Page 113 of Caelum

I dipped my chin. “He showed me his back the day after it happened.” I grimaced. “This is so strange because I've never heard of a Pack having two females in it.”

Things were going to be awkward. Not just for me, but for the twomates who were definitely going to knock heads. Two Alpha females just wouldn’t work, and no way would my brothers’ mates be the submissive kind.

Fate was never that generous.

Frazer's smile was tight. “Reed's Chosen... who is it?” he asked, then he smirked, but his eyes were stormy—I’d seen that a few times before, right when we leaped into battle, which meant he was preparing for one.

“You didn’t ask him when you saw the mark?” My brow puckered in surprise.

He shook his head. “He didn’t show me. I saw it by chance last night. Laurel was trying to fuck with him at the party, and when she touched his back, he practically yowled like a pissed off cat—thought he was going to cry.” He scraped a hand over his chin. “I caught a glimpse when he jerked the fabric away from his back, but before I could say anything, he stormed off.” His nostrils flared, and he released a shaky breath. “Let me guess… Eve’s his Chosen, right? That was what that whole shit in the gym was about, yeah? You trying to put distance between us and her?”

I wrinkled my nose. “No choice. If the faculty thinks he wants to talk to her, be with her because of what she is to him…” I let my words drift off, not saying what she was out loud. “If they knew she’d Chosen him, they never let them spend any time together. I had to protect them both.” Even from themselves.

Frazer grimaced, but understanding flashed over his face—he knew that was my self-appointed role. I didn’t give a fuck if Eve hated me, so long as she and Reed weren’t denied access to one another thanks to some stupid faculty rule.

“Figures,” he groused, running a hand over his face. “Why did he tell you and not me?”

“Haven’t you noticed he’s been acting oddly?”

He appeared to think about it a second then shrugged. “I figured it was down to Aboh.”

“No. He’s been doing so much yoga he might as well turn into a pretzel.”

Though Frazer’s lips twitched, any hint of a smile disappeared as he reached up and rubbed his chest. “I just thought you were trying to save us from ourselves.”

“What do you mean?”

“Reed and I had made a bet over who’d get her into bed the quickest.” He shrugged. “Mostly just to rile Stefan up.”

Their propensity for self-destruction never failed to irritate the fuck outof me—from the way Stefan had been growling at everyone who dared come within a foot of Eve, if Frazer or Reed had managed to get into her panties, I was under no illusion that the Romanian would have tried to castrate them.

That alone had been messing with Reed. Hence all the yoga. Stefan was being territorial over a woman who had ChosenReed, and my brother couldn’t say a damn word without the faculty getting involved. Truly, I couldn’t blame him for being pissy of late.

Narrowing my eyes at Frazer, I told him, “I tried to alienate Eve for Reed’s sake.”

He shrugged. “I see that now. But before I just figured it was?—”

“Yeah, yeah. To save you from an ass-whooping from Stefan, I get it.” Though he’d distracted me, I scowled up at him as I put two and two together. “Wait a minute, you asked about escaping Caelum? Why? Because of…this?”

My best friend grunted, his lips twisting in a way that made me fully aware of how torn up he was over this situation, how confused and lost he felt. Because of that, it took me less than two seconds to realize why. This was down towhohis mate was,whohad Chosen him.

Still, surely not? It made no sense.

A female didn't have more than one Chosen. It was impossible. But…

Even though I didn't need confirmation, it was so out there, so strange, I asked anyway. “Eve?”

The tightening of his lips was the only answer I needed.

All I was capable of saying was, “Fuck.”

And fuck was the way of it.

I ran a hand through my hair and blurted out, “We need to talk about this.”

He shook his head. “Nothing to talk about. Not yet, anyway.”

When he stalked off, I didn’t say a damn word. Mostly because I was speechless, but also because there was no damn point.

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