Page 16 of Exiled Mate

But none of that is true.

Whatever’s going on with Rylan, I can’t guarantee any type of future with him. If he’s been exiled by the pack, he’s not even supposed to be here.

I thought he was dead once. Now that I know he’s alive, I can get the closure I need.

One thing is for sure, though… I can’t lose him again.

“Okay,” I whisper, shutting my eyes.

“Okay?” he rumbles.

“You said you need to go to Thorne?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll take you.”

“Terra, you don’t even know what I’m going to tell him…”

“Will it clear your name?” I interrupt him.

Even if Rylan won’t tell me what he wants to say to Thorne, I at least need to know if I’m dealing with the possibility of Rylan coming back to the pack.

Because if I’m not… I really can’t hope for it again.

Rylan looks down at me. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I mean, I’m not sure. The person… who falsely accused me,” he says haltingly, “is very close to Thorne.”

One of his inner circle, then. That makes sense. Thorne has a bunch of enforcers and an accountant as his main advisors, and now his mate Iris as well.

I hope it isn’t Iris. I think she’s marvelous, and I love the fact that they’re fated mates.

I thought maybe Rylan and I might have that, but…

“So you just want to give him the information you know so that he can… what?”

“I’m hoping this time he believes me,” Rylan rumbles.

My mind races. “If you could come back to the pack, would you?”

“I don’t know, Terra,” he says softly.

When he says my name, the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

I study him. “I can’t leave the pack, Rylan. My mom… it’s a good place for us here.”

“I know.”

“If I bring you to Thorne, will he think I’m in on whatever you did?”

Rylan shakes his head. “No, Terra,” he says fiercely. “I’ll make sure he knows that you have nothing to do with any of this.”

I nod. “Okay. Tomorrow, we’ll figure it out.”

“Tomorrow.”

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