Page 195 of Dream Mates
“Iprotectedyou, Nate. And I still protect you. I have always put you first, this family first. You never would have accomplished everything you have if they were in the picture,” Adriana yelled.
“I’ll never know because you robbed me of thatchoice,” Nate yelled back.
“Mercy, get in Harry’s car. It’ll be tight.” Pippa put an arm around Mercy, shielding her from Adriana with her body. “Adriana, get in your car now, so help me,” she growled, oozing dominance.
Adriana looked at the professor. “Nate–”
“Don’t talk to him. Get. In. Your. Car. Adriana,” Pippa barked.
The professor stood there in front of me, looking forlorn, as Adriana stalked off to her car. Mercy gave her dad a hug, he whispered something to her, then she ran off to Harry’s SUV.
I stood and gave Nate a tentative hug. “I’ll text you later. Can I get your number from Creed?”
“Yes. I’d like that so much. Maybe we could still have that lunch?” His head bowed. “I… I didn’t–”
“I know. Let me know when you’re in Rockland.” My heart broke. I’d try to see if I could salvage something with him.Harry’s suggestion of the occasional call and lunch seemed doable. Maybe some texts.
Pippa put an arm around her mate. “Let’s go home, Love. It’ll be okay.”
A car drove up, and Spencer stood, looking relieved.
We climbed in and he immediately put up the privacy shield. I curled into him.
“I’ve got you.” Spencer held me tight.
“That was batshit crazy,” I said softly, resting my head on his chest. “I can barely comprehend what happened, without factoring in that Adriana not only called in the tip butgaveme to Rosalind and kept it a secret from her mate for all these years.”
Adriana sold me to Rosalind. Shit.
“What’s a variant?” I blinked.
“The illegal designations are variations, offshoots, of the alpha designation. It’s not considered polite.” Spencer handed me my phone.
“Oh, okay.”
“WhoisRosalind?” He sent a text.
“The woman who raised me that I thought was my mom but was actually the identical twin of my biological mother,” I said softly. Yeah, not calling herMomanymore. “I have theories.”
He curled me into him. “I’ve got you.”
“She was fromhere.I don’t know how she escaped to the world I grew up in. But she did. And she knew. It was so much easier to deal with what she did to me because I thought she didn’t know, but she did.” Another sob escaped my lips.
Her knowing exactly what I was, what I was doing, and who and what Wes was, made it all the more unforgivable.
“Who knew what, Darling?” Spencer stroked my hair.
“Rosalind. Taking away my blankets, not letting me nest in the laundry, punishing me for too many stuffies, sending me to that camp, it all hits so differently knowing that she knew my fatherwas an omega so there was a chance that I could be one too.” I buried my face into his chest.
His hands ran up and down my back, soothing me.
“Did she do it on purpose? Did she know that sending me to that place would actuallystopit? I mean, I had a heart attack from the electroshock. I was close to being eighteen when she sent me there. That’s what did it right? How badly did that mess me up?” The sobs came harder and harder.
I felt love shoot through the bond, but it didn’t slow my tears. Spencer’s leather scent wrapped around me as his purr filled the car.
His phone rang. “I’ve got her. There have been some upsetting revelations.”
That was an understatement.
