31. Kate
The steak was better than I’d imagined it would be. Kane really did know how I like it cooked, and though a bit cooler than I would have preferred, it was the best thing I’d ever swallowed, with the exception of his cock a week ago.
Or maybe it’s been a week and a half. I don’t even know what day or time it is. Hell, I don’t know how long I slept.
After inhaling the slab of protein, I devoured every cookie on the platter. They were delicious, and I swear, they’re always better than my previous memory of eating Annalise’s baked goodness.
With a belly full, I took the longest shower of my life. I scrubbed everywhere and shaved my legs and underarms. It took the longest to trim my snatch using Kane’s spare trim tool he keeps in the cabinet under the sink.
Once done, I dressed in the clothes Annalise left me: a pair of black denim overalls and a sleeveless white cropped top. I wasn’t putting dirty underwear back on, so I swiped a pair of Kane’s boxer briefs and forwent a bra. It’s not like I have much that needs to be held up anyway, and dealing with the heat, I could get used to never wearing one again.
I stole a pair of clean socks, too, before shoving my feet into my black combat boots.
When I’m walking down the hall, not sure what to do and warring between leaving the cabin or not, the door opens, and Jagger steps over the threshold.
“Where’s my brother?” is the first thing that slips past my lips.
I instantly regret how I phrased those words as disappointment stops him in his tracks, as evident on his face, when he forces a smile and says, “Standing right here, little sister,” while closing the door.
“You know I meant Trez.”
I don’t want to hurt Jagger’s feelings, but I’ll never not see Trez as my brother, and I won’t pretend otherwise.
He walks closer to me but stops at the other end of the couch across from me.
“Said he was going to the shop to help Kane.” He clucks his tongue and slides his hands inside the front pockets of his jeans, rocking on his heels. “But I think he’s just avoiding Becca and Dante.”
“Or he’s avoiding me.” I arch an eyebrow, silently asking if that’s the case.
I still want to know what happened to him when I thought he was dead, but unless he comes to talk to me, I’ll never find out if anyone hurt him. Why didn’t I think to look in the cave?
“He slept on the couch here last night,” Jagger enlightens me, snagging me out of my dark thoughts, “waiting for you to wake up.” He juts his chin down, and my eyes follow, seeing a discarded blanket that hasn’t been folded. “He’s in the same boat as you are, wanting to believe the truth in front of his eyes but not allowing any of it to fully penetrate. Even knowing I’m his mate and feeling it beyond the bite on his neck, he can’t let go of the lies you both were fed.”
Were they lies, though?
“How do you know that’s how I feel? Only an alpha can read their pack’s emotions, right?”
That’s not something I learned from my pack, but a truth I learned from Dante years ago that even Eli has backed up multiple times. Elijah can’t feel or sense anyone’s emotions other than his mate’s, which means Jagger can’t feel mine.
“Not exactly, but I don’t need to feel your emotions to know what’s going through your head. It’s reflected in the tension and doubt in your eyes.”
“What’s not exactly mean?”
“Trez is your brother in the same sense that Kane is mine. We’re celestial twins. We’re connected differently than others. I can talk to Kane in my head like you can with Trez. I can feel what Kane feels if I choose to or if he forces it on me.”
“What are celestial twins?” I probe, curious, while my head spins with the realization that Trez and I aren’t the only beings connected like we are.
“Any supernatural children born to different mothers on the same night and at the same time during a passing comet.”
“Sounds a little witchy,” I say flatly, not liking where this is headed. “I’ve had enough of that shit to last a lifetime.”
“It’s fate, not sorcery. Celestial twins are rare. Well…” he pauses and pulls in a deep breath of air. “That may not be true. It could be like Luna Wolves, just not spoken about within packs. No one knows that Kane and I are connected like that. We’ve never even told our parents, but like me, Kane thinks our parents are aware. Plus, Dante figured out you and Trez can communicate telepathically. My guess, he’s already told Becca and our parents, so you’re aware.”
“We can only talk like that one day out of the fucking month. It’s not even that big of a deal. I don’t see anything special about that.”
“Only Bloodmoon shifters who are fated mates have the ability to speak telepathically, Kate. I’ve never heard of another pack having the ability.”
“Well, I wouldn’t know. We don’t have any fated mates in the Marked Crest pack.”
A low rumble slips from Jagger’s mouth, making my eyes squint.
“You aren’t one of them,” he snarls.
As much as I want that to be true, getting my hopes up isn’t worth it. I blow out a breath and roll my eyes.
“Maybe,” is all I offer back.
“Have you looked in a mirror yet?” He crosses his arms over his chest only to drop them to his sides in the next breath.
I stare back, not opening my mouth.
“That’s a no,” he grits out as he sidesteps the end of the couch, then steps behind it as he walks my way. “And we’re going to remedy that right now.”
“Yeah?” I laugh. “How are you going to do that? March me in front of one?”
So what if I haven’t looked in the mirror yet? It took a lot of effort not to peek at my face when I pulled the shower curtain back and dried off. The shower in Kane’s bathroom is dead center of the vanity. It wasn’t an easy feat with that big ass glass mirror that covers the wall.
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do, little sister.”
His hand juts out faster than I can jump back, snatching my wrist into his grasp. I yank hard, but Jagger is stronger than me. Then again, it’s not like I put much effort into pulling out of his hold. So, maybe I want someone to make me see the proof I’ve been avoiding.
Tugging me behind him, he relaxes his fingers more gently around my wrist as he stalks the short distance to Kane’s bedroom and then inside the connecting bathroom. Flipping the light switch on, he pulls me to stand in front of the sink while he stands behind me, staring into my eyes as I stare into his through the mirror.
“Happy?”
“Depends. What do you see?” He arches an eyebrow.
“The same as you see.” I shrug my shoulders because what else does he want from me?
“Kate,” he drawls out, irritation laced in his tone.
“What do you want me to say? That we look alike? Okay, we look alike.”
We look a lot alike.So much so that I wasn’t expecting that much likeness, but he was also right when he said I favor Elijah.
“You see it, but do you believe it?”
“I don’t know what to believe or what’s real or fake.” My eyes flick down to the porcelain basin. “If a spell can hide my identity and change the way I look and smell, then who’s to say what either of us is seeing is the real me or that I’m even your sister?”
His hands grip my bare shoulders, squeezing my flesh reassuringly.
“I know you are my friend, Kate. I believe you’re Kane’s mate without any doubts in my mind. And yes, I’m certain you are my sister, but do you want to know how I’m so sure?”
I nod.
“We’re pack animals, loyal to our alpha. My wolf has always been devoted to Kane, the same as me, even before he became alpha. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him. I’d give my life to save his.”
“Pretty sure he feels the same way.”
“He does, but my point,” he continues, “is my wolf isn’t loyal to just one alpha any longer. Neither am I.”
“I don’t understand. Did Kane step down?”
I shake that thought. He wouldn’t. I know him well enough to know if someone wants to take his position, they’d have to do more than challenge him and win. Kane would never submit to anyone, not even his father. You’d have to kill Kane to take the Bloodmoon pack from his leadership.
“Stepping down isn’t in Kane’s future until he has a son or daughter ready to take his place like he took Dante’s.” Jagger sighs heavily. “You’re not this slow, little sister.” He shakes his head and sighs like he shouldn’t have to spell it out for me. “We’re loyal to you too now.”
“Why? Because you think I’m your alpha’s mate?” I purse my lips and cock an eyebrow.
That’s the last type of loyalty I want from anyone, especially from someone who may be my big brother.
I jab an elbow into his middle to drive my point home. He pinches my side through the open side of my overalls, making me yelp. I flip around to face him, but he jumps out of my reach as he backs against the narrow wall next to the tub, pressing his back to it and crossing his arms now that there is a little distance between us.
“I know you’re my alpha’s mate, but that isn’t why. Not even close, Katie Bear.” The smirk twitches on his lips.
“What the fuck did you call me?” I gasp while delight lights up his entire face like it’s Christmas morning and he has just opened the present he’d been wanting.
“Too soon for a nickname?” His chuckle burns fire through my veins, and I’m not even sure why it’s pissing me off. “You’re right. It doesn’t fit. You’re a wolf, not a stupid bear… lil’ pup.”
My bottom lip drops open at the audacity, and my eyes widen, momentarily clouding with a haze before narrowing and coming back into focus, only this time, my view is crisper.
Jagger sucks in a breath of air, then his back leaps off the wall.
“Turn around, Kate. Now,” he demands, his beta attitude no longer playful.
My wolf comes alive inside me, urging me to make him submit, to show him there isn’t one damn thing little about us, which makes me pause and look at him… because, what the fuck?
We’ve always done this.
Jagger picks and ticks me off to the point we end up coming to blows, but not in an all-out brawling way. It’s more grappling and controlled roughhousing until he’s on his back laughing, and I’m on top of him, bruising his ribs.
He’s always submitted.
“Not this time, little sister.” He shakes his head, and before I realize it, he advances on me. His hands go around my arms, and in a motion that makes me dizzy, flips my entire body around so that I’m once again facing and staring into the mirror.
My eyes widen, but they aren’t the electric blue I saw minutes ago. The irises resemble blood moons, lunar eclipses.
Holy shit.
“That. That right there, Kate. That’s why my loyalty, my devotion, is now split between you and Kane. You’re our alpha too. You’re our Luna wolf, little sister. You have the same ability to make us submit that Kane does.”
I push away from the vanity, but the wall of Jagger’s chest stops me from moving more than a couple of inches. His hands release me, dropping to his sides.
“This isn’t possible,” I say, my head barely swinging. “It has to be a trick. Salem. She must have done this. I’m?—”
“An alpha, Kate. You’re an alpha, and this is real. Come on, being an alpha isn’t a new realization. You just didn’t know the extent of it or what pack you were born to lead.” Jagger takes a long breath, his eyes holding mine in the mirror as the reddish-orange fades, the blue that matches his returns. “Salem did a lot of things, but you being a Luna wasn’t one of them.”
“I don’t know how to believe any of this is real,” I admit. Then, forcing my spine to relax, I turn around, pressing my ass against the edge of the vanity and cross my arms.
“There’s a bonfire tonight. The whole pack will be there. You should come. Let everyone see you.”
The way he says the whole pack and everyone makes me narrow my eyes. What did that mean?
“No.” I’m not ready for that, but mainly, if I go and see that old fucker, I’m not sure what’ll happen. I’m almost certain my rage will come out and payback will?—
Wait a minute. Does Jagger know?
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask, when he says, “Mom and Dad?—”
But I quickly cut him off, not ready to go there yet. “I saw Annalise earlier.” Well, she saw and hugged my wolf, but that’s almost the same thing. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be ready to face her as me. “She brought me clean clothes.”
Speaking of those clothes. They were mostly maternity leggings and loose tops, which tells me far too much, but I need to know for sure.
“Jagger?” I cock my head and jab the inside of my cheek with my tongue.
“Yeah?”
“If Annalise knows I’m pregnant, does that mean…”
“Yes.” His voice sends a ripple of tingles skating down my spine. My head swings to the door so fast it feels like whiplash. “I know my baby is inside your belly, mate.”