Page 68 of Tangled Fates

My heart sank that she was still making the vials to be sold. Did she think that she still needed to do it? I thought she was leaving with us? Anger burned through me, but I took a deep breath trying to calm myself down. We needed to talk.

“I hope this doesn’t mean she’s staying,” Soren said, his brows furrowed. “How did everything go haywire in twenty-four hours?”

“We need to go talk to her,” I said, realizing we hadn’t talked to her about Ryder's arrival.

“Yeah, we need to make sure she realizes she is ours no matter if Ryder is involved or not.” Soren left the room, and I knew he was headed towards her bedroom.

I followed him, my nerves making each step feel heavier and heavier with the weight of what could happen. Could we be over even before we had really even started?

When we didn’t find her in the common area, Soren raced up the stairs to her room, but I followed my instincts. If she had been making the vials, then she was probably hungry. I opened the fridge looking for something easy to make for her. I took out stuff for a chicken wrap, added an apple and made her tea.

I walked up the steps to see Soren outside of her closed door leaning against the door frame. He looked at me with tears in his eyes when I stepped on the last step, his face full of anguish. A small whimper caught my attention, and I was hit with extreme sadness that felt so strong, tears threatened to escape.

Soren and I looked at each other in anguish, hating that our mate was feeling like this. I gave him a nod and he knocked, giving her a few seconds to say something when he walked in, and I followed.

Her soft cries stabbed me through the heart. Each cry ripped me to shreds and by the time I made it to her bed, I left the tray on the bench at the end of the bed, rushing to her. Soren picked her up, his face was guarded like he was waiting on her to say something, but she wrapped her arms around him crying even harder.

“Sunshine.” My voice cracked as I wrapped myself around her from behind.

I leaned away, quickly smelling the shirt and realized it was someone else’s. The growl that escaped me was out of my control as possessiveness unfurled in me. I took my shirt off when Soren pushed her away, taking off her shirt as she looked confused. Her mouth opened, but I yanked my shirt over her head helping her put it on. Soren hauled her against him. and I hugged her again.

“You never wear another man's clothing. I don’t care if you're mad or you think you hate us,” I growled. “You are ours and I would rather you be naked than smell like another man. Do I make myself clear?”

Sunshine shivered.

“Blondie, say you understand.” Soren looked down at her. “I know this day has been weird for all of us, but don’t doubt you are our mate, our life and our home.”

“You left me alone all day, what was I supposed to think?” she muttered against Soren.

“You can always come to us,” I said, trying to calm myself. “I know we didn’t do well in keeping you informed and that is on us, but if you have a problem with us, you make us listen.”

I wanted to threaten her with spanking her, but I knew a part of this was my fault too.

“He said I will never be her and he’ll never be mine,” she said, her voice cracking.

Fucking Ryder.

Soren and I shared another look. I opened my mouth to start explaining, but Soren started talking.

“When we met Serena, we were all smitten with her. But Ryder and her, they clicked so well. The Belladonnas are usually auctioned off for marriage and never allowed to date, except…” Soren paused and I knew he was trying to make sense of things. “They let her date Ryder and after that, they were inseparable. Actually, we were all inseparable. She came along with us on some jobs, she stayed over at our home and soon, we all grew to have feelings for her.”

Sunshine’s heart rate spiked at his admission. While I didn’t want to tell her we loved her, she deserved the truth.

“I don’t think any of us realized she was going to be important to all of us, but while Ryder got to love her in plain sight, Gray and I had to love her from afar. Until she broke it off and left us all in ruins.”

Soren cleared his throat, but when he didn’t continue, I knew he was still working on his heartache. Soren and I tended to suffer in silence which never did any of us any good.

“We hadn’t heard from her in a year, when she came back asking for help.” I started where Soren had left off. “She needed a vial of Oria for her sister and since the market had run dry, she needed our help to find some or find the source. We were more guarded than Ryder, but Ryder was convinced she was his mate. Unfortunately, her fate had already been written. She was going to die and even though she told Ryder, he thought he could save her.”

“When did she die?” she murmured.

“When I arrived here, she had already died,” Soren said, as I felt a rush of sadness from her.

“Did you love her?” Her body tensed when she asked.

“I thought I did,” I said slowly. “I don’t think I knew what love was or could be until I met you, Sunshine,” I said, kissing her shoulder, licking my lips to taste her.

“I thought so too, but I don’t think I knew what love was either,” Soren said, kissing her forehead. “It definitely didn’t feel like this, Blondie. Nothing will ever come close to the way I feel about you. You are my everything.”

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