Page 26 of Fated Exile

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The moon sickness compound is on the other side of Juniper from the house, which means a long car ride to get there. I drive my own car, letting the guys split between theirs, so I can have some alone time to think.

While the conversation about having multiple mates could've gonebetter,it also could've gone worse. This was something they had to have seen coming. I wish that it had been a choice they got to make, instead of one made for them.

Fate is a real bitch.

I have to hope that if we go into this with our eyes open, what started as a fated mates, save-the-pack situation will turn into something we've all chosen. While there have been a few bumps along the way to getting here, and I can tell that I'm going to have to figure out how to juggle closeness and intimacy with multiple men, hearing what Vivia said about the directions of a compass just feltright.I can't imagine my life without each of the men who are in it—including Bastian, who's become more than an acquaintance so quickly.

I have to believe that there's a way to save him, so we can all be together and be whole.

Taking the turn across the street from the retirement community, I spot the moon sickness compound in the distance. It's hidden behind overgrown bushes. The driveway is poorly maintained; I have to hit the brakes to roll my car up it, and grimace as my tires bounce over a pothole. There are two other cars parked outside the compound, one Niall's, the other unfamiliar. I'm the first one to get here.

Stepping out of my car, I stare up at the compound's unfriendly facade. It's a large, squat, white building with bars on its windows and a heavy iron door. The building itself is mostly concrete and steel, reinforced to keep the moon sick from escaping. There's a fence that extends from the back of the compound and rises ten feet in the air, complete with barbed wire and electric current.

My stomach churns just thinking about Bastian sleeping here alone last night, under guard and uncertain of his future.

There has to be a way to get him out of here. To heal him, and help him move on. He deserves more thanthisas his life.

A few minutes after I park, Roarke and Finn's cars pull into the lot. We gather and stare at the front door of the compound. I pull out my phone and send a text to Niall, letting him know that we're here to visit Bastian, and hopefully end his imprisonment.

Kieran murmurs to Roarke, "I almost wound up here. If you hadn't helped me—I don't know what I would've done."

"It was what anyone would've done for a friend." Roarke squeezes his shoulder and glances over at me. "Especially after what I put you through, K."

Puzzled, I raise a brow and start to ask what he's talking about, but Finn speaks up first.

"Shall we go inside and get this over with? Busy day today, after all."

"Wait." Lance clears his throat. An uncomfortable energy rolls off him; he's tense, his arms crossed, and he's holding himself apart from us by a few feet. "Before we go in, there's something I want to see."

I frown at him. "What? But we don't have much time—"

"It won't take long."

He rubs a hand across his short, tightly coiled white hair, his brows drawn together. I haven't seen him this tense since I met him. It makes me nervous.

"Delilah." An apologetic frown creases Lance's lips. "I want to see the mating threads. All of them—including the ones between you and Bastian, so we know that it really is fated. And, while I hope that this thing you're going to try works, I want to ask that you consider an alternative."

"What alternative could there be?"

"Break the connection with you and Bastian, then find someone to replace him with."

Twelve

Delilah

Idon't like what he's suggesting one bit, and I'm not afraid to say it. "No. No way. After everything we've seen and heard about breaking fated mate connections? There's no proof that it would work, and if it fails, we'd be too weak to fight Delphine."

Lance winces. "I understand that you've grown attached to him, but—"

"But what, Lance?"

I throw up my arms, surprised at how much he's aggravating me. Maybe I've been taking Lance's steady, easygoing nature for granted, because it feels like this came out of nowhere unexpectedly.

"I understand your hesitation. Ipromisethat I'm going to do everything in my power to help Bastian like I helped Kieran, and I hope that it works. If it doesn't, I won't jeopardize our safety or the pack's future by forcing a mate bond. Just like I won't forceyouto bond with me if you're uncomfortable with the situation. But I can't turn my back on Bastian. Not after everything he's been through, or what we went through together."

Lance's mouth tightens, and he nods sharply, though he looks strained. "I wouldn't expect you to. But someone had to suggest an alternative. Otherwise—we may very well look back one day and see this as the moment we went down the wrong path. Especially if Bastian turns out to be our undoing."

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