Page 27 of Fated Protector

“Fine, a Rougarou,” she relents. “Where were you?”

“There’s a little park down the road with really bad lighting. That’s one good point for bad city infrastructure. If I stay in the shadows, I just look like a really big dog. I even had a guy throw me a Milkbone once.” I make a face. “God, it was terrible.”

Anna takes her hand from my chest to bury her head in her hands with a heavy groan. "How is this my life? I really don't understand. One minute I'm in the corner office in New York; the next, I'm kissing a part-time Saint Bernard." She stills, realizing what she just revealed aloud.

"Kissing?" My mama repeats, her voice containing a thrill that all mothers seem to possess at the worst possible time. “Kissing?! I knew it! I knew it! I took one look at her, and I just knew she was the one. She’s your Mate, isn’t she?”

As if this day couldn’t possibly get worse.

“Mama,” I say through gritted teeth. “Perhaps that’s a conversation that needs to stay between me and Anna. Perhaps that’s a conversation that hasn’t exactly occurred yet.”

My mother, God bless her, just snorts at me. Anna drops her hands from her face, and it’s worse than I feared. She is furious. Eyes wide, she snaps at me, “You knew?”

“Yes?” I say, stretching the word out into a pathetic high-pitched syllable. Her face reddens, a flush taking over her nose and cheeks. I would tell her how cute it is, but she looks like she’s about to commit murder, so I stay silent.

“You,” she jabs her finger into my sternum where she had touched me so fondly just a few minutes ago. “You, the person who thinks Fate is full of shit and can’t stand having things chosen for him? You, of all people, decided not to let me know that I was your Mate?” Her nostrils flare at me. “How long have you known this?”

I swallow the guilt down. “Since that nightmare, you had the other night. You were able to explain the Mating ceremony, even though you’ve never seen it before.”

She stares at her finger pressed against my heart and jerks it back, jumping to a standing position. “And you didn’t say anythingthen? You didn’t thinkthatwas a good time to let me know?”

My Pa glances at me with a raised eyebrow and shakes his head.

“I think we’ll go check on Will,” says Mama, not looking apologetic in the least. She entwines her fingers with Pa’s, and they leave the immediate area. I barely notice their absence as I try to do damage control.

“Cher, how would you have taken it, really?” I say softly. “In the past week, you’ve lost your aunt, found out monsters existed, been chased by said monsters, found out magic existed, and kissed a Rougarou. Would you really have wanted to know this on top of all that?”

“It should have been my choice,” she snaps. “You owe me that choice.”

“And you still have that choice. I promise. You don’t have to accept the Mate Bond. You can deny it, and we can go on with our separate lives.”

Her hand flies to her chest as if the thought hurts her as much as it does me. “I deserved to know. I don’t need protecting, not like that. You should have told me. It would have explained all this.” She waves an angry hand between us, and my heart leaps into my throat. Does she feel it too? Can she feel the Mate Bond as strongly as a supernatural person does?

“Is all this,” I say, repeating her words in a shaky voice, “Is all this something you want?”

She opens her mouth to speak and then closes it again, looking away from me. My chest tightens at her slumped shoulders. “I don’t know, Jack. I don’t know what I want. I don’t even know what being your Mate really means, let alone if I want it. And I certainly don’t know if I want to give up everything I am forall this.” Once more, she gestures between us. Her eyes fill with tears that never fall, and she walks out of the room.

I let my head fall back against my pillow with a groan that is equal parts frustration and pain. She’s right, of course. I should have told her, but the fear of her rejection was too much. Now, her anger and possible rejection are worse.

Footsteps indicate someone is entering the room, but I’m too tired to lift my head again. Pa kneels beside me, his face grim. “Your mother means well.”

“I know,” I mumble. “I should have told her.”

He says nothing to that, merely tilting his head. “Will was supposed to meet with me and the Council today. I assume it was about all of this.”

“We think it’s Louie, the Alpha Vampire.” My pa inhales sharply but lets me continue. “It’s possible he killed Michel, and Victor Lamplight was murdered a few days ago. You know how loyal Victor had been to Michel. And Louie has been sporting a strange amulet, and he didn’t wear it before Michel’s murder. At least, according to Will’s sources.”

“Will’s sources,” muses Pa. “I never thought anything good would come out of his time at those vampire brothels, but here we are.” He sighs, and I realize how exhausted he looks. It’s just another reason that I don’t want to be Alpha. “We’ve heard similar rumors, but that’s all they are–rumors. We can’t exactly go to the Vampire Council and accuse their Alpha of murder and wearing a weird necklace.”

“Call a meeting between the two Councils,” I suggest. “Just to address the rumors. You don’t have to accuse anyone of anything. You just need to bring up the creature attacks. If they aren’t behind them, we’ve done a good deed and let them know about the danger. And if they are behind them…”

“Then we’ve got even more trouble on our hands. The Vampire-Werewolf Treaty is effective on a national level, even if it started here with the Rougarou pack. If Louie is going rogue, that’s one thing, but if he’s being directed to do all this, it could lead to war.” His eyes soften, and I see the sadness reflected there. “There’s nothing glorious about war, Jack. Just because we spend our lives preparing and training doesn’t mean we actually want it to happen.” He stands, patting my arm. “But I know, should it come to it, that you will lead our Pack well, no matter what the circumstances.”

I say nothing because this isn’t the moment to deny my Alpha future, but I think he knows anyway. Sometimes I wonder if he had the same thoughts before he took over from his father.

“Your mama and I are heading back on down to the village,” he says. “Fix whatever you broke with your Mate, and then bring her and Will there. You will be needed.” His eyes glint gold for a moment before he turns. As I slip back into a painful sleep, I hear the cast iron bell of the door ring out their departure.

CHAPTER16

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