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The thought of ending my pregnancy did little to ease my mind. Instead, it only made me cry more. I had already fallen in love with my baby. As much as I hated to admit it, I was in love withXander as well. I didn’t want a life without either of them, but he had betrayed me.
He had lied to me.
The night he appeared in my room with his scent blocked hadn’t been simply to find his mate. He had come to kill me, to assassinate me in my home. Even after he knew we were mates; he convinced his father that he was only pretending: he was going to kill me after his coronation.
His father hated me. That was the only part of everything I had learned tonight that didn’t surprise me. It hardly even bothered me.
Mom had believed that Xander’s mother was a rogue who had run off and left Xander with his father. However, she also said that his father was close to the Chios family during their reign. It was understandable that he hated my family, especially after learning that Maria had been his mate.
Xander had said that he and I were fated mates, just like his parents. I only wished that I had known it before. If only Xander had been more open and forthcoming with this information earlier, I would not have given him my mark or accepted him as my mate.
With a sense of weariness, I directed my gaze to the mirror positioned across the room and took a long look at myself beforereleasing a deep sigh. I had marked him. Despite everything, we were mates now. There was no taking it back. We were fated, and we had accepted our fates with one another. But that didn’t mean I was going to let him get away with his lies and deceit.
I pulled myself together and walked into the bathroom to clean myself up. I didn’t want any sign of my tears to tip Xander off to what I knew. My intention was to hear him confess everything on his own. He was going to have to now that he was bringing his friends back to the pack tonight.
With a few splashes of cold water on my face, I wiped away the evidence of my tears and went back to sit on my bed and wait. It took another fifteen minutes before I caught his scent just outside my door. I watched as he slowly opened the door and peered inside.
His gaze quickly found me on the bed; his head and shoulders drooped like a child who was about to be scolded as he entered the room. The door closed behind him softly before he approached me.
As he walked in, I kept a careful eye on him and maintained a neutral expression. I knew he could sense my attitude. I could sense his confusion, but I would not be the one to bring up the subject. Not yet. This was going to be his last chance to come clean.
“Where were you?” I asked.
He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a deep sigh before he answered.
“I was at the Feral Tides. My father sent a message for me to come and see him.”
I smirked. It seemed he was choosing to be completely truthful for once, but I still held my doubts.
“What about?”
Xander sat on the edge of the bed beside me and tried to take my hand in his, but I stood and looked down at him as I waited for him to answer.
He let out another deep sigh. “He is sending the rogues who want to return to the pack tonight. He doesn’t want them living in the bar anymore.”
“Is that all he had to say to you? He could have just sent them here. We would have accepted them without question.”
Xander looked up at me through his lashes. His elbows rested on his knees as he shook his head. “No, that wasn’t the initial reason for him arranging our meeting. He wanted me to update him on a mission I’ve long foregone. A mission that I’ve now told him is over and won’t ever be completed.”
I watched and waited for him to explain, though I already knew the answer.
“Babydoll.” I grimaced at the pet name. Hearing it now as he confessed all his lies to me didn’t quite fill me with the same butterflies as usual. “I have to tell you something. You aren’t going to like what I have to say, but it has to be said. I haven’t been the most honest mate. I think you knew that, but I’m admitting it to you now.”
I waited for him to continue. He squirmed under my gaze before standing up and pacing around the room, his hands buried in his hair.
“What are you admitting to me, Xander?” I finally asked after he paced by me three times.
He looked over at me, then let out another frustrated sigh.
“Tell me now, Xander,” I warned. “It’s the only chance you’re going to get.”
Chapter Nineteen
Xander
She has always held some suspicion about me. It had taken a lot for her to put it aside and trust me and now here I was, breaking that fragile trust. I could see it in her eyes. The walls were going back up, and her faith in me was crumbling. I was losing my mate just as quickly as I had gotten her.
With a deep breath, I stopped my pacing and looked her in the eyes. “I was sent to you, not as a potential mate, but as an assassin. I was meant to kill you the night I marked you and leave your family with the aftermath. With you gone, our plan was for the relationship between the witches and the pack to crumble. Your brother would have been the only heir left; andsince he was meant to lead the Crete Coven, we believed they would fight the pack to keep him as their only leader. Thus, leaving your pack heirless. That was the first phase of my father’s plan.”
