Page 13 of Unforgivable Fate

She was touched by the fact that all of her siblings and their mates had come to see her. They all had families of their own now, children of their own, kids they’d had to leave at home in their beds, likely after finding someone to stay with them, just so they could come here and check on her. It wasn’t easy for all of them to get away like this but they’d done it tonight, for her.

Which was just another reminder of all she would be leaving behind tomorrow.

“Shh.” Luna stroked her back comfortingly, “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

“No.” She shook her head, inadvertently wiping her eyes on Luna’s shirt. “Nothing is okay about this.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. Why don't we all sit down and talk about it?" Luna was using her motherly voice in an attempt to take control of the situation and Nova frowned.

She had thought her family was here to console her, to commiserate with her. She’d thought they would be full of sympathy. She’d wanted them to hug her and hold her and tell her what a raw deal fate had given her. She’d at least thought she’d get more than a few minutes of comfort but from the way they were all looking at her, they’d already decided how this was going to go.

They expected her to calm down. They expected her to get over her shock and her horror. They expected her to simply go along with fate’s decision because that was what she’d always done. She had always believed that fate didn’t make mistakes but she’d been wrong and they were wrong too if they thought she was going to have a nice little chat about it and then accept that her fated mate, the man that fate had created to make her whole, the other half of her soul, was the brother of the man who had tried to destroy everyone she loved.

She moved back from Luna warily, "You don’t really think we can just sit down, have a family meeting and work this out, do you?"

"It's worth a shot, isn't it?" Michael moved to his wife's side, sliding his arm around her waist. "Come on, kiddo. Let's talk about this."

She glared at him, "I'm not a kid anymore and I haven't been in a very long time. If what happened today isn't proof of that, I don't know what is. I'm not a child and I am sick to death of you all treating me like I am."

"I'm sorry." Michael looked immediately chastised, "I know you're not a kid anymore. It's just an old habit."

"Well it's an old habit that needs to die a quick death because I am not in the mood to be treated like a little kid right now. I'm an adult. Treat me like one."

"Then act like one." Leo shot back and she gaped at her brother.

"Excuse me?"

"Leo..." Darius whispered his mate's name softly, as if he was as surprised by the sudden outburst as much as she was but her brother only shook his head.

"No. I'm serious. If she wants to be treated like an adult then she needs to start acting like one." Leo turned his stern gaze back on her. "I understand the shock you must have gone through when you ran into Griffin. I understand why you reacted the way you did and even that it was so overwhelming that you fainted. But after you woke up, you threw a temper tantrum and stormed out of my house without letting me explain anything. Now you're snapping at us as if we're the reason you're hurting instead of letting us help you through this tough time. We've all been where you are..."

"Don't even pretend you know what I’m going through. You never had to look into the face of your fated mate and see the man that still haunts your nightmares." She hissed and Leo's jaw clenched.

"That's not what he was saying." Darius put a supporting hand on Leo's shoulder.

"You're not listening or being reasonable." Leo huffed.

Nova grit her teeth to keep from screaming at her brother. She could feel the tears burning the back of her eyes again but she refused to cry now. Not when he'd already accused her of throwing a temper tantrum and acting like a child.

But dammit, why couldn't they understand just how upsetting today's events had been to her? She'd thought if anyone would be on her side it would be her brother and sisters who had all lived through the trauma Maddox Clary inflicted on them right along beside her, yet here they were, trying to play devil’s advocate and convince her to give his brother a chance.

Everyone had lost their minds. Everyone but her. Yet somehow they thought she was the one that was being unreasonable!

"Fine." She spit out the word. "Tell me what you were trying to say."

Leo narrowed his eyes at her hateful tone but spoke calmly, "What I was saying is that we've all been in a position where we were caught off guard by the mate bond sparking to life. Not a single one of us was prepared for it when it happened to us. It took us time to accept the bonds that fate forged for us even though we all grew up in the world of shifters and knew how it was supposed to work. Actually going through it, dealing with the changes it demands from your body and your heart and even your soul, is a huge adjustment and you're not alone in feeling freaked out by the hand fate dealt you. We've all been there and we're here to help you get through it."

Nova started shaking her head before her brother finished speaking, "It's not the same. It’s not the same because fate didn't deal you a shit hand. She gave you a strong Enforcer to stand by your side. An equal. Someone to help you lead the pack. Someone loyal and caring. You can't compare being mated with Darius to the nightmare I'm living in right now when I think of spending my life next to Maddox Clary’s brother."

"It wasn't always easy between us." Leo argued.

"Easy? No. I remember it wasn't easy. But it also wasn't impossible because when you looked at Darius you didn't see the face of our parents' murderer staring back at you. I do."

"He's not his brother." Darius spoke up from his position beside Leo. "Griffin isn't Maddox. We've met with him. We've talked to him. He genuinely came here because he wanted to give something back to the pack that his brother tried to destroy. We'd already asked him to stay even before your run in with him revealed what fate was planning and we did that because we trusted him enough to have him here. Doesn’t that tell you something about his character?”

"Speaking of that decision..." Maya cleared her throat and scowled at her brothers, "While we're on the topic, when, exactly, were you two planning to tell the rest of us that Maddox Clary's brother was in town and you were letting him join the Crescent Pack?"

The accusation in Maya's tone gave Nova a little more confidence in her decision to refuse her fated mate. Maya was on her side. Of course she was. Even if she was here with the rest of them under the guise of talking Nova into doing something she clearly didn't want, Maya always had her back.

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