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My inner turmoil must’ve been strong enough to send out a signal to him. As pleased as I am to hear his voice, I’m also embarrassed. It’s nothing. What’s the case?
He doesn’t let me change the subject. It’s your mate, isn’t it? Has she rejected you?
I hear the note of concern in his thoughts. Not yet, but she might. She found out about my other mates and she’s upset that I didn’t tell her about them sooner.
Why’s she upset?
I groan. She knows wolf shifters only mate once in a lifetime and she thinks I’m lying to her when I tell her she’s my mate. She left without letting me explain.
She probably needs time to wrap her head around everything. She just discovered you exist, give her time. If she’s anything like the others, she’ll sort herself out.
Yeah, but a few of the others sorted themselves out and then rejected me.
Maybe she will, maybe she won’t, he says.
Not really helping, brother.
His chuckle filters through my mind, forcing my lips to tilt up.
Well, if you don’t want this one to reject you, then what are you going to do about it?
I don’t immediately respond. I’ve always let my mates decide. Either take me or leave me. But he’s right. I don’t have to wait passively for Vanessa’s judgment. I can do something to help her make up her mind.
I’m going to replace her damaged dress, I finally say.
Sure, do that. Maybe some flowers too.
Thanks for the pep talk.
Any time, brother. Then he’s gone, leaving a puff of blue smoke in my mind on his way out.
“Flowers and a ballgown,” I say to myself. Before I hit the shops, I have a stop to make.
I Google as I walk out to my Jeep. Five minutes of internet research and I have a name and address.
I’m there in less than an hour, pushing the doorbell impatiently. When the door opens, I stare grimly down at the human. “You don’t know me, but you know my mate.” I shove the casting consultant into his home and kick the door shut, intent on showing the human scum his error in touching women who don’t want to be touched.
* * *
VANESSA
“Four!” I gasp, falling back into the pillows on my bed as I stare at my laptop.
Keenan has had four mates. I’m the fifth.
Lucky number five.
Or unlucky, according to what I’m reading. He was right, it’s all online. There’s not a lot of details, but the gist is out there for all to see.
Two hundred years ago, when King Fallon attempted to force a witch to mate, she cursed the entire family, setting the King on a path of madness and dooming the brothers to live without mates.
Fast forward two hundred years and each brother has experienced his own difficulty. Lock’s mate was almost killed by the old King and spent two centuries hiding out, living as a wolf. Another brother, Rush, married a witch who was transformed into a powerful being. The two were separated for years while she learned how to control her magic.
And then there’s Keenan.
The most tragic of the brothers. Doomed to watch his mates die over and over, only ever allowed to know a few months of happiness before they’re taken from him.
My heart aches for his pain, but I’m still upset. He should have told me. He should have given me the chance to decide for myself if I wanted to die young. He should’ve left me alone. Because of him, I’m going to die. He’s killed me.
