Chapter Two #4
What was Dermot thinking? Did he really believe that Celeste was a danger to this woman?
Celeste had every reason to want to help her.
She’d been mistreated by a Kudlak, too. In fact, she’d been mistreated by one for years.
She knew something about what the woman was feeling, and she could probably help.
That was, if Dermot allowed her close.
“Rose is going to stay with us,” Dermot said.
Bastien frowned. Was it that easy for Dermot to accept Rose?
Dermot clearly didn’t trust Celeste, and while Bastien understood why, he couldn’t help but wonder how hard Dermot was actually trying.
It didn’t seem like he was trying at all, although Bastien had been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Considering his sister’s history, it made sense.
But they didn’t know anything about Rose.
They didn’t know if maybe she also had a Kudlak mate out there somewhere.
She might be a spy. Bastien didn’t think refusing her access to the village would be the best decision, but he felt like maybe people were a little too trusting.
Dermot especially seemed to be that way, which didn’t make sense considering how little he trusted Bastien, his own mate.
“Thank you,” Rose said.
“If you need anything, just let me know,” Celeste told her. “I haven’t been here long, but everyone has been very nice. You can build a home here.”
Rose’s smile was trembling, but it was a smile, and Celeste latched onto it. She hooked her arm around Rose’s, and when Dermot tried stepping forward, probably to separate them, Bastien did the same. He glared at his mate, and Dermot glared right back.
“Why don’t we go inside?” Rowan suggested, gesturing at the women to follow him. Bastien and Dermot didn’t. They stayed out there, watching each other until everyone was inside.
“You trust her,” Bastien said.
“Who, Rose? She’s a Vila. She’s been on the run for a while, and she almost got killed reaching the village. She deserves to be allowed in.”
“I never said she didn’t. I just find it odd that you already trust her. You don’t know her. She could be a spy.”
Dermot snorted. “Why would she be? You saw what those Kudlak did to her. I’m sure it was much worse than what we can see, too. Besides, Rowan and Clay need more Vila.”
“My sister’s one.”
“Your sister doesn’t count.”
“Why? Because her mate is a Kudlak? Celeste had no say in that. Neither did your friend, Tamsin.”
Dermot crossed his arms over his chest. He was scowling, and he was beautiful, but Bastien still wanted to strangle him. “They had the choice not to bond with their mates.”
“Is that what you think they should’ve done? Not bond with their mates? Is that what you’re doing right now?”
Dermot swallowed loudly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You seem to think it’s easy for a Krsnik or a Vila to ignore their mate and walk away, and for them not to bond and leave their mate behind. Is that what you’re doing with me, then? You’re unhappy with me being your mate, and you’ve decided you want nothing to do with me?”
“We’re not talking about us right now. We’re talking about Rose, and she hasn’t done anything that would show me she can’t be trusted.”
“She won’t, not if she’s a spy.”
Dermot shook his head. “You don’t understand.
You’re a Krsnik, you can’t understand. But trust me, from someone who’s seen Krsnik fail to do the one thing they were supposed to do—Vila need to stick together.
Krsnik are supposed to protect us, but they’re like everyone else.
They can become cowards and be fallible, and I won’t allow a fellow Vila to suffer because of that when there’s something I can do to stop it. ”
Bastien blinked. Something had definitely happened to Dermot, but he doubted his mate would give him an explanation even if he asked.
He could see that Dermot didn’t trust Krsnik any more than he trusted Kudlak, though.
It left an uneasy feeling in the pit of Bastien’s stomach.
He wanted to show Dermot that he was trustworthy.
He wanted to show him that they were supposed to be together. They were mates.
Dermot didn’t seem to care about the mate bond.
He thought that Celeste and Tamsin should’ve stayed away from their mates.
Maybe that was what he was doing. Maybe he was staying away from Bastien because he’d already decided he didn’t want him.
He didn’t have a reason to look past whatever prejudice he had against Krsnik.
He didn’t know Bastien. He barely knew Celeste.
He definitely didn’t know Rose, but just because she was a Vila, he trusted her more than his own mate.
“One day, you’re going to realize that your prejudices are hurting you,” Bastien told him.
“I don’t have prejudices.”
“You trust Rose because she’s a Vila. You don’t trust me because I’m a Krsnik, even though I’m your mate.
” It was the first time either of them had acknowledged it out loud.
Bastien wasn’t sure how he felt about that.
“But you can’t trust someone just because of what they are.
You need to trust them because of who they are, and you don’t know who Rose is. ”
Dermot squared his shoulders. “I don’t know who you are, either.”
Unfortunately, he wasn’t wrong.