Page 11 of Unforgivable Fate

“It was Nova’s vision of Luna, the eldest DeLuca sister, Leo’s twin, that put Maddox on the warpath. Little Nova saw a vision of Luna mating a Pack Alpha, someone outside our own pack, but Maddox had been trying to woo Luna for ages at that point. Likely in the hopes of getting his hands on some power in the pack since they weren’t fated but that’s not the point.” Barrett continued. “She was just a kid. She had no idea what would happen. How could she? She was just so happy for her sister to find her mate that she told everyone about the vision and as best as we’ve ever figured, Maddox realized time was running out to take control of the pack, which is why he led his revolt when he did.”

Griffin stared, “She had a vision of her sister… and that’s what set Maddox off?”

“Who knows really? But that’s what she thinks and I can guarantee you it’s what everyone else in that family thinks. Me too for that matter because fate works in mysterious and messy fucking ways.”

Griffin’s chest ached, “She must feel so guilty carrying that burden, even if she was just a kid.”

“She does. But riddle me this, why would fate give her that vision, knowing she was a child, knowing she adored her oldest sister, knowing what would happen, if that’s not exactly how it was supposed to go down?”

“You mean…”

“I mean.” Barrett elaborated. “Luna did mate the Pack Alpha of our neighboring pack but they only met because he was the one who freed her after Maddox kidnapped her and held her hostage.”

“Fate got her way.” He whispered.

“And not just with Luna. Leo escaped that night and he went to the Moirae Pack for help. That’s how Michael ended up here but it was more than that. Leo also met Darius when he went to the Moirae Pack for help.”

“Wait… Darius was Moirae Pack?”

“Head Enforcer.” Barrett confirmed. “They likely would have crossed paths eventually once Leo took over the pack since the Crescent and Moirae Packs have always cooperated due to our close proximity, but apparently fate didn’t want to wait.”

“So Nova’s vision led to the death of her parents, but it also led her two older siblings to their fated mates.”

“All three really, but Maya, the middle sister, hers took some time. She only found her mate a few years ago but he had ties to the Moirae Pack despite being human. If Luna wasn’t already the Queen of that pack, they might not have come together the way they did and ended up as Moirae wolves.”

Griffin’s mind was spinning, “A DeLuca wolf is a Moirae Pack member now?”

“Yep.”

“That’s… impossible.”

“Not impossible. Unlikely. Unless of course you chalk it up to fate.”

Griffin scrubbed a hand over his jaw as he let everything that Barrett had just told him sink in. What Maddox had set in motion here, with the Crescent Pack, had been awful. He had murdered the elders and leaders of the pack. He had killed anyone who stood against him. He had held the DeLuca daughters hostage and ruined more lives than Griffin could count. But if Barrett was right, what Maddox had done was simply putting the wheels of fate into motion.

His brother had always been a murderous psychopath but was it possible that fate had brought him to the Crescent Pack for a reason? He had done horrific things but the pack had recovered. They were stronger than ever to hear Leo and Darius tell it. They’d created an alliance to better serve their kind and connect packs that had always been insular before which was how Griffin had even found out about his brother in the first place. Maddox had been the catalyst for the changes not just in the Crescent Pack but in the entire DeLuca family and now, there was this.

Nova DeLuca was Griffin’s fated mate.

Everything in his life had led him here, to this place, to her. So maybe Barrett was right. Maybe fate had set all of it in motion. Maybe nobody, not even Maddox, truly had a choice in how it all played out. But did he believe that? He wasn’t sure.

He had always trusted fate to guide him. As a shifter it was the higher power that guided them all. But he liked to believe they still had free will. After all, shifters refused their mate bonds sometimes. And Griffin didn’t believe that everything happened for a reason. Fate wasn’t a micromanager. They all controlled their everyday lives but fate was there to guide them towards where they were meant to be.

What did it mean that she had guided him here, now, to find his fated mate?

Griffin couldn’t be sure what it all meant or how it had come to be but he did know one thing for sure. Nova DeLuca was meant to be his. Fate had split their souls in two and today they had found one another again. The spark had ignited the moment he touched her and when he’d looked into her eyes he’d seen his future looking back at him.

Even now, his wolf was pacing beneath his skin. He could feel Nova through the already burgeoning link that would soon solidify into the bond. He knew she was west of where he was, through the woods and only a quick run away. His wolf wanted to push to the surface, to take control and race towards her. He wanted to leap on her and sink his fangs into her soft skin to mark her as theirs forever.

It was only Griffin’s well-earned self-control that kept his more beastly side at bay.

“Listen, all I’m saying is, maybe if Nova can come to understand that everything that happened led you here, that it brought her to her fated mate, then she can start to forgive herself and heal.”

Griffin’s head snapped up and he frowned at Barrett. The words struck a nerve. He remembered Leo DeLuca telling him that what Maddox had done was in the past. He’d said they put it behind them. He’d said they had healed and moved on. But from the way Barrett spoke, the way he looked at Griffin, he understood now that wasn’t completely true, at least not for everyone that Maddox had hurt.

Hell, did he really need to hear Barrett say it to understand that Nova was still hurt by what his brother had done? Her reaction to him should have been more than enough. She’d been terrified and then horrified at the realization of who he was and who he was to her. Maddox might not have scarred her on the outside for the world to see like he had with Barrett but Griffin knew better than most that sometimes the deepest scars were the ones inside of you that never seemed to heal.

“She fainted when she saw me.” Griffin winced. “I don’t think we got off to the best start but I’m definitely sticking around and I intend to show her that I’m nothing like my brother.”

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