Page 53 of Breathe Again

Chapter 22

I was still on edge. Luke had scared the daylights out of me showing up the way he did and sneaking into my house. Once my heart rate slowed back to normal, I was grateful Cole wasn’t home. I fear he would have killed Luke, and at the time, I wouldn’t have blamed him.

When my anxiety spiked, I knew Cole was well aware something was wrong. I wasn’t as good at controlling our bond as he was. Maybe it was just that I didn’t want to be. I liked feeling that connection open and flowing freely between us, but in this regard, I probably should have worked harder to control it. But I was too freaked out at the time to even think of it.

“Lizzy?” Luke asked. “Are you okay? You have a weird look on your face. Do you need me to explain it again?”

I shook my head. Cole was on his way and we’d need to go over it all again when he arrived. “I’m fine,” I finally told him. “Cole will be here in a minute. You can explain it all then.”

He looked confused for a moment, then dawning set in. “Oh. Really? I thought you just mated. How long have you been together?”

I sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“So talk. I mean let’s be real, I probably won’t live to see tomorrow anyway, so what’s going on with you?”

I rolled my eyes. “We did just mate. Everything’s happened very quickly.”

“But you’re fully bonded? How is that possible?”

“Look, only a few people know about that, Luke. It’s not something we’re sharing. It will freak people out.”

“We don’t exactly run in the same circles. I’m just curious. We can talk about something else till he gets here.”

“It’s fine. While we did just complete our mating, we’ve had an unresolved bond for quite some time. Dad thinks that’s why it sealed so quickly.”

“Quite some time? That’s pretty vague, and is that really possible? Wouldn’t you both still yearn for each other? I’ve heard that could be worse than torture.”

I looked at him sadly. “Yeah, it was. Over ten years of it.”

His mouth dropped open in shock and he needed a minute to compose his thoughts. “I always knew you were badass, but damn!”

I laughed out loud, surprised by his response.

We fell into comfortable conversation as we waited, and my nerves were no longer on edge when the front door opened. Cole walked in and immediately came to my side to check me over. Once he was certain I was okay, he nodded towards Luke.

“Larken,” he said.

“Anderson,” Luke responded in kind.

“What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” Luke said seriously.

I saw him look back over my shoulder and I turned to notice for the first time that Cole hadn’t come alone. I immediately recognized Kyle Westin and assumed the woman and children where his family. I knew Cole had gone to pick them up from the airport, but I had assumed he would have dropped them back at the Alpha house first. I shot him a quizzical look, then turned back to my guests with a smile.

“Kyle, it’s good to see you again. Gosh, it’s been years.” I was trying to wrack my brain for when I had last seen him.

He chuckled. “You know, I think it was the summer before high school we last saw each other. You good Lizzy. Or is it Elizabeth now?”

I shrugged. “I answer to either.” I didn’t want to tell him only Cole called me by my full name, or my parents whenever they were upset with me.

“This is my mate, Kelsey, and our boys, Zander and Jason.”

I smiled at Kelsey, then beamed down at the infant sleeping in her arms. “Aww, he’s beautiful.” I never thought I wanted pups, but I knew now that I had just never allowed myself to consider them and that I did very much want to be a mother.

“Hi, little man,” I told the older boy. “I have some snacks in the kitchen. Would you like a treat?”

His face brightened as he looked to his mother for approval. She nodded and they both followed me into the kitchen, leaving the men to stand around sizing each other up.

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