Page 11 of Breathe Again

“What?” I asked more surprised than upset.

“Okay, he didn’t come right out and tell me it was you, but the second I saw you and him in the same room, I figured it out pretty quickly. Remember when I got drunk my first night here?”

I laughed. “Yeah, we all know now that’s the night you realized Thomas was your true mate. I was just thinking about that earlier today as I finished off my second beer and knew I shouldn’t have any more, lest I end up like you that night.” We both had a good chuckle at the thought.

“Somehow I think that would shock people around here a whole lot more than when I did it,” Lily said, and I definitely agreed. “Anyway, I left the next day and ran for home.”

“I remember.”

“What you don’t know is that Cole picked me up from the airport that day and we talked a lot on the way home. It really creeped me out that I was not at all attracted to him because there had always been some sort of flirtatious chemistry between us,” she rambled as I let a low growl fly out again. I was really going to have to learn to control that, but Lily just brushed it off and kept talking. “He told me to get back on that plane and go end things if I truly didn’t want him, because there was nothing worse you could ever do than leave a true mate in limbo. He never told me it was you, but he did kind of tell me what happened and how hard and lonely it had been for him all these years. He thought you had mated an Alpha in South America and moved on and hoped you weren’t as miserable as he’d been.”

A tear slipped down my cheek. “I almost did, but his Pack was basically a drug cartel and I couldn’t live that lifestyle. I ran away from him, switched schools, and eventually ended up back home. So you’re saying he never knew? All this time?”

Lily shook her head. “He honestly didn’t. And I haven’t really talked to him about it since he got here, but I’m guessing he was pretty shocked to find you here and unmated. He still loves you, you know.”

“Did he tell you that?”

Lily looked like she wasn’t going to say and regretted mentioning it, but slowly she nodded. “Yeah, he told me that even though you’d moved on, there would never be another for him. You were it. I kind of feel like I’m betraying him in some way by telling you that.”

“You’re a really good friend, Lil. I’m glad he has you in his life,” I said honestly. “And I’m sorry I keep growling at you.”

She snorted. “NowthatI understand. And I promise not to try and provoke you too much. Syd did that to me enough times for me to know how awful it is.”

Sydney Parker had been Thomas’s lifelong friend and on-again, off-again girlfriend. They’d been close enough to take the compatible mating test and pass it. Before Lily showed up shocking us all, it was well known that Thomas planned to take Sydney as a mate. She’d bowed out gracefully after she had found out Thomas and Lily were actually true mates, and then the girls became fast friends.

“Does he have anyone in his life now?” I asked. I didn’t think so by the way she was talking, but I needed to know for sure.

“Cole? Nah. I mean don’t get me wrong, he’s a bit of a playboy, but always with the human girls. Said his wolf would tolerate temporary companionship, but not from another she-wolf, and never anything serious.”

“Oh,” I said, not sure what to think about that revelation.

“Lizzy, don’t worry. He loves you and only you, but he’s angry. Give him a little time. Though I must say, you may be speeding things up quickly if you keep dressing like that.”

“Too obvious?” I asked, suddenly worried.

“Nope, but that color with your eyes and complexion is genius—subtle, but super hot. He’s not gonna know what hit him.”

I grinned. That was the plan, after all.

Cole

Chapter 7

I tried to get out of this dinner, suspecting Elizabeth would be there, but Cora had insisted and I knew I couldn’t give her a valid reason why I was refusing. I mean, what was I supposed to say? “Sorry, Cora, but your eldest daughter will be there, and I don’t want to see her because she’s my one true mate and crushed my heart a long time ago and I can never forgive her for that.”

That would go over like, well—not good. All that it would accomplish would be to cause a massive shitstorm and inquiry. So I dressed and headed downstairs, prepared to endure the torment with a guarded heart.

Just as I reached the bottom of the stairs, Elizabeth and Lily walked out of Thomas’s office. No good could come from those two being together. Lily and her father were the only two people on this planet that knew about Elizabeth and me, at least that I was aware of. What was Lily up to?

Before I could react, I was slammed with the scent of my mate, much more powerful than usual. My traitor of a wolf danced happily in my head. I tried to control the quick intake of my breath when I looked at her. The blue of her shirt exactly matched her eyes, making them one hundred times deeper and more beautiful when they met mine.

“Lily,” I said in greeting, even while staring at Elizabeth.

I saw Lily nudge her, and Elizabeth looked away, breaking the connection between us. I cursed myself over the sense of loss I felt in that small gesture.

“Don’t be rude, Cole,” Lily chastised me.

“Elizabeth,” I said through gritted teeth.

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