Page 32 of Fated
As much as I wanted to walk out and ignore him, I stayed sitting on the bed, trying to keep him from seeing how much his admission was affecting me.
“I came here to mate with you but I was doing it to keep the packs safe,” he further explained, and I let my gaze drop to the floor.
It felt like I’d been physically hit and I struggled to keep calm. He’d lied and deceived me, but I’d done the same. I took a deep breath.
“We needed to make sure you could shift so you would be strong enough to hold your alpha title. The longer you are unable to shift, the more vulnerable you are,” he explained softly. I kept my gaze to the floor. I couldn’t look at him.
“We need you to stay in charge of this. We want peace, and if another alpha gets your pack that won’t be guaranteed.”
It made tactical sense but his words cut right through me. I’d known he’d come here with ulterior motives but even though it had been expected, it hurt that I’d been right. I pressed my lips together and lifted my gaze to look at him. His eyes studied me to see how I’d taken the news of his betrayal.
“I listened to what you had to say,” I said as I stood up and walked over to the door.
I reached for the handle.
“I let you explain.”
That had been all I had agreed to.
“Keri—”
I didn’t wait to hear what else he wanted to say. I opened the door and left, slamming the door so hard it nearly broke off its hinges.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Keri
I was so angry, I wanted to hit someone. I took a deep breath and released it, hoping to dispel some of the anger swirling around inside of me, but nothing was easing the fury building up.
I stalked over to the gate and indicated for the guards to open it. A need to run overtook me. My emotions took over and I needed to get out of the property before anyone saw me lose control, and it was going to happen at any second.
Blake admitting that he’d come here with an ulterior motive had just solidified my distrust for him and I didn’t think I would ever be able to move past that to trust him again. I’d suspected that he’d had a hidden agenda but it had still hurt when he’d admitted the reason he was here was to keep his loved ones safe, and that hadn’t included me.
As soon as the gates swung open, I ran into the forest as fast as my legs could carry me.
Breathing hard, I ran until I couldn’t anymore. By the time I stopped, my chest was burning and sweat dripped down my face. I leaned against a tree as I tried to catch my breath. The run had done nothing to stop the pain inside of me. After a few minutes, my breathing returned to normal and I brushed the moisture from my forehead.
The usual comfort I found from the forest evaded me. This time the sight and scent of the surrounding trees did nothing to ease the turmoil inside of me.
I hated that Blake had tried to deceive me and I was angry with him, even though part of what he said had been right. To an alpha wanting to take over a pack, I was an easy target. Logically, I knew the best way to keep my pack safe was to mate with Blake, but my emotions stopped me. How could I allow myself to mate with someone who could deceive me?
A nagging voice somewhere in my mind reminded me that I’d also deceived him and that I wasn’t an innocent in this even though I had my reason for doing so. He also had reasons for his deception, the voice argued.
I sat down. I looked up to the branches as I leaned against the trunk of the tree.
So the question was, should I mate with him to protect my pack and myself, and to indirectly protect Blake and his pack? I dropped my head into my hands as I tried to wrestle with my decision.
“I knew it was just a matter of time before you made a mistake,” a voice said.
I shot to my feet and faced an evil-grinning Richard, my ex-beta.
“What do you want, Richard?” I asked with disdain clear in my voice as I kept my eyes on him.
On the outside I was calm and in control, but inside I was scared. He’d caught me off guard and alone.
Curtis, I’m in trouble, I pushed the thought through my mind-link to my beta.
I knew without a doubt that Richard wasn’t just here to talk. He was going to kill me. And by doing that he would become the alpha of my pack and he would run the pack just like my father had. Everything Blake and his friends feared would happen. As evil as my father had been, I feared that Richard had the potential to be even worse.
