Page 90 of Fated
I didn't know her well, but for what I had seen she seemed to be a nice girl. It was the tone of her voice that really got to me. There was panic and sadness mixed deeply together.
"I don't understand why you would keep this from him," I said, still not understanding why she was so intent on keeping it a secret.
She held my gaze and I felt worse when I saw her expression. She looked so sad.
"I want to tell you I won't tell him, but I can't promise that. He’s my friend and there is no way I could keep this from him."
Tears glistened in her eyes and a tear broke free and slid down her face. I felt terrible but I knew telling him was the right thing to do, irrespective of what she said. She brushed the tear away from her face.
"If you knew the truth, you wouldn't tell him," she said as she wiped another tear from her cheek.
It was hard to believe her. How could he be better off without knowing about his mate? No matter what her reason was, there was no way I was keeping this from the only person who’d seen the good in me when no one else had. I owed him.
"I doubt that," I told her.
She looked visibly upset.
“Talk to him,” I suggested softly, trying to be understanding even though Kyle was the one I was more concerned about.
“I don’t want to talk to him,” she said in a clipped tone. She pressed her lips together and I saw defiance in her eyes.
I gave her one last look before I turned around to go and look for him. The mission was off. There was no way I was going to send her out knowing who she was. I was just thankful I’d figured out who she was before I’d sent her off into a dangerous situation.
I’d never felt comfortable sending a member of my pack out on a mission when I couldn’t guarantee their safety; if I could have, I would have done it myself even though Blake and my friends would have stopped me.
Kyle was waiting just outside the meeting room. Blake, Scarlett and Cade were with him. When Kyle saw me, he walked to me.
“Where is she?” he asked, looking at me nervously. I reached out and held his wrist.
“Calm down,” I told him. “I won’t send her out.”
He looked visibly relieved at that and he let out a heavy sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s just I thought she was dead…and finding her again like this has been a shock.”
Blake came to stand beside me. He reached for my hand and held it in his. Our connection calmed me. I turned to see Scarlett and Cade join us.
"What did she say?" Kyle asked, still sounding anxious. I'd never seen him this worked up before. He always seemed so calm and sure of himself, so seeing him like this was looking at another side of him that he kept hidden. His eyes implored mine.
“She won’t tell me anything,” I answered, hating that I couldn’t tell him why she’d left his pack the way she had.
“I don’t understand why she just left like she did,” he began to tell me. “She just disappeared one day and we searched for days. We never found a trace of her.”
I saw the emotion in his eyes when he said the word dead. He cared about her, but it was more than just the responsibility an alpha would feel toward a member of their pack. His feelings went deeper than that.
“Her parents had no idea why she would just leave suddenly. We always thought she’d been taken against her will,” he said, shaking his head.
It was a lot for him to take in and my heart went out to him.
“Does she have any siblings?” I asked. I wasn’t sure why I asked that question.
He shook his head.
Crystal didn’t seem to be the type of person to just up and leave without there being a good reason.
“I need to talk to her,” Kyle said.
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” I told him and I hated to see the hurt in his face. “Give her some time and I’m sure she will come around.”
