Page 31 of Unmistakable Mate

Maya lowered the water bottle and leaned against the counter, “It’s possible she didn’t see it until after I’d already left. The future changes all the time. Every single small decision we make changes it so it’s constantly shifting. Maybe she saw me punching you when you kissed me instead of kissing you back.”

Zander snorted, “So it could’ve gone either way, huh?”

“Maybe, or…” She twisted the bottle cap back on and trailed off but Zander didn’t let it go and she hadn’t truly thought that he would.

“Or?”

“Or she saw exactly what would happen and kept it to herself because I’ve spent the last six years telling her that I don’t want to know my future before it happens.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Why not? Seems to me it would be convenient to know what’s coming, that way you never cross the street if she sees you getting hit by a car.”

“It doesn’t always work like that.” Maya shook her head. “Knowing doesn’t necessarily mean you can change it and nobody knows that better than Nova.”

“Zoey told me about Nova’s gift, about how sometimes it’s more of a curse. She told me Nova saw your sister Luna’s future when she was just a kid and it set off a chain of events that led to your parents being killed.” Zander’s voice was soft, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Maya’s throat felt tight like it always did when she thought of her parents. He had told her back in the bar that Zoey hadn’t spilled all the gory details of Maya’s past but she wasn’t surprised to find out he knew about her parents. She toyed with the bottle cap again before she glanced back up at him.

“You wanted to talk. Let’s go sit down and talk.”

Zander moved aside, allowing her past him and then followed her back to the living room without another word. She sat down on one end of the couch and expected him to sit beside her. Instead he surprised her by leaving a whole cushion of space between them, choosing the opposite end of the couch instead and pulling one long leg up so he could face her.

He was serious about this, she realized. He wanted to hear her stories. He wanted to get to know her. She contemplated going back to the kitchen to get something stronger than water but the way his steady green gaze caught and held hers kept her from running away.

She swallowed hard and began, “I don’t know how much Zoey told you about the packs so some of this you may already know but, I’ll try my best to explain anything you have questions about.”

“Thank you.” He reached out and touched her hand where is rested on the back of the couch.

The heat of him and his touch had riled her earlier, in the alley. It had made her wild with desperate desire. But here and now, it had the opposite effect. He felt solid and steady. His touch was a reminder that he was supposed to be her other half, the yin to her yang. It reminded her of something her mother had told her about mates when she was only a little girl.

The bond only created the connection. It was love that sealed it and love didn’t make you weak. It made you strong. Because when one of you faltered, the other lent their strength. That was what the mate bond was all about.

Maya swallowed past the lump in her throat and wondered where that memory had come from and why it had chosen now to surface. She tried hard not to think about her parents most days. When she did, she always ended up recreating their deaths in her head. It had been a long time since she’d been able to think of them and remember all the good times that had come before the end.

This man had helped her break through that barrier she’d built inside of herself with nothing but a reassuring touch of his hand and that was a connection even she couldn’t deny.

She slid her hand around until their fingers twined together. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d held someone’s hand. Perhaps it had been her mother or her father’s but more likely it had been Leo or Luna, maybe even Nova. She’d never let anyone else touch her like this, so easily and intimately, but it felt right with Zander and the small smile he gave her when she looked back at him confirmed that he felt it too.

“So,” She took a deep breath for courage and then began again, “Zoey probably told you that she’s a member of the Moirae Pack. The Hudson’s have been the leaders of their pack for generations. Rafe’s brother, Michael, is the Pack Alpha now and my older sister, Luna, is his Queen, which is really just another way of saying she’s his mate and the female leader of the pack.”

“Yeah, I met them.” Zander nodded. “They seem like good people.”

“They are.”

“Zoey said something about how Luna was a Princess in your family pack before she was a Queen. Does that mean you’re a Princess too?”

Maya wrinkled her nose, making him chuckle, “I’ve never liked that world.”

“So it’s true then? You’re a Princess?”

“Technically, sort of, yeah.” She admitted sheepishly. “The DeLuca family has ruled the Crescent Pack even longer than the Hudson’s have the Moirae. My father was the Pack Alpha and my mother was his Queen. That made my older brother, Leo, his heir and us girls were Princesses, though really it’s just more of how we were raised and treated due to our high rank in the pack rather than an actual title.”

“Wow. So I just made a real, live Princess come on my tongue in a dirty back alley.” He smirked and Maya couldn’t help but laugh at the smug pride radiating off of him.

“Zander!”

“What? It’s true, isn’t it?”

“Do you always say whatever you’re thinking?” She smiled back at him.

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