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I’ve learned to school my features in the past month around these two. After finally breaking down and admitting everything to Rylie, she and Missy have done their best to talk me into giving Miles a chance to prove he isn’t anything like Grant.
Silence descends on us while the seamstress works before I finally ask the one question I’ve been keeping to myself. I feel like I’ve gotten to know the others well enough I don’t need to keep it to myself. “Do you think you’re moving too fast?”
“What do you mean?” Our eyes meet in the mirror.
“Marrying Mason. You haven’t known him long enough to decide whether he’s who you want to spend the rest of your life with.” I say it all in a single breath.
I watch as Rylie leaves my gaze to meet her mom’s, then Macy’s, Annabelle’s, and Spence’s before she turns back to me. “Could you give us a moment?” she asks the seamstress. Not aword is spoken until the door shuts behind the older woman, and then Missy is on me. “She’s Mason’s fated mate, Alexa.”
“So? You’ve said this before.” Why do I feel so defensive?
“And being his mate,” she continues, choosing to ignore me, “there is a connection between them the moment they sense one another. It isn’t easy to explain, but her heart had already fallen for him before her mind had. But I don’t think I need to tell you that because the same has happened to you with Miles.”
“I—”
“Yes, he’s a monster when the full moon commands it of him, but Miles would never do anything to hurt you, Alexa. I know what you have learned from Grant, but he’s one of the few who are cruel and need to be put down. Roper’s father is another fine example. Don’t judge the group based on the actions of a few. Miles is a good man and will be good to you.”
I feel like I’m getting a dressing down.
“Alexa, he’s lost without you.” Rylie gets off the platform and wraps her arms around me. I flinch when her hand presses against my belly. Instinct has me turning.
“You have to let go of all those preconceived notions of what relationships are supposed to look like.” Annabelle appears in front of me.
“It’s different.” Macy’s voice joins the room. “With them, it’s different. You just have to embrace it like we all have.”
“You aren’t the only one to just learn about all of this, and here I grew up with Carter in the bedroom next to me and never knew.” Rylie speaks into my shoulder.
My lip works its way between my teeth as I wring my hands together. I’ve been giving it a lot of thought since I finally told Rylie everything that has happened to me. If Missy weremarried to a werewolf and was happy about it, even gave birth to one, and then Rylie is getting ready to marry one while the other girls I’ve gotten to know are happy with theirs, then I’m wrong.
Of course, my freak-out when I woke and found a different version of Miles in my bed is completely natural. But now, I’m just being ridiculous. Several intense therapy sessions have helped me step out of my own mind and analyze everything.
I have kept myself so closed off from others that I don’t know how to truly let someone in. I took the first step by opening up to Rylie, and as much as I think I’m ready to talk to Miles, I’m still extremely nervous.
What if he’s angry with me?
What if—?
“You do realize your son is a werewolf, right?” I spin in Rylie’s embrace to find Missy standing just outside our little group with Spence. “I’ve kept that bit of information to myself for a while now, but Alexa, it’s the truth. If Grant is his father, even if you two weren’t fated mates, Teague was born to transform for the first time around his third birthday. Do you think that little boy, born into this world so pure and innocent, would do any harm to anything other than a rabbit or small animal when he learned to hunt?”
“Mom,” Rylie scolds.
“Hush, she needs to face this once and for all.” Missy pins her with a glare, silencing any comment she was about to make. “Do you think Teague is evil, Alexa?”
I think about the last letter I received from his parents. The adoption was incredibly lowkey, and we have all done ourbest to keep Teague a secret and hidden from the world his father inhabits, but I still have a connection with him.
My choice to move to Wyoming may not have been the smartest when it came to Teague’s safety, but I couldn’t help myself. He’s only a state away and living in a rural area where no one could easily find him.
I’ve seen him twice since moving here, and he knows exactly who I am to him.
“No,” I finally respond.
“Do you think Miles has evil intent with you?” Missy continues to push.
His goofy grin and the easy way he made me laugh pop into my head. The comfort and safety I felt with him are lacking once more in my life. I miss him.
“No.”
“Then, on Saturday, you be the brave woman I know you’re capable of and talk to him. Do you think you can do that?”
