Page 69 of The Secret of Pain

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I limp across my apartment to let Fallon in. I texted her once we were close to the city limits, despite my protests that I was fine, Roman wouldn't put me down until we reached the apartment building. Growling and grumping about his stupid breakable mate.

Fucking Lycans.

"Girl, I do not know what it is you have landed yourself in, but you and I… we need to talk." Her voice is shrill as she storms into the room. "I swear I only hear from you when you're broken."

"I'm sorry, and yes, we'll talk, but I'm still kinda bleeding. Can you help? I mean, it’s probably basically healed by now." She waves me onto the couch, so I close the door and limp back to where she's perched.

"Pants down," she insists. I roll my eyes but do as I'm told. Then lie down so she can get access to the wound on my thigh.

"It's nothing major—you're lucky. A few inches different and this could have been dangerous. What happened, and why did you call me for something that would have healed in a few hours?" She quirks a brow at me, and I roll my eyes.

"I was ambushed by a cluster of rogue Lycans. Twelve of them. They wrote off my goddamn Mustang. I want to kill them all over again just for that." I grit my teeth as her hands press against my skin and the heat increases.

"Holy mother of fates, twelve? That's not a cluster, it’s a goddamn rogue pack!" She sucks her teeth and makes a disapproving noise. "How the hell did you get out of that with only this and a few other cuts and bruises?"

"Are you sure you want to know? Because it’s a whole thing and it could get me killed," I tell her honestly. Fate knows she deserves the truth, and I already know she's more liberal than the Hunters. The Witches just are.

"How much trouble are you in?" she whispers.

"At the moment, not too much, but if people find out the truth, then a whole fucking shit pile." I sigh and she removes her hands from my thigh.

"You can put your pants back on. You're all fixed. I have a feeling we're going to need pants and tequila for this conversation." She shakes her head, a little wide-eyed. She grabs two glasses and the bottle while I put my pants back on before we settle back on to the couch.

Fallon pours us out a decent drink and throws hers back, giving me a tight smile and then pouring herself another. "Okay, let’s go."

"Honestly, I'm not sure where to begin, and I still don't know everything," I say quietly, but she gives me a look that tells me she's not leaving without the truth.

"So… I told you about the whole thing with Creek already, though that escalated this week, but there is more. Past Remy screwed me, Fallon. And yet, I get it." I take a deep breath and look her dead in the eye. "So, it turns out past me was as open and loving as I am now… and as open-minded as the Witches. I know that the Hunters’ stories, their ways, don't make total sense, and I know that because Kain Michaels was my lover, no, he was my love, in my first life and many since then. I've always known the rocky truth, just not the whole story of why things are the way they are."

"Holy shit! Kain Michaels… Damn, girl, that vampire is one fine piece of man meat," she exclaims, her eyes wide, and I can't help but laugh at her. "Keep going!"

"Well, it turns out that Kain wasn't my only dalliance into other factions. I'm not sure which life it was, but in one of them, Roman Knight recognized me as his mate. I don't know how or why, or even much more than that yet, but that is how I got out alive tonight. He found me and tore the Lycans to pieces with two of his pack. That’s why I called you. The overbearing asshole made me call you on the way back. He literally wouldn’t put me down until he heard you agree to come over and patch me up."

She let out a whistle and fans her face, looking more excited than disgusted, which is honestly what I half-expected, because what even is this life that I've led.

"I don't know how it all fits together, but I know that Creek knew, in whichever life it was, that I was Roman's mate, because he killed me."

"He did fucking what!" she screeches, and I shake my head.

"He didn't intend to; he was fighting Roman."

"And you barged in there like a woman possessed. Holy mother, Remy."

"I know, I know, but then there's Creek. And now they're all here. Together. In my goddamn city, in this one life. Each of them wanting a piece of me." I shrug and tip the tequila she poured down my throat. "That’s essentially it in a nutshell."

She sits there, blinking at me and looking kind of shell-shocked. I give her a minute and pour us both another drink.

"What are you going to do?" she asks me, sipping her drink.

"I have absolutely no idea. I mean, what can I do? I can't ask my family for help; they'd probably kill me, literally. I can't be with all three of them, but I have no idea how I'd choose, because my stupid heart belongs to each of them. But also, I have no idea what it is that is still missing from my stupid memories. I'm hoping that past me had a goddamn plan, some way of working out where the hell she was going, because the path she's leading me down is murky at best, at worst, the true death." I gulp before swallowing the contents of my glass, finally feeling a light buzz but it does nothing to help the impending dread that fills every inch of my body.

"Girl, I say have some fun. Have a little harem, why the fuck not? The boys can learn to play nice, maybe even nicer than nice." She winks at me, and I burst out laughing.

"Could you imagine the looks on their faces?" I giggle and she laughs with me.

"I would pay to see it, sugar. Pay to see it!" She claps her hands in time with her words, making me laugh harder. "Erm, excuse me, what is that on your finger?"

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