Page 56 of Broken Fate
“I—but,” I fell silent, rubbing my face with both hands.
Stupid boys.
“This makes no sense,” I started again. “The stream. Now, this. You can’t lie, Kiel. You—”
“Clive is the better choice,” he insisted, looking past me. “For everyone.”
My lips flattened. The better choice? Who was he to tell me what the best choice for me was?Ishould make that decision, not him.
And what about Clive and me? Was that … even a possibility I could entertain? After all, everything had started because of my attempts to avoid being mated to him.
Was that because you didn’t want him as a mate? Or because you were afraid you might kill him if you did?
I had no immediate answer to that.
“Go,” Kiel said, giving me a little push.
“But …”
“Now,” he said harshly before walking past me and into the forest.
I watched him go, several parts of my anatomy and at least a section of my mind wanting to go after him. My heart beat fast as I looked back and forth, trying to decide where to go, what to do.
“Calli damn men,” I cursed, ignoring Kiel’s order not to use it. “Why do they have to be sosucky?”
Angrily, I stormed off after Clive, trying to silence the doubters in my mind that were telling me I made the wrong choice. I snarled at them. Clive had been my best friend for years. Whether or not I had any feelings beyond friendship for him, he deserved my attention first. Not Kiel, no matter how much my body came alive around him.
I found him at the edge of the clearing, leaning against a tree, staring off into nothingness.
“Clive,” I said as I approached.
He didn’t respond.
“Look at me,” I snapped, uninterested in playing games.
Clive shifted to place his back against the tree and face me.
“Thank you,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Listen, I—”
He raised a hand, cutting me off. “No, it’s okay. You don’t need to explain yourself, Jada. You shouldn’t have to. Besides, I understand.”
“You do?” I asked. Could he explain it to me, then? Because I sure didn’t.
“Yes. You chose him,” Clive said bluntly. “It was pretty obvious. I get it. It’s fine.”
“It certainly doesn’tseemthat way,” I told him dryly, pointing out his obviously unhappy reaction to seeing us kissing.
Clive gave me a look of mild frustration. “What would you like me to do? Make a joke about it?”
I sighed. “Sorry. That wasn’t fair of me.”
“We’re all on edge,” Clive said. “It’s okay. I just … I’ve cared about you for a long time.”
I didn’t respond. In hindsight, it was fairly obvious, but at the time, I’d just accepted him as a friend. I’d been oblivious to all the hints, the jokes, theeverything. Now, though …
“I always assumed we would end up mated,” he said with a chuckle. “That’s just the way things go, you know?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “My mom always thought the same, too. I’m sure others did as well.”
