Chapter 16
Kip
“Get off me, Kaden!” I twist my arm, but he’s got me in an iron grip.
That, or I’m a little too drunk to break free.
“Come on, Kip. We’ve gotta go back to the stupid house and have a stupid conversation.”
“Who says?”
Kaden yanks me off my stool. “Nik says.”
That’s not fair. Pulling the alpha card is cheating. Kaden and I can deny a request from Mags when she’s not actively in distress or in heat, but Nik? We’re betas! We can’t go against his will. It’s just not done.
I pout the whole drive home, if we can even call it that anymore. “Home” was where Mags respected us, where we were valued members of the pack and not just potential bondmates for her next scam. I don’t know why Kaden didn’t leave when I did. That kind of betrayal … I can’t just overlook it.
After he parks, Kaden drags my limp body out of the car and douses me with the garden hose. I sputter and spit, but the cold shock has its intended effect: I’m no longer pleasantly drunk.
I’m now bitterly buzzed, which will not make this meeting or whatever any better.
We walk in the front door just like that, and Nik shoots a green-eyed glare at Kaden that could bore a hole through a solid steel wall.
“Towels. Now.”
Kaden shrugs as he heads to the bathroom. “You said to sober him up,” he mutters. “It was this or coffee, and coffee would take too long.”
I stand in the foyer, dripping and cold, my eyes glued to the floor. I refuse to look at her. I—
“Kip?”
Her voice wavers, with a slight hiccup, like she’s recently been crying. I know she’s not buzzed like me. Mags can drink Nik under the fucking table and still walk a straight line.
My twin returns with a pile of towels, and together we get me dry enough to sit on the floor—on a towel—while this discussion proceeds.
Sitting on the couch or an armchair would require a complete change of clothes, and from the expression on Nik’s angular face, I doubt he’d appreciate me stalling any longer.
I don’t like the disadvantage of being on the floor while the others are seated above me. It feels like I’m being put on trial, and my judge, jury, and executioner are all staring me down.
“Well?” I grouse. “What’s the verdict?”
“We’d have to discuss things to come up with a verdict, Kip. I figured we’d all get together before letting Mags explain, and then we’d go from there.”
My eyes finally meet Mags’s in what I hope is a scathing stare. “Well? Care to explain?”
I shouldn’t have looked at her.
Puffy, swollen eyelids surround her red-rimmed grey eyes, and if a master sculptor were to construct a statue depicting the most miserable omega in the world, it’d look like Mags does right now.
Nik sits beside her with his arm around her shoulders, and from her posture, he might well be holding her upright.
Even Kaden reaches out to pat her hand, and I know for a fact that he was nearly as furious as I was this morning.
Now, our twin bond radiates concern and regret, though I don’t know what part of it he regrets.
Mags draws in a shuddering breath, then replays the morning’s conversation in one long string of word vomit, like she’s afraid if she stops she’ll never be able to start again.
Her mate—God, that kills me—stays calm and collected, like always, though I take note of the slight stiffening of his shoulders when she admits to her initial goal of confusing the mate bond with a pack bond mixed in.
He doesn’t let go of her, doesn’t stop her confession, doesn’t let any reaction show on his face.
Mags, however, seems to physically shrink back into herself, and I wonder if there isn’t some powerful emotion being relayed through their new bond.
“… and then Kip left, and Kaden went back to bed, and that’s how you found me.”
Silence as deafening as an explosion follows.
I don’t like this. I almost wish we had pack bonded, if only so I could have some sense of what Nik’s thinking and feeling right now. I wouldn’t blame him for being angry, but anger alone won’t break a mate bond, and it certainly won’t make him any less in love with her.
Hatred, though, could break it, and that would break her.
I risk stealing another glance at Mags. She’s got her face scrunched up with her eyes shut, like she expects a physical blow at any second.
I know Nik would never hit her, so it’s probably not anything she’s feeling through the bond.
This is pure Mags, pure terror at the repercussions of her own actions.
The ice in my heart melts at the sight of her in this state.
I realize now that the poor girl doesn’t know any life beyond the grift.
She doesn’t know how to live authentically, how to make an honest living, or even how to be honest. It must be killing her to have her emotions laid bare like this, even just to one person for now.
I don’t remember getting up, don’t remember moving, but all of a sudden, my arms are around Mags. Both our bodies shake with great, gulping sobs. Nik rubs her back, and Kaden rubs mine.
“Are you sure you sobered him up?” Nik whispers to my brother.
“As sober as he’s gonna get, yeah.”
When I’m able to speak coherently again, I nuzzle Mags’s neck and mutter low and quiet, just for her.
“I’m sorry I ran away. I love you, Mags.”
A deep, rumbling purr vibrates the whole damn couch, and I back up a bit. Nik’s trying to console her. Her mate wants to make her feel better.
I’m just in the way.
“Where are you going?” she sniffles. “Don’t go. Not again.”
Uh oh. Mags has a death grip on my arm. I can’t move.
Oh, my God, what if Nik thinks I’m butting in? I’m pretty big for a beta, but he’s even bigger for an alpha. He could probably crush my windpipe with one hand and not even break a sweat.
“Tell him, Mags.”
I look back at Nik. “Tell me what?”
He stops purring long enough to sigh with exasperation. “You should hear it from her, I think. It’s kind of important.”
I don’t think my heart can take another hit today. “Sh-she doesn’t have to. Really.”
“Yes, she does.”
With Nik’s help, Mags sits up straighter.
He wipes her tears for her and smooths her flyaway hair.
It’s a new side to Nik as well, just like Mags’s honesty and vulnerability.
When he’s done, he rests his chin on top of her head and strokes her cheek.
“It’s okay, Mags. Just say it. You’ll feel better if you do. ”
Mags stares at my arm in her hand. “If I say it, things will never be the same.”
“No, they won’t. But maybe they’ll be better.”
Fear grips me tighter than Mags’s hand, putting my heart in a chokehold.
What could she have to say to me that could change things between us that much?
I love Mags. Sure, I got upset and stormed out, but that wasn’t enough to change how I feel.
What big, terrible secret could she be hiding from us?
She closes her eyes, sets her jaw, and holds her other hand out to Kaden. “Fine. Let’s get this over with:
“I love you guys.”
I sit there, stiff as a board, waiting for the rest. Next to Mags, I sense Kaden’s similar dread. If she’s got to lead off with this, her secret must be truly awful.
We wait.
And we wait.
And we wait.
What’s going on?
Finally, I can’t take the suspense anymore. “Mags, if you’re going for drama, you’ve hit the mark. Now, just drop the mic and let us have it.”
She opens her eyes. Blinks. Looks up at Nik. “Now what?”
Was that it?
Kaden pats Mags’s hand. “Okay, so you love us. We kind of knew that, Mags. We’ve always known that. Best friends and all that.”
“Yeah, that’s not exactly a revelation.”
For the first time since we met him, Nik facepalms. “You guys are idiots.” He looks up at the ceiling as if he’s seeking divine guidance. “Do I have to explain everything? Mags loves you. Both of you. And since Mags loves you, I love you morons, too, thanks to the mate bond. So—”
“It’s okay, Nik.” Mags stands up, releasing my arm and Kaden’s hand. “They kind of answered my question before I could ask it.”
“Question?” I scramble to my feet as Mags begins to move, to leave. “Mags, what’s going on?”
She whirls around, pink hair flying, and faces me with her hands clenched into fists at her side. “Kaden said it best, Kip. ‘Best friends and all that.’”
By the time I understand, she’s already in her room with the door locked behind her.