Page 85 of Owning His Mate

I want to have sympathy for her. She was the person who saved us from the Order, but everything changed the moment she withheld vital information from us. I am not someone who takes betrayal well, and hers cut deeply.

“Is she here to tell us more about herbrother?” I grind out the words, unable to hide my disdain.

The truth matters, and so does trust. Hester broke that irreparably.

“I’m not sure why she’s here, Apryle.”

Despite all of my anger, a surge of apprehension ripples through me. “Did the Order attack the Sanctuary?”

Roux glances over her shoulder, and I follow her line of sight to the gathered crowd. Cade, his brother, and his cousin are gathered around one of the tables, their huge frames blocking out anything behind them. I spot Halle’s bright red hair and Dove’s blue among the crowd of people, but I can’t see what they are focused on. “I don’t think that’s why she’s here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come and see for yourself.”

I can feel how unsettled Kye is through our bond as we follow Roux. Savannah reaches out a hand, and I tighten my hold on her, keeping her close to my side. I don’t know why, but I have a sudden urge to shield her.

The crowd parts slightly, allowing Kye to push to the front, and it’s then that I see her.

Hester is on her knees on the floor, her head bowed, her dark hair curtaining her face. As her head lifts, I expect to seeanger blazing in her eyes, not the fear she pins me with. I suck in a breath between my teeth, scared that whatever she’s been through is enough to lay this stoic woman open.

I let go of Savannah’s hand, instinctively stepping toward Hester, but strong fingers latch around my wrist. I twist to look at my mate.

His expression is a mask that, to outsiders, seems impenetrable, but I have a window into his emotions. He’s guarded, his apprehension palpable through our bond. He doesn’t know Hester, doesn’t trust her either, and he doesn’t want me near her.

My desire to keep my mate from losing his shit is a greater force in this moment than my need for answers, so I fall back to his side. Kye gathers me and Savannah against him, watchful of the woman who saved my life when I was hiding from her fucking brother.

“What is she doing here?” I demand to the room.

I can’t stop the anger lacing my words. Hester knew things that could have helped us, and she kept them to herself. I get that she was scared—I saw that fear in her eyes when she talked about her past—but she was supposed to be on our side. She was our sanctuary—until she wasn’t.

“She wants our help. Can you believe that? The audacity is astounding,” Sawyer drawls, and I notice Roux is back in his arms, as if he’s too afraid to let her out of his grasp.

I’ve learned this is something he does often. He might project smiles and sarcasm, but it hides his true feelings.

“Help with what?”

“I had a vision.” I don’t know what it is about the way Hester says it, but cold spreads through every cell in my body.

There is a sense of doom sitting heavily in my stomach, which feels hollow. The fact that she’s here is warning enough that whatever she saw was bad. Hester had stayed behind after weleft with Callum to fight against the Order so when her throat bobs and her eyes dart from side to side, my anxiety grows.

“Are we supposed to care?” Cade growls. “I don’t believe a single word that comes out of your mouth. You lied to us and used the girls for your own gain.”

Cade isn’t wrong. She did that, and probably more that we don’t know about, but Hester also protected us. She saved me and the others from being shipped off to some Order prison to be poked and prodded.

I can’t forget that.

“We should see what she has to say,” I tell him.

“I want to know what she saw too,” Abel says. Tessa is sitting with him, his hand pressed against her rounded stomach, where their pup grows. I can’t even imagine the conversations they have had about the future and keeping their child safe.

It makes it more imperative than ever to get this shit done and to destroy the Order—and Revna’s little fan club—completely.

There is so much at stake, and I won’t allow anything to happen to any more children. Tessa and Abel will be parents without fear of the Order coming for their child. Savannah will live a long, happy life. And if Dove and Jackson have a child that was taken by the Order, they’ll get that pup back.

“I know I have no right to come here and ask for help,” Hester says, “but I am. You were right, all of you were right, when you said we had to stick together in this.”

This time, the hint of hysteria from her has me gently pulling free of Kye as I send reassuring vibes through our bond. He lets me go, reluctantly.

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