He’d never thought he’d have a mate.In the past few years, his life had been focused on surviving.Before then, he’d been human, and he’d fully expected to end up in a relationship with a human and live like everyone else.He didn’t feel like he deserved a mate, and he especially didn’t deserve Franklin.
Well, whatever he deserved or didn’t deserve, he didn’t have a say in things.Neither did Franklin.They were mates, and that was that.
That didn’t mean they had to be together.
“You don’t have to be involved if you’d rather not be,” Moore said.“But I don’t think you should ignore the fact that you’re Franklin’s mate.You know what that means for a shifter.You know what Franklin will be missing if you’re not in his life.”
“I know that there’s no way he wants me in his life,” Reed pointed out.“Why should he?I worked for the Glass Research Company.Even when I knew it was wrong, I didn’t leave.The only reason I did in the end was that I became one of their subjects.Maybe I’m not a monster like some of the scientists, but I’m definitely not an angel.”
“I don’t think Franklin is looking for an angel.”
“He’s looking for his brother.I know Garrett.I’ve worked with him.”
Rikar cocked his head.“Have you hurt him?Were you one of the scientists who did whatever happened in there?”
It would possibly be easier if Reed’s answer to this question could be yes.That would definitely break anything that might have happened between him and Franklin.He wasn’t going to lie, though.“I never did any of the experiments myself.I was only a lab technician.I prepared samples, and yes, I did run some tests, but they never expected me to be in the thick of it.That wasn’t my job.”
“What happened with Garrett, then?”
“I felt sorry for him.I felt sorry for all of them, and I tried to help as many people as I could, but I had to be careful.Then, when I became what I am now, I was forced to hurt Garrett.He never blamed me for it.As soon as he realized that I was a mutant and that there was nothing I could do to stop the experiments, he stopped fighting.When I was there, he let me do whatever I was ordered to do.He knew neither of us had a choice, and it killed me almost every time.”He leaned over the table.“Trust me.I never went into this wanting to hurt people.I’m a lab technician, for fuck’s sake.I thought that I would clean the equipment and analyze data.How could I have expected to end up in a place like that lab?How could I have thought that someone would expect me to do what they had me do?I know that I should’ve left much sooner, and I didn’t, and that will always be my fault, but I’m not a monster.”Or maybe he was.It wasn’t his place to decide that, was it?Reed didn’t feel like a monster, but he’d behaved like one, and maybe that was enough to make him one.Maybe there was no way for him to ever atone.Maybe his punishment would be to live with this on his conscience for the rest of his life, alone and miserable.
Just maybe, that was what he deserved.
Chapter Three
Franklin stared atthe ceiling of his bedroom.The room was dark around him, and he was supposed to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, the only thing he could see was Reed.Even worse, the only thing he couldsmellwas Reed.It felt like Reed was in this room with him, even though it had been hours since they’d shared space.
Franklin huffed and turned to the side, reaching up to punch his pillow a few times.It didn’t help.Nothing did, and Franklin suspected that nothing would until he talked to Reed again.He hadn’t even asked Moore and Rikar how the rest of the meeting had gone.He’d wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and Reed, so he’d gone home straight away and stayed there.
Maybe that hadn’t been a good idea.Now, not only was he obsessing over the fact that he’d met his mate and the kind of person that mate was, but he also had no idea what was going on with Garrett.He needed to find out, though.Garrett and Leah were the most important things in Franklin’s world, maybe even more important than his mate.If he had to work with Reed to find them, then he wouldn’t hesitate.
That wouldn’t help him forget about Reed, but could he ever?They were mates.They were destined to be together, and Franklin was still angry over that, but he was also wondering why Fate had decided that Reed would be perfect for him.There had to be a reason, right?He couldn’t imagine that he and Reed would’ve been put together as mates if they couldn’t work, so what did that say about Reed?What did that say aboutFranklin?
Franklin didn’t know.He didn’t know how to find out, either.He just knew that even though his priority should be finding his siblings, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Reed since he’d realized what Reed was to him.That made him angry, too.
He huffed.A lot of things made him angry, and he didn’t know how to deal with any of them.He wanted to scream, but instead, he sucked in a breath.
