Chapter 14 The First Heartbreak #2
Whoa, yeah, his gaze is fixed on me, his expression no longer hard but attentive. He’s almost patient and it’s like… like how I’d imagine it would be when talking to my mate.
“So, um, when a tiny dragon curled up in my palm and let me pet its scaly back, that’s when everything clicked. This is where I belonged. I hadn’t found my people yet, but this was the right place for me. It still is. Concordia is my home.”
“Yeah,” he says softly. “That would do it.”
“Do what?” I ask.
He remembers this moment for a reason. He still remembers seeing me all those years ago when we didn’t even know each other. A suspicion floats around in my mind, but he needs to say it out loud.
For it to be real, I have to hear it from him.
“Until just now I wasn’t sure why petting the dragon was important to you,” Bane says. “I only knew it was important. That’s when I Recognized you.”
“Oh my god.”
“I was looking for my favorite potions stand,” he continues, sounding lost in the moment playing out behind his eyes. “Scanning the carnival, I saw you with the dragon. I moved along, and I’m not sure why, but then I looked back at you. When I did, I couldn’t look away.”
“Oh my god,” I repeat. A million questions float around in my head. “You already knew? You’ve known we were connected for so long. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Well, that’s the thing. I was here with Wynn and his family. When I told them who you were and that I was gonna go introduce myself, his dad stopped me. We could tell you were a wolf, and you weren’t from our pack.”
“That matters?” I wonder.
“It’s complicated. We have rules for these situations, official mating customs. They aren’t really followed anymore, though my dad and some others think we’ve gotten too lax about our ‘time-honored’ traditions.
Going by the book seemed smarter in our case since I’m eligible to become Alpha and you’re from the closest thing we have to a rival pack.
” He takes a breath and moves to sit on one of the nearby benches.
“Being true mates and going through the official process meant nobody would have any legitimate grounds to object.”
I nod and drop down onto the other side of the bench. Wow. The Iron Pack is not what I’d call friendly, and some members judged my pack for not being as aggressive and old-fashioned. Some of them would definitely hate the idea of the Alpha’s son being with a Clover wolf.
“I really wanted to talk to you,” he tells me quietly. “Leaving sucked, but I did. I went back home, got the ball rolling on the whole ‘courting’ thing. Told myself I’d get the chance to talk to you soon.”
Except it didn’t go that way. “So what happened?”
He sighs. “Your guess is as good as mine. As far as I know, we went by the book. My dad prepared these formal letters—one for your Alpha and one for your family—to officially start the courting process. I wasn’t allowed to write you yet, but I did get to offer you a gift.”
“A gift? But you didn’t even know me.”
“Yeah, that didn’t make it easy,” he huffs, shaking his head. “At first, I thought maybe an iPod—everybody likes those—or maybe a dragon toy or something. I kept thinking about you and realized I’d seen you around before in the city. Once I realized that, I knew what to get. A basket.”
“You got a basket for me?” I’m baffled. A basket. A basket to carry things? Like a purse? Why in the world would he think I need a purse?
“For your bike,” he adds.
“Oh my god,” I murmur.
“The witches here sell about a million different tricks that let you keep your clothes and held items when shifting,” he explains.
“It’s convenient. But it’s even easier to get a basket for a bike, and you didn’t have one, so.
.. I thought it would be an easy way to make riding as practical as shifting.
I don’t know. It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Maybe it’s not.”
“It’s perfect,” I whisper. I lost my old basket when we moved and this…
It would have been the exact perfect gift to receive as an introduction to my intended mate.
A gift that showed he understood me or that he wanted to, something that encouraged me to keep riding my bike instead of questioning it.
It’s the best present ever. The best present I never received.
The almost wistful look on Bane’s face vanishes, replaced with something hard.
“I received the basket back burned. This nasty mess of melted plastic. I was told you weren’t interested and that you didn’t want to start the courting process.
Nobody knew why you rejected me, but the basket sent the message clearly—no, no way in hell. ”
“How did you know I received it?” I ask.
“Why wouldn’t you? It was hard to tell with the burnt remains, but I detected your scent.” Getting or faking my scent wouldn’t be too difficult, especially with the fire muddling everything.
“Outright rejecting me without a word, it was bullshit,” he says next.
“My pack is tough and yet we still respect the legitimacy of true mates choosing each other, so I couldn’t understand why you weren’t willing to even consider me.
I didn’t know if there was someone else or what, so I tried to talk to you. ”
“Oh my god,” I breathe. I can see where this is heading, and it’s not good.
“But whenever you saw me coming, whenever you even smelled me, you ran in the other direction. Just bolted without a word. Eventually, I got the message. You were sure about your decision. You wanted nothing to do with me.”
When Bane gave up on proper protocol and sought answers for my supposed rejection, I ran away from him because I thought he destroyed my bike just to be hateful.
I had no idea I was running from my soulmate.
Every time I ran, it confirmed what Bane had been told, that his true mate wanted nothing to do with him. But it had all been a lie, one designed to work perfectly.
“Oh my god,” I say again, horrified. The evil ex who broke his heart and ruined him for all others… it’s me. “Oh my god.”
Bane shoots me an exasperated look. “Will you quit saying that?”
“You… you destroyed my bike,” I say, dazed.
No, that’s not right. “I thought you destroyed my bike and burned it. The fire covered your tracks really well, but not perfectly. I was able to pick up your scent. I thought, if this guy doesn’t even know me and he’s ready to wreck my bike, what else will he do if given a chance?
That’s why I ran. I never received any letter, never heard any message from your pack.
I never knew. I thought you were just some asshole who had a problem with a wolf riding a bike, and I decided it was safest to stay far away from you. ”
Bane’s eyes widen. “Oh my god.”
Yeah. My thoughts exactly.
“You had no idea,” he says quietly. He sounds lost and small. I didn’t always like it when he acted cocky and arrogant, but this is even worse. “When, how, uh… When did you find out?”
“When you were comforting Wynn. I started suspecting when the potion spilled on you, but that’s when I knew for sure.”
“Wait, is that why you asked me to teach you how to fight? You were inventing reasons for us to spend time together. And that’s why you agreed to hooking up.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “I hoped it would lead to you Recognizing me. When that didn’t happen, I told you we were mates. And you rejected me because, because you thought I’d already done the same to you?”
Bane sighs. “Given the timing, I had to be suspicious about your motives. We went from random, brief encounters in the city to you suddenly being everywhere. I’m twenty-two, soon to be twenty-three, and about to fight for power.
Now you want to talk to me, go to movies, hook up, and all that?
Why now? Couldn’t think of another reason. ”
“You thought I was up to something. That-that makes sense.” I had no idea what was happening at the time, but I get why he was so guarded now.
“When you kissed me, I thought this is it, this is when I end whatever game you’re playing and laugh in your face. I almost did. But then I thought, if this is the only way I’m ever gonna have you, why not? As long as I don’t let myself want more.”
“There was always a distance between us. I didn’t know you were just protecting yourself.
” I swallow hard, the pieces falling into place.
“And I was afraid to tell you we were mates since we’d never gotten along and then you were so standoffish.
I kept hoping you’d figure it out for yourself if we spent more time together.
It all makes sense now. Of course it didn’t work. You already knew the truth.”
“Yeah, and you kept trying to get closer. It was messing with my head,” Bane admits.
I let out a humorless chuckle. “I know the feeling. For so long, you were just an obnoxious asshole, and yet you’re the one who told me to believe in myself and helped me awaken my magic.”
“Can’t take much credit there. I always knew you had magic. I saw it when I Recognized you.”
He looks as dazed as me. We sit there, letting it all sink in. I think we’re both replaying various small moments in our minds and seeing them in new lights.
“This is why you always judge me and act better than me,” I realize.
“I don’t do that.”
“You make little comments loud enough for me to hear. Make sure I see you with dates. You show off.”
“Okay, I do that,” he huffs, ducking his head.
“My way of showing you what you were missing out on, what you could have had. Honestly, you’re right.
I did think I was better than you, but not because I’m an alpha, or I have money, or your pack is too laidback, or anything like that.
It’s because you rejected me without giving me a chance. ”
Now that everything is out in the open… I have absolutely no clue what to do now. Everything I thought I knew about my mate was incorrect.
“What, uh, what happens now?” I wonder.
He doesn’t respond. When I look over, he’s staring at the cobblestone tiles under our feet. He’s so still that I almost want to poke him and see if he’s still breathing.
“Bane? Say something.”
Then he springs into action, grabbing my hand and pulling me along behind him as we dart across the courtyard. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“The Iron Pack.”
My eyes widen. “You’re throwing me in the dungeons?”
“No. You want answers?”
I nod firmly. “I do.”
“Me too. I know where to get them.”
“Oh. In that case, lead the way.”