Page 105 of Stargazer

“Hey, Angel. I wasn’t expecting you this morning.” He got up from the desk and walked towards me, pulling me in for a tight hug like we’d been apart for days and he’d missed me. Truth be told, despite all the distractions I’d had with Griffin, I missed him too. Missed my friend.

I returned the hug, almost not wanting to let go, afraid of ruining the moment.

“An unexpected but very-welcome surprise,” he said against my hair with a chuckle.

I took a deep breath to centre myself before squeezing him one more time. He happily obliged and laughed again as he squeezed me back. Then he pulled away and looked down at me with his signature lovable smile, those dimples popping.

“Hey, Riv,” I finally got out.

“Are you alright, Vee?” He asked, noting the infliction in my tone. His brows bunched with concern.

I mentally wiped away whatever traces of worry I had and tried to hold onto that peace again. Let it overcome me and provide strength while I did what I needed to. While I talked to my best friend and told him the truth he deserved.

“I’m good. How was your trip?” I started off easy and was grateful that my voice didn’t hold any of the previous nerves this time round. I offered him a casual smile which he returned. I didn’t want to just jump right into it. Plus, I knew this pack visit was an important one.

Pulling me with him to the couch, we sat down facing each other before he responded.

“It was effective. You remember how things went down with Sky and the Wellsboro pack?” I nodded and he continued. “Alpha Aiden was still a little bitter about his son not getting his true mate. So having me there felt vital and it definitely did wonders when it came to pleading our cause. Axel was right, the Alpha would have felt like we’d disrespected him further if I didn’t personally visit. As much as I would have liked nothing more than to teach his spoilt shit of a son a lesson—and the Alpha himself for his outdated ways and the shit they put Sky through—we smoothed things over. Arlo, the pain-in-the-ass, has mated his lover now anyway, so there was no need for grudges. If Sky is over it and moved on, then everyone else needs to as well. Her words, not mine.” He grinned recalling our friend’s wise and forgiving nature. “They're on our side now, and we need the alliances of as many of the closer packs on the East Coast as we can get. They’re also one of the larger territories, so this is good for us.”

We didn’t bring it up often, but Sky had rejected her mate a couple years back. Alpha Aiden’s son—Arlo, the future Alpha of the Wellsboro pack in Pennsylvania—had sniffed her out and found her when he’d visited Saint Claire for pack business on his father’s behalf. Long story short, she moved there for him for all of two months before he cheated on her with his ex. Sure enough, when he told her he still loved his former lover and couldn’t let her go but wanted to love Sky too and keep their bond, he became her ex quicker than he could say sorry. If it was up to him, he would have wanted to keep both girls. But Sky deserved much better than him.

Things had been a little bit strained ever since then. She’d never take Arlo back, even if he begged, but she sure as hell wouldn’t let the rift impact our pack either. Nor would she let him have any more real estate in her mind, meaning she’d let go of that anger years ago.

Even with her merciful nature, she refused to set foot in that pack herself this time, which was why she’d stayed back to watch over Saint Claire. That, and the fact that Riv didn’t want to chance bringing her back there in case they tried to make a move and refused to let her leave.

I was so relieved that nothing unfortunate came out of their visit and that it worked in our favour. I wasn’t going to put my faith in the kindness of an Alpha who clearly thought that one’s mate was their property. But this was big for us. And they’d all returned safely, which was my main concern.

“I’m so glad that it went well and that we have more wolves on our side. With the sour history between your pack and theirs, it’s a relief we got to them first and they haven’t sided with the rogues or anything,” I confessed, voicing a fear I had. So far, the rogue army was sticking to their own kind, but who knew if they had other allies we didn’t know about in shifter packs. Hopefully most shifters would want to stick together. We were counting on that for this impending war that was bound to arrive at our doorstep. I mean, what other reason did the rogues have to create an army of their kind?

Riv nodded his agreement. Then he squeezed my hand. “We wouldn’t have been able to do all this liaising and rallying if it wasn’t for you and the Knights holding down the fort for us here.” His bright eyes and genuine smile showed his gratitude.

“It’s a team effort, and the least we can do,” I assured him. “But I’m happy we’re able to help and that you’re no longer facing this alone.”

He leaned back on the couch, dropping his head back and slumping down further as he chuckled tiredly, fatigue seeming to settle in. “Trust me, so am I.” Honey eyes slid to mine again. “You have no idea how much it means to me, Vee.” His large hand casually shot out to my knee, caressing it gently.

“I know,” I said softly.

Despite the exhaustion that I could see lingering in his face and plaguing his body, he smiled happily at me. “What did you lot get up to? Was everything all good here? I didn’t hear anything from Sky.”

This was my opportunity.

Be strong, Vee. Tell him the truth. Give him the honesty he deserves.

“Everything was all good with the pack. Patrols went smoothly and we managed to scope out the camp site that Amelia had mentioned, the one everyone in town used to rave about. But a storm made the process a little more difficult than we had hoped and the place was empty. We still managed to catalogue everything we could though, just without the benefit of seeing it populated and buzzing like it would be during the Harvest moon.” I took a breath again. I had to rip the Band-Aid off and boy did I fucking hate doing that; I was very much a slowly tear it off bit by bit kind of girl.

“But Riv … I came here to talk to you about something else.”

My heart was going ballistic in my chest and before I could say another word or even take another breath, he looked at me with understanding and compassion before he calmly said, “You made your decision.”

All I could do was nod.

“Griffin?”

I nodded again. “I am so sorry, Riv. I didn’t want to make that decision while you were away. That was not my intention at all, but things just happened, and I realised that I was holding on and refusing to make the decision because I was scared of what it would do and how things would change. I wanted to wait. Wanted to talk to you first before I told him, before I …” I shook my head, sparing him the details of what happened between Griffin and I while he was away.

“All I seem to be doing is apologising for all the stupid things I do to hurt you. But I am sorry. I’m so sorry that things didn’t work out the way we had hoped. I am so, so sorry that I fell for him in the time I was gone, when I thought you were someone different to the guy I had always known.” A wave of sadness panged through me, but I had to explain myself.

“I can’t pretend that I didn’t fall for him anymore. And I couldn’t put off making that decision. It wasn’t fair on any of us. My intention when I found out the truth about you and the rogues was to come back and mend things—to apologise—not necessarily to rekindle our relationship. Because things were already turning into more with Griffin.”

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