Page 192 of Heart of the High King
Rafe shook his head with a shrug. “I don’t know. She just left. I loved her, Kendrick. I wished so often that she was my mom. The only person who never made fun of me or hurt my feelings at Court Kestle was Molly, and she moved out without any explanation. When I got anywhere near her, she’d run off without speaking to me. I had to assume that everything wasn’t as it appeared to be and that she didn’t care for me after all.”
“I wanted to make you hurt for every time she sang your praises, then forbade me near you. She was a great mom, but it was lonely as fuck. It would’ve been nice to have a big brother, you know.”
“I figured you couldn’t be a complete dick if Noir likes you,” Rafe said. Going with instincts as Dra’Kaedan had instructed, he pulled his brother into his arms. “I really am sorry, Kendrick. I wish I had the answers for you, and I’d give almost anything to bring her back.”
“And this is the problem. You’re so fucking nice,” Kendrick complained. “It only made me feel more like shit when you wouldn’t even tell me to fuck off.”
Rafe pulled away with a loud sniff. “Am I supposed to apologize for that?”
“No, I’m the only one who needs to be apologizing. I’m sorry, Rafe. I guess it pissed me off that you insist on using the name she called you. No one else ever did but not once in my life did she ever call you Rafferty. I hope you can forgive me someday for being a complete asshole and hurting you.”
“We’ll start over, okay? I decided to switch to Rafe because of her. I want to believe that at some point she liked me, and that’s why she gave me that nickname. I don’t know what I did to hurt her, but I would’ve found a way to fix it. She was too damn important to me to lose her.”
Kendrick offered him a watery but grateful smile, but it disappeared, and he gulped as he put distance between him and Rafe. His gaze was on Aleksander, whose face was granite.
“I apologize, Aleksander. I was cruel to your mate, and I said really awful shit. I won’t fight it if you and Rafe decide I need to be punished somehow,” Kendrick offered quietly.
“We have expectations under this roof because we invite people in who are often hurting as Rafe was, and in some ways still is, as he heals from everything he’s gone through,” Aleksander stated. “I doubt Rafe is going to allow me to level any kind of punishment on you, but I won’t hesitate to do so if another word comes out of your mouth that is detrimental to him or anyone else in the house. It will be worth the fight with my mate to ensure that D’Vaire is a healthy environment for everyone.”
“I understand. I feel as if I deserve to pay a price for the way I’ve treated Rafe.”
Noirin had a mixture of compassion and righteous fury on her face.
“Pretty sure the fight you’re going to have with your mate is a harsh enough penalty,” Rafe said.
“It’s certainly going to take more than a simple apology since you’ve been lying to me for months, and that’s not how matebonds work. But I’m not going to have this discussion with an audience.”
Content that there was no longer anyone who would judge him for the affection he wanted to lavish on Aleksander, Rafe walked into his arms and was held snug against his chest. Rafe was happy to know Kendrick wasn’t as big of an asshat as he thought. Perhaps they could build a relationship that benefited both, but neither of them was going to get the answers they wanted when it came to Molly.
