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“How long have you known my daughter is your mate?”
“Since her eighteenth birthday.”
“Why didn’t you claim her then? Why wait until now? Is it only because another werewolf threatens what’s yours?”
“Partially, yes,” I answered honestly. “She came to me and asked me to pretend to be her mate. I had been waiting for her to come to me when she was ready to claim me herself. However, that wasn’t the case.”
“She doesn’t know that you are her mate? How is that even possible? She’s a seer, for God’s sake!”
“She had a vision that night she was followed through the park. The vision showed her mate as a werewolf, but it didn’t show the face. She assumed since her stalker that night had claimed to be her mate, that the vision confirmed his threats. She thinks she can break the bonds of fate.”
Mr. Ramirez stood from his desk, slamming his hands down on the surface. “Why wouldn’t you tell her the truth?”
“You were told about the stalker. How is it that you didn’t know what he had claimed in his chase?” I asked, not moving from my seat as I stared back at my mate’s father.
“I didn’t know that she was unaware of the truth in your mateship. I thought she knew the truth and went to her mate for help. I had no idea she was unaware of your true relationship. I have no doubt that you’ve sealed the bond with more than a mate bite. She still doesn’t know that she is bonded to you for the rest of her life?”
The older man sank into his chair, his eyes hardening as he looked at me, although his lips were twisted in apparent distress.
“You know that no matter what, she and I were going to be together. Despite the fairy tales of rejection and second-chance mates, once the fates show a bond, it is inevitable. I tried to give her the time to realize who I was for her. Years I waited, watching her from a safe distance, keeping her at arm’s length until I knew she was ready for our shared journey through life. The fates decided that I had waited long enough. They lead her straight to me as her protector, even if they did not elaborate on the kind of protection I had offered her.”
“Do you love her?” Mr. Ramirez asked. I could feel Anthony perking at the question, wondering the same thing.
I smiled, softening my eyes as I thought about Paige: the way her nose wrinkled in her sleep, the spark in her gaze whenever she felt challenged by me…the soft pout of her lips just before I kissed her.
“I have loved her since the day I saw her for who she is. Not the girl I first met, but the strong woman she grew to be.”
“You mean when the fates revealed the bond to you.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I still hadn’t seen her. It was after she came back from the Academy’s summer program. Something about her had changed. She seemed more confident in her gifts and more mature in using them. That was when I fell in love with her. Bond or no bond.”
Mr. Ramirez’s face softened, opening a drawer to his right to reveal a small velvet box. “My father-in-law gave this to me. He insisted that I would have a daughter; it would be needed when she met her true love. I’m still unsure what it is needed for, but I swore to hand it over to the man whose heart belonged to my daughter.”
He handed over the box, watching as I flipped the lid open to reveal its contents. A small, pointed stone sat on a coiled chain. It reeked of ancient magic. A power that the world hadn’t seen in centuries.
“A pendulum?” Anthony asked, now leaning over my shoulder to look. “And Obsidian pendulum? For what?”
“As I said, I never was told what it would be for, only that it would be the tool needed to aid your sister’s mate. Given the increased patrols we have noticed from the packs across the city, I’m sure that Nyte knows what the pendulum can uncover for him.”
I gritted my teeth as I nodded. The fates clearly had plans for my mate that I disapproved of. First, Rome asked why we didn’t use her to find answers. Now, some long-deceased family member left a tool with the same unspoken words. I closed the box and put it deep in my pocket, standing up from my seat and nodding toward the door.
“I need to get back to my patrol.”
Mr. Ramirez nodded. “Of course, thank you for coming and putting my mind at ease. I hope that whatever my father-in-law foresaw can be remedied quickly.”
With a shrug, I went to the door. “We’ll see.”
I returned to the cliffs alone, the box in my pocket feeling like it burned at my skin. I knew enough about witches and their tools to understand what it was used for. It was another divination tool, one that could help clear up so many of Paige’s questions and help the pack. The only question was: was she ready for all that? How much longer did I have to decide before fate again intervened to force my hand?
I ran my hands through my hair, reaching the meet point for shift trade-off. “Why is something always getting in the way of my plans?”
Chapter twelve
Paige
“Where the hell did they go?” I growled under my breath, pulling the drawer off its track and dumping everything on the bed. I never left this room with them. I always put them right back here, yet my cards were nowhere to be found.
I could hear the shower running in the bathroom. Nyte was utterly undisturbed by my missing cards. I had asked him before he went in if anyone had been in the room, but he had assured me that it wasn’t possible. Not since we rarely left the room empty…and no one would ever dare to steal from either of us. Even if they didn’t like me, the thieves in the pack were severely punished.
