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I met Caden’s eyes in the rear mirror again but he looked away, focusing on the road while Mateo said, “Well, I’m glad you have him and that he walked into that room and took you away while we were being idiots.”
An awkward silence and some tension enveloped the car after Mateo said those words. The awkwardness in the car didn’t ease until Caden found a good parking spot at the mall’s parking lot.
“I’ll be right back. I want to get some things and some of those cookies you like, Aurora. See ya.” Aiden grinned at me with a peace sign before closing the door behind him and Mateo.
I stared after him as he disappeared into the mall before sitting back in my seat. I thought that Caden and I were going to sit in silence as we waited for Mateo and Aiden to get back, so I just sat there and focused on trying to tamp down my restlessness.
“I’m also glad that he stepped in that night and stopped me from saying any more hurtful words. I’m sorry. I know apologizing doesn’t make up for that awful night, and I truly regret putting you through everything I put you through that night. I’m usually the most rational, calm, and reserved guy, but when you’re involved, I lose control over my emotions, I say things . . . and I regret them.” His voice was low, but I could hear every single word he said.
“I didn’t want to admit this, but while I abhor the way you and Mateo went about this matter, I honestly can’t blame you for distrusting me. I was the one who approached you with a false identity, entered a relationship with you based on that false identity, and cheated on you while we were still in a relationship. I was suspicious, and you had every right to have doubts. I guess I’m saying that although I haven’t forgiven you for what you did, I no longer resent you for it. I may get kicked out of the Crawford Pack, so I just wanted to let you know that.”
“You’re not getting kicked out.” He assured me, turning his head my way without looking back at me. “Don’t forget. We have an advantage here. You are my true mate, and Aiden’s and Mateo’s. And since we are going to become official mates, you’re automatically a member of the pack.”
“How . . . We’re not . . .” I tried to protest. “You said you couldn’t accept me being with Levi.”
“I was just being stupid, I guess. I don’t have any right to tell you to abandon the mate that has been by your side since you were a child. I haven’t even done anything to prove my worth and reliability as your true mate. So I’m starting now by choosing to fight to be one of your mates without trying to dictate who I can accept as one of your mates and who I can’t.”
His words were very profound as if he’d spent a lot of time pondering our relationship.
My lips parted, and I wanted to say something, but I didn’t know what to say.
Caden didn’t let me speak as he turned to stare at me and continued, “Aurora, I love you. You love me. They love you, you love them. It’s as simple as that. All of us . . . it’s going to take some getting used to, but we’re going to make this work. Of course, if Levi can’t stand it and he wants to leave, that’s fine, too. We’ll make it work. Since I decided that you were going to be mine, I’m going to do everything in my power to make it work. Mateo and I are going to work hard to earn your forgiveness, and then we’re going to court you and make you our official mate.”
The flecks of light in his dark coffee-brown eyes felt like a light curtain showing me how bright my future with him and all my other mates was going to be.
I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do before, but seeing the firmness in his eyes and the way he spoke as if we were a done deal made me decide. I was going to try to be the best fated mate to Levi, Caden, Aiden, and Mateo.
If they were going to make concessions for me, like forgiving me for lying to them, I could try to forgive them for making a mistake out of jealousy.
If they were going to agree to be my mates, even though I had other mates they hadn’t planned for, I was going to go the extra mile to make sure that they never felt left out for any reason.
I raised my head and locked gazes with Caden, who was still staring back at me. In those few seconds of gazing at each other, the bond between us tightened as the determination in Caden’s eyes convinced me and finally gave me the courage to pursue what I wanted.
I wanted Caden, Aiden, Mateo, and Levi. Even though I’d wanted to avoid the chaos of a circ, I was already in love with them and I didn’t want to let go. So if they were willing, I would take a risk and invest in trying to build a relationship with them.
With this understanding, I and my werewolf-half said together, “It’s not just you. We are going to make it work together, all of us. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it as a unit or it won’t work.”
When Caden’s eyes lit up in response and his werewolf-half came out to play, I smiled and rested my head on the car’s headrest.
We didn’t break our locked gazes until Aiden and Mateo got into the car after dropping the stuff they had purchased in the car trunk.
Then we were off to meet up with Levi.
24
Aurora
During our meeting the previous day, we decided that Levi would lay low in Crawford Town while I would continue to attend classes with either Aiden, Mateo, or Caden by my side at every moment to de-escalate every situation. After our brief discussion, Caden and Mateo cooked a delicious meal of spaghetti and meatballs, which we ate for dinner.
The next morning, I rushed down the block into the somewhat open parking space to get into Joel’s car because I was late, so Joel had to wait for about ten minutes while I rushed to finish getting ready.
I pulled open the door and sat in the backseat as usual. “Morning, Joel.”
I had just buckled my seat belt when I noticed that the atmosphere in the car was wrong. There was no sound of Joel buckling his seat belt and the sound of the car starting was absent.
I looked up into the car’s rear mirror to see Joel’s eyes wide with fear. His face was pale, his lips chalky white, and his gaze was fixed on the passenger seat.
I followed his gaze and found a menacing figure seated in the passenger seat, and the knife in his hand was pressed dangerously close to Joel’s throat.
