Page 22 of Pregnant Rejected Mate

I just can’t face the resistance she’s feeding me. Though I wasn’t planning on ever facing her again, now that she’s here, there’s so much I wish I could do.

All in good time, I assure myself mentally, stepping into the kitchen where I find Kairo dishing up a plate of food.

“Is that for Sierra?”

Kairo nods. “She’s a lovely girl,” she praises. “But you’re doing what the others did.”

Realization dawns on me with a sigh. “Right… About that… There’s no need for her to be locked up. I was simply taking precautions.”

Kairo narrows her eyes at me. “What did you think? That she was gonna run away?” She scoffs. “Sierra wishes to explore the island. She doesn’t want to leave.”

“She—she doesn’t?” I frowned in confusion. Just yesterday, Sierra had been adamant that she wanted to leave and go back home. “Are you sure?”

“Gosh!” Kairo rolls her eyes at me. “Of course, I’m sure. She likes the stillness of the island, and I understand that all too well. She might even like you already.”

I’m taken aback and curious to learn more. “Like me? What makes you think so?”

Kairo giggles into her shoulder. “Well, when I knocked on her door, she must have thought it was you. She told me to come in very seductively.”

My heart skips a beat, blood rushing through me with a sense of adrenaline.

“Really?”

My sister nods. “And when I went in, she was in nothing but a towel.”

I feel the heat rising on my cheeks. “Oh.”

“Uh-huh.” Kairo pats my shoulder as she passes me. “If you ask me, she was hoping it would be you walking through that door.”

Internally, I feel giddy, my heart skipping a couple of beats as I’m left stunned. Has Sierra changed her mind about me? Decided to give me a chance?

It seems she hasn’t told Kairo about our history. Does that mean she’s letting me off the hook? Agreeing to the clean slate I offered? I’m too dumbfounded to move, and my strong urge to go upstairs was only disrupted when Draco sent me a mind link reminding me that I was supposed to meet with him this morning.

Shaking my head to mentally remove the images I have of Sierra standing in a towel and waiting for my arrival, I grab an apple and head to the study.

“Sorry, Draco,” I apologize as I enter. “I was taking care of some things with Kairo.”

Draco lifts his head from his computer and grins bemusedly. “Is our little sister acting as the mediator again?”

I grimace as I cross the room. It seems Kairo is always there to be the bridge between her brothers and their human mates. I thought it would be different in my case; I was counting on it. I hated the idea of using force only for her own father to do exactly that.

“I’m afraid so. Diego Alverez has caused more damage than good,” I lie. I don’t have the guts to admit to my eldest brother that the human girl is someone I know. Someone I’d fallen madly in love with, only to leave her.

“Speaking of Diego…” Draco changes the subject, much to my relief. “What are we gonna do with him?”

Shrugging my shoulders, I take a seat across the table, pursing my lips contemplatively. “Have you spoken to Nimbus?” I ask Draco, to which he nods. “...And?”

My brother sighs. “He believes that the Council has already done enough. We should handle the rest from here.”

“The Council has done enough?” I sneer scornfully. “Of course they did, by trusting the wrong man.”

“No one knew he would deceive his daughter,” Draco reminds me. “That only means that he cannot be trusted.”

“No,” I shake my head. “Diego is a crooked man. If we do take him back, he’ll need to be under constant surveillance.”

“We can’t afford that either. If he opens his mouth, who’s to say we’ll get there in time?”

I open my mouth to reply when the parted window in the study allows for a gentle breeze to carry over the sound of fragrant laughter. Sweet and lilting, the sound is already etched into my mind, thanks to the past. As it resounds now, I’m compelled to follow it like a trail of breadcrumbs. My feet move off their own accord, carrying me forward as if I’m a starved man following the aroma of food.

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