AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes.”
“Sweetheart, what are you doing here?”
“Long time no see, Mr. Evergreen.” Isabella’s tone is gentler, but her body language is still defensive. Untrusting. “And to answer your question, I came here, but that turned sour rather quickly.”
“How so, young one?” I watch him take her in, not in a lustful way but rather fatherly. Yet the moment he sees her wrist and then ankles, his anger rises and his head turns in my direction. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t.”
“He hasn’t,” we say in unison. At that, she blushes for some reason, and I can’t deny the color is lovely. Her embarrassment is sweet. “This doesn’t matter right now…” Isabella holds her hand up, waving off his concern “…you have more than one enemy in your midst.”
“Who? What’s going on here?”
“Better question is why do you two mourn a woman who’s alive?” Little Moon’s voice is strong and steady, almost daring anyone to contradict her. Her eyes shift between my father and me, ignoring the shocked gasps around us and the hostile step forward my aunt takes. “Do you not feel her? Does the bond not sing for you?”
“I do, and it does.”
Those words break me apart and my chest caves at the thought that it’s even a possibility.
The feelings coursing through me clash, thundering in my veins while the organ in my chest constricts. For twelve months I’ve lived with a sense of complete loss—failure—that’s near crippling.
I’d failed Mum by not being there when she needed protecting.
I’d broken my mate if it’s true.
And what’s worse, words fail me now. All but three. “Please prove it.”
“That’s why I stayed, Xadiel.” No bite or reproach. Just understanding. “I’ve seen it.”
At once, the room grows quiet. No one moves an inch, but I feel their stares. Anxiousness morphs into fear and then anger on behalf of their current and prior king. But it’s two heartbeats I focus on, how they grow rapid in pace, almost frantic, and my mate isn’t one of them.
Aunt Theresa and my beta are worried, the stench of the near panic tickling my nose.
“What did you see, dear child?” Father’s tone is low yet firm. He walks closer to Isabella, but she holds a hand up and shakes her head. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I prefer it this way.”
“Don’t believe her, James. It’s a trick!” Theresa’s cry comes a second after Grady grabs her arm, stopping her from attacking Isabella while Cain subdues Timoth. The latter tries to fight back, throwing a blow that connects with the gamma’s chin but leaves no damage. “Let me go! What the hell are you doing?”
However, a second later the sound of a closed fist meeting a solid chest quiets everyone. “I’ve never stopped feeling her in here, Isa. The connection is small, every day buried it grows weaker, but it never stopped beating.”
“That’s because she’s not gone. Hidden, but not gone.”
“I know.”
“You believe me?”
“Without a doubt. Your mother didn’t kill my wife, Isa, and I’ve spent the last twelve months trying to figure out who did or where she is.”
Nothing he could’ve said could cut me deeper than this. His trust in her family when I’ve searched for them with the intent to kill, to display her parents’ heads on a spike at the entrance of my kingdom, will forever haunt me.
Your mother didn’t kill my wife.
It echoes in my head.
Torturous. Damming me. If he’s right…
Jesus. If it’s true and Leonora Moore is innocent—I might’ve lost my mate.
