Chapter 35 #2
“Ready to go?” Falcon asks, giving me an expectant look.
“I … Uh …” I start, too confused to answer his question.
“Aw. You just got here,” Shadow complains.
Falcon glances at my brother and back at me.
“It’s getting late and it’s a long drive home, but we can stick around for a while, if you want.”
It sounds like he doesn’t want to stay.
I don’t get it.
Robin felt something when we bumped into each other.
I saw it in her eyes. She might not know what it was, but she felt it.
“No, you’re right. It’s a long drive.” I glance at Shadow, throwing him an apologetic smile.
Shadow moves forward and hugs me.
“Next time, Shayne. Stay for longer, okay?”
“I promise.”
If we’re leaving, and Robin isn’t coming with us, there will be a next time.
Brothers can let time pass between visits, but true mates are a completely different story.
Shadow breaks the hug, and mutters, “Text me later. About you know what.”
Owen laughs, like he knows what that’s about.
He probably thinks we’ll actually talk conspiracy theories.
We might, knowing Shadow, but I think he’s more interested in finding out what we’re going to do about the true mate we just found right here where he lives.
I have to admit, I’m a lot more interested in that, too.
Shadow’s probably going to be waiting a while for my responses to his questions.
I have too many of my own questions to ask Falcon.
“Sure,” I answer. “See you, Shadow.”
“Bye, Shayne.”
“It was nice meeting you all,” I add, while Falcon is already backing out of the room.
“Hey,” Pete says as I move toward the door he’s still holding open amid a chorus of, “you too”’s. He nods his head at me. “Tell your lead Alpha to wait a second. I’ll let you out the front door and walk you back to the parking lot.”
“Wait up, Falcon,” I call after him, moving out of the office and into the reception hall.
He turns around slowly. “We don’t need an escort. I remember the way back.”
“You’re not going back through the ballroom,” Pete says in that rough and ready English accent. “That area’s off limits unless you’re granted permission to be there, and I hate to tell you this, but I’m sure you’ll understand why your access to our Omegas has been revoked.”
Falcon frowns at him. “We’re not here for that, and I’m done apologizing for the way we got in here.”
“He’s just telling us he’s going to show us out through the front door,” I inject, before they can get into an argument over basically nothing.
It’s kind of a shame they’re not letting us go back the way we came, I’ll admit.
I would have liked another chance to see Robin, but I’m not going to pick a fight with one of Shadow’s mates over that fleeting wish.
She’s our mate. We’re destined to be together.
Nothing and no one is going to change that.
We will see her again.
“Oh,” Falcon mutters. “Okay.”
“Follow me,” Pete says, before he walks past me, toward a heavy looking set of double doors.
Falcon doesn’t move.
I nod toward Pete, and my lead Alpha’s frown deepens.
It’s not until Pete pulls the door open that Falcon takes a step toward him.
I move at the same time, hoping Falcon isn’t about to make a scene.
He seems about as happy as he was when we arrived.
I need to know what happened between him and Robin.
Something isn’t right, and until I know what it is, we can’t do anything to fix it.
I follow Pete into a small hallway and find him unlocking a second set of big, heavy double doors. It’s dark in here, and it gets darker still when Falcon follows us into the hall, his tall, muscular form blocking out the light from the reception area.
I can’t see his expression in the dark, but I’m sure it hasn’t changed one little bit.
Pete clears his throat, and I turn back to see he’s holding the door open.
“After you,” he says, gesturing to the front steps.
I move past Pete and go down the steps that lead to a gravel pathway.
The exterior light above the door doesn’t extend beyond the gravel, and it’s limited to the area directly in front of the building’s double doors.
I turn to see Falcon moving down the steps, and Pete locking the door.
“We know where the parking lot is from here,” Falcon starts.
“I’m walking you around to the side of the building,” Pete states. “It’s for your own safety. I suggest using the flashlight on your phones to make sure you don’t trip on the way around.”
That said, he moves down the steps and walks around us, producing a flashlight from his pocket and turning it on before moving ahead, leading the way.
I glance at Falcon.
He shrugs and follows Pete.
I get my phone out and switch on the flashlight as they start to walk away.
It’s pitch-dark once we’re a few steps away from the front door, and the ground isn’t exactly even. I stumble my way along the gravel path, trying and failing to avoid the bigger rocks that seem to be placed for the sole purpose of making the path an accident waiting to happen.
When we reach the side of the building, and the poorly lit dirt road parking lot can finally be seen, I let out a relieved sigh.
“I hope you remember where you parked,” Pete says, as he steps back to let us pass.
“Thanks, I think we can manage,” I tell him, while Falcon marches off toward the car without saying goodbye. “Have a nice night.”
“See you,” Pete says, before he turns around and walks back the way we came.
I turn the light off on my phone and take off after Falcon.
There are more Alphas out here now, and all of them are headed toward the building while we’re leaving, so we get more than a few odd glances in passing.
Thankfully, those guys have better things to worry about than potential rivals who’ve just been escorted back to the parking lot.
I’m sure it would be a different story if we were kicking up a fuss about it.
Falcon’s already in the driver’s seat by the time I get to the car.
There was no way I was going to catch up to him.
He took off like he was on a mission.
I dart to the passenger side door and get in, breathing out a sigh as I close the door.
“Finally!”
Falcon raises an eyebrow at me. “You’re that keen to get out of here?”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t … Holy shit. You don’t know, do you?”
He can’t seriously be this oblivious.
Then again, he didn’t realize she was ours the first time around.
She’s clearly doing better to be working here, but maybe he doesn’t see it that way.
Alphas are instinctively protective toward their mates, after all.
“Don’t know what?”
“That the woman you’ve been going crazy waiting to see is our true mate.”
He blinks at me, his frowning expression slowly reversing into a look of pure shock.
“What …” he starts, clearing his throat. “What did you just say?”
“You really didn’t feel it?” I ask, watching his face carefully.
“She’s our true mate? But … I didn’t … It can’t be … Oh my God. That’s exactly what it is!”
He sounds anguished by the time he realizes the truth.
His hands grip the steering wheel, knuckles turning white as he stares out at the building in front of us. He slumps back in his seat a few seconds later, all the rage bleeding out of him as he accepts what I just told him.
He looks at me, and all I see is bewilderment in his eyes.
“How is this possible?”
“Life is full of surprises?” I offer, not quite sure what he’s looking for.
It doesn’t matter, anyway. There’s nothing more I can tell him.
He found out the woman he’s been obsessing over is supposed to be a part of our pack.
He needs to process this life altering information, and I need to give him time to do that.