Ryan."

My bear pushed forward, using my eyes to look at King. "And you're mine."

Everything else was just details.