Page 74 of The Secret Mate Society

"Nice to meet you," Ethan replied quietly.“Calder didn’t tell me you knew about the monsters too.”

My heart sank as I realized my slip-up.“We’ve been friends since grade school,” I said quickly, filling my oncoming lie with as much truth as I could.“We’ve had a lot of the same interests and he’s heard me talk about it.”

“Yeah,” Trevor nodded, trying to sound convincing.“We’ve… chatted about… stuff.”

God he was a terrible liar.

“So how many people know about this?”Ethan asked, his brows furrowed.“Because up until a few days ago, I thought I was all alone in the world.That I was the only one that knew monsters were…real.”

I exchanged a glance with Trevor, both of us walking a dangerous line.How much could we reveal without exposing the supernatural world that existed parallel to Ethan's human one?

"More than you'd think," I said carefully."There are...communities of people who study these things.Share information."

"Like a support group?"Ethan's voice held a note of desperate hope that made my chest ache."For people who've encountered things they can't explain?"

Trevor nodded, warming to the deception."Something like that.People who've seen things, experienced attacks, lost family members."His voice softened as he looked at Ethan."People like…us."

I could see some of the isolation melting from Ethan's features, replaced by something I hadn't seen before.Finally there was a possibility that he wasn't alone in his knowledge.It broke my heart that I couldn't tell him the full truth, that there was an entire world of supernatural beings living alongside humans, protecting the balance between both worlds, and that this rogue was a rare and disgusting aberration of our kind.

"How long have you known about this particular creature?"Ethan asked, his questioning nature kicking in."The one that's been killing people here?"

"A few weeks," I said, which was technically true."We've been tracking similar attacks across the region."

"We?"Ethan's eyes sharpened."Who else is involved?"

Trevor shot me a warning look.We were venturing into dangerous territory.

"Just a loose network of people who share information," I said."Nothing formal.But Ethan, you can't write about this.You can't publish anything about what we've told you."

"Why not?"He looked almost betrayed."If there are people out there studying this, if there's evidence of these attacks?—"

"Because exposure gets people killed," Trevor interrupted, his voice hard."You think the authorities would believe any of this?You think they'd protect witnesses instead of locking them up in psychiatric wards?"

Ethan flinched at the reference to his own hospitalization, and I shot Trevor a sharp look.

"What Trevor means," I said more gently, "is that going public would only make you more of a target.”

"Then whatisgoing to help?"Ethan's voice cracked slightly."More people are dying because of me.Because I survived when my father didn't.How many more have to die before this all ends?"

The pain in his voice made my wolf whine.I wanted to tell him everything, that we had an entire pack hunting the rogue, that the supernatural community was mobilizing to stop the killings, that he wasn't responsible for any of the deaths.But revealing too much would sign his death warrant with the Council.

"We're going to stop it," I said firmly, moving closer to him."I promise you that."

"How can you be so sure?"Ethan looked between Trevor and me.

“Because…” I paused for a moment, swallowing hard.“Because I love you.And I will protect you no matter what.”

Chapter32

Ethan

Istood rooted to the spot, transfixed by the words that had just come out of Calder’s mouth.He…lovedme?It seemed so fast… we barely knew one another.But at the same time, I couldn’t deny the overwhelming urge to say it back to him.

And it looked like I wasn’t the only one taken aback by his sudden outburst.Trevor’s mouth was hanging clean open, his gaze slowly going between the two of us.The entire house was silent.In fact, I was fairly certainnoneof us had taken a breath in several seconds.

“You don’t have to say it back,” Calder nearly shouted, the red rushing into his cheeks.He turned his gaze to the ground, his hand pinching the bridge of his nose.“In fact, just forget I said anything.That was stupid.I shouldn’t have… I didn’t…”

"It's okay," I found myself saying, taking a step toward him."I… I feel it too."