Fated (Forever Book 2)

by Regan Ure

  “We aren’t close. I’m not close with anyone,” I argued as I crossed my arms in a defensive move. “I can’t help the fact that he gave me a nickname and I don’t know why he feels protective over me.”

  He studied me for a moment. It was like he was trying to figure out if I was lying or telling the truth.

  “I told him he could leave now that I was here and he said he wasn’t going to leave.”

  I had no idea why Kyle hadn’t left yet, since it wasn’t like I needed two of them to watch over me.

  “I’m not sure why you care,” I said, making a dig at him.

  He studied me for a moment.

  “Do I have to remind you that you belong to me?” he stated with the fierceness of the alpha that he was and a possessive sweep of his gaze. Being the beta of Cade’s and his pack at the moment was only a temporary arrangement. He was an alpha and there was no disputing the air of power that emanated from him.

  “Funny, that. When you found out that little bit of information, you turned your back and walked away,” I reminded him. It was still hard to think about the rejection. Even now it still hurt.

  “I told you I made a mistake,” he said, trying to reason with me as he took a step closer.

  “Don’t,” I warned him, stepping back so I remained well out of his reach.

  “I want you to stay away from Kyle,” he demanded, keeping his distance.

  “No,” I replied without hesitation. There was no way I was going to allow him to tell me what to do, not after everything that had happened between us.

  Anger and disbelief filtered onto his features.

  “You gave up your right to tell me what to do when you walked away from me,” I told him. “You decided then that I wasn’t good enough to be your mate, and do I have to remind you that you’re the one who walked away?” I could feel the hurt and anger at his rejection start to fester inside of me. “You have no right to be jealous,” I finished, breathing hard from the emotions coursing through me.

  “Despite everything, you belong to me,” he insisted fiercely and I saw his hands tighten into fists at his sides.

  “I don’t belong to anyone,” I argued while I glared back defiantly.

  There was no way I was going to meekly agree to what he wanted just because he decided to show up. I still didn’t trust that there wasn’t an ulterior motive.

  “Don’t force my hand, Keri,” he warned, his eyes piercing mine with determination.

  After living with my father for so many years and dealing with physical and mental abuse on a daily basis, there wasn’t a lot that scared me. And I was definitely not afraid of Blake and his threats.

  “You can’t force me to be your mate,” I threw back at him. I put my hands on my hips.

  “Yes, I can. If I touch you it is going to be a lot harder to keep your distance from me and you know that,” he explained with a confidence that made me angry.

  As much as I hated to admit it, his threat wasn’t an empty one. He was right. It was one thing to resist him without the connection but if he touched me it would be a lot harder to fight the fate that joined us together. It was so unfair. He didn’t get to walk away and then come back when he wanted to. I’d been hurt and I wouldn’t allow him back without him proving that I could trust him.

  “You wouldn’t,” I said, holding his gaze. It was like a powerful struggle between the two of us and the first one to look away lost.

  “Yes, I would.”

  “Don’t push me, Blake,” I warned him. I wasn’t some weak girl he could push around. It didn’t matter that he was my mate and I was attracted to him but, after dealing with someone like Victor, I wasn’t going to let anyone push me around.

  “You have to earn my trust and until you do we don’t touch,” I told him. “If you try to push me on it I’ll get my guards to escort you off my territory.”

  He studied me for a moment and pressed his lips together.

  “Fine, but you need to give me a chance,” he replied. His eyes softened for a moment. “How am I supposed to gain your trust when you keep shutting me out?”

  I bit down on my lip. It was hard letting someone in, especially when they’d already hurt me.

  “I want to get to know you—the real you—but I can’t unless you are prepared to give me a chance,” he added, the tone of his voice reaching somewhere deep inside of me.

  He was right but it was still going to be difficult to let him close to me.

  “Fine,” I relented in an emotionless tone. I didn’t want to reveal how he affected me. Showing that was like showing a weakness that could be exploited.

  He smiled and I felt my stomach flip. Stupid bloody chemistry.

  I couldn’t pull my eyes away from his and for a moment I felt transfixed by his gaze. I had an urge to reach out and touch him. The voice of reason stepped in and took control as I broke the spell.

  “I have stuff I need to do,” I mumbled before I reached for the handle of the door. I needed space away from him to clear my head. Being close to him made me want to go against logical thought and do what my heart wanted. It was a battle between my mind and heart, and the longer I was around him the closer my heart came to winning the fight.

  “Fine,” he said, flashing that killer smile again and I swallowed hard as I felt the full effect of it. “I’ll see you later.”

  I was momentarily distracted before I pulled myself together and got out of my room before I changed my mind and made a big mistake.

  The medical center was my first stop. My mom was awake and I greeted her. She beamed at me. It was amazing how happy she was even though she knew her time was running out.

  I tried to keep my outer appearance happy and upbeat but inside I couldn’t stop thinking about how little time I had left with her. It was also difficult to stop thinking about Blake and worrying about what his reasons were for wanting to mate. Despite what he said, I wasn’t convinced that he was telling me the truth.

  I spent a little while with my mother before I pulled myself away so I could find Curtis and get an update on her condition. The bouts of coughing had worsened and her chest sounded really bad. Curtis was talking to a nurse when I approached him.

  “Hey,” he greeted me with a smile and I felt myself relax for the first time that morning. The nurse gave me a brief nod before she left.

  There weren’t many people that I let in and trusted, but Curtis I trusted completely.

  “How are you?” he asked as he scanned my features. He knew how much of an emotional toll I’d taken the day before when I’d buried Victor.

  “I’m okay,” I replied and he arched an eyebrow at me.

  “What’s really going on?” he asked. He knew me better than sometimes I even knew myself.

  “Blake wants to mate and I just don’t know if I can trust him and his intentions,” I said, opening up as I rubbed my forehead. “He said that he has changed his mind.”

  “Maybe he’s being honest. Any guy would be lucky to be your mate,” he told me and I smiled at him. Sometimes Curtis could be too trusting.

  “We’ll see, time will tell. I wanted to get an update on my mom,” I said as I felt the nervous knot form in my stomach.

  I wasn’t expecting any good news but I was nervous about the degree of bad news. I needed to know how much time she had left and deep down inside although I knew she was going to die I was hoping to have a little more time than he’d initially told me.

  He kept my gaze.

  “It isn’t good,” he started and I felt the dread creep up inside of me. “I don’t think she will last another four days.”

  Four days?

  It wasn’t fair. Initially he’d said a couple of weeks and now we were down to a few days. I drew a sharp breath as I processed what that meant.

  I felt the sting of tears as I felt Curtis pull me into a hug. I hated feeling weak but I gave myself a moment to lean against him before I took a deep breath and released it, trying to get over the shock. Emotion
s under control again, I pushed away from him and he let me go.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he brushed a stray piece of hair out of my face.

  “I know.”

  What little time my mom still had left was the most important thing to me. I would have to shift all my other responsibilities to other pack members to make sure I could spend every moment I could with her.

  “I need you to do me a favor,” I said.

  “Anything,” he replied softly.

  “I want you to be my beta,” I told him. I didn’t trust anyone else the way I trusted him and I needed someone who would watch my back to be my second-in-charge.

  He looked surprised.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “It might make it difficult in a fight if I have to see to the injured.”

  It was a valid point, but I was sure we would be able to work around that.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Will you?” I asked as I looked up at him.

  “Of course I will,” he answered. “It would be an honor.”

  I felt relieved. It had been weighing on my mind and now I felt lighter. I could concentrate fully on my mother.

  “You okay to handle things for the next few days?” I asked.

  “Yeah, of course,” he said, nodding his head.

  I spotted Kyle walking toward us.

  “Hi,” he greeted me and he gave a brief nod in Curtis’ direction.

  “I’ll speak to you later,” I told Curtis as I indicated to Kyle to follow me.

  “What’s up?” Kyle asked as he walked me out of the medical center.

  Just outside, I stopped and turned to face him.

  “What are you still doing here?” I asked.

  “Remember I’m here to watch over you,” he explained, a little taken aback.

  “I don’t need two of you to watch me,” I added.

  He held my gaze as he ran his hand through his hair. It was like he was trying to figure out how to tell me something.

  “I want to stay,” he said and I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Why?”

  “Because you need someone to have your back, and I’ve got it,” he tried to explain.

  “I don’t need you,” I told him in a cold tone, free of emotion.

  “Why do you have to be so difficult? I want to look out for you until you have everything sorted out with the pack and the little problem of your ex-beta running around,” he said, sounding a little exasperated with me.

  I studied him for a moment. It was like I was looking for any visible sign of deception but I couldn’t see any.

  “Is it so bad that I want to be your friend?” he added and I felt a little guilty at being so hard to reach.

  From the time I’d met him, he’d given me no reason to distrust him and he’d gone out of his way to keep an eye on me. He was even trying his hardest to form a friendship and I had to admit, as hard as I was to get close to, I was starting to feel more relaxed around him. But it didn’t mean I trusted him.

  “I know that you’re not the person that you’ve portrayed to everyone and I see the real you inside.”

  I swallowed hard at his words. He had a way with saying things that evoked emotions from me.

  “Fine. Stay if you want,” I replied in a clipped tone with a shrug before I walked away.

  It was getting more difficult to remain indifferent to him and I was starting to feel the emotional toll of dealing with Blake, my mom and him.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Keri

  It was going to be impossible to keep my mom a secret from Blake for very long. I’d managed to give him the slip this morning to spend a half hour with my mom before he’d found me coming out of the medical center.

  “What were you doing in the medical center?” he asked as he walked beside me. I couldn’t tell him that I’d spent the last hour spending time with my mother who was busy dying.

  “I was just checking in with Curtis,” I informed him. Coming clean about my mom wasn’t something I was ready to do yet. I wasn’t going to be able to keep my secret for long, though. She was dying and in a few days she would be gone. It meant that no one would be able to use her against me.

  But something else stopped me from telling Blake. I wasn’t sure if it was the fact that I wanted him to think that I’d betrayed them of my own choice and by doing that it would make it harder for him to see the good in me. I was scared. If he didn’t have a reason to hate me, what would happen? It was easier to keep him at arm’s length if he saw me as a heartless manipulator that was so much like the monster who’d fathered me.

  “Yeah, I heard that you made him your beta,” he said. I glanced at him briefly.

  “I trust him.”

  I don’t know why I felt the need to say that. I didn’t need to justify my decision to anyone, even my mate.

  What scared me the most wasn’t just trusting Blake. I trusted Curtis so I knew I was capable of trusting. I was scared of feeling something. The only person I truly loved was my mom, but if I let Blake in then there would be a pretty good chance that I would care for him, maybe even love him. I’d never been in love before but I’d seen enough heartbreak to know the consequences of being hurt and I wasn’t sure if I could cope with that. Loving someone gave them the power to break you.

  I felt the heat of his gaze on me.

  “You agreed to give me a chance to get to know you,” he reminded me. “You need to lower the walls if you want to give me an opportunity to try and make a go of this whole mate thing.”

  I stopped to turn to face him.

  “I did agree and I’ll give you a chance,” I assured him. He had no idea the pressure I was under at the moment. Every time I thought about what was inevitable I wanted to scream and cry at the same time.

  “How about we agree to have lunch together?” he suggested. It was hard not to feel suspicious of his actions, but I bit my lip before I nodded my agreement.

  “Great,” he replied. “I’ll go and organize the food. You meet me back at my room at twelve.”

  He gave me a smile, the one that did funny things inside of me, before he turned and walked away, leaving me feeling out of place and nervous. I was still standing there watching him when I heard someone walk up to me. I didn’t need to turn to know it was Kyle.

  “You haven’t told him about your mom yet.”

  It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. I wanted to ignore him and keep walking so I didn’t have to have this conversation with him but he held my wrist gently to keep me from getting away. Reluctantly I sighed as I turned to face him.

  “You can’t use the excuse that he can use your mom against you.”

  He was right but I didn’t want to face it. I pressed my lips together to keep my temper under control. I didn’t know why he had to keep pushing me about him. Couldn’t he let me decide when I was ready to reveal it to Blake?

  “The sooner you come clean about your mom, the sooner you guys can figure out stuff,” he explained.

  I couldn’t understand why it mattered so much to him.

  “Look, I know that you think you know me but you don’t. Your cousin thinks that I’m good but that doesn’t mean that I am,” I said, getting more exasperated by the moment.

  He studied me for a moment as if he was contemplating something.

  “Scarlett isn’t my cousin,” he revealed.

  I frowned. He was the son of Nate, who was Scarlett’s dad’s brother. Of course he was Scarlett’s cousin.

  “Scarlett’s my sister.”

  I scanned his face to see any signs of lying but I couldn’t see any. As far as I could see he was telling the truth. I took a step back as the full implication of what he’d just said hit me.

  My father, the person who’d given me life, had murdered his parents. He should hate me, but he was trying to see the good in me. The good that I wasn’t so sure was there.

  “You should hate me,” I whispered as I held his gaze.

  “How can I hate you for somethi
ng your father did?” he said. That hadn’t stopped everyone else from thinking the worst of me, though.

  “Everyone else does,” I added, but he shook his head.

  “People think that you went along with your father. They don’t know that your father forced you to do as he said. No one knows about your mother and how he used her to make you do what he wanted.”

  I bit down on my lip.

  “You told me the reason why you didn’t want to tell anyone about your mom was because you were scared they would use her to control you.”

  I let my gaze drop to the floor.

  “You can’t hide behind that excuse anymore. I spoke to Curtis, and he said she only has a few days left.”

  I hated that he was right and he was forcing me to face it.

  “What are you afraid of?” he whispered to me, taking a step closer, and I held my arms tight around my waist.

  “I’m not scared of anything,” I told him defiantly, not wanting him to see the scared little girl inside of me.

  “Then tell Blake the truth.”

  He wasn’t going to let up about this.

  “You think that just telling him about my mom is going to solve everything,” I said, feeling my anger grow. “It won’t.”

  “How will you know unless you take the chance?” he questioned.

  We studied each other for a few minutes as a heavy silence settled between us.

  “Fine,” I relented and stormed off. I was thankful that he didn’t follow me to my room where I took a few minutes to pull myself together. Inside my room I sat down on my bed and let my face fall into my hands.

  He was convinced revealing that one little secret would fix everything but I wasn’t convinced it would. Everyone but Scarlett had just assumed the worst of me. I didn’t believe that just revealing the secret about my mom would be enough for everyone to change their perception of me and give me a chance.

  Some would never be able to trust me because of who my father was. He’d been a monster who had inflicted so much pain on everyone, and it was difficult for everyone to separate me from that. His blood flowed in my veins and he’d raised me so all of them had just assumed that I was like him.