He Will Be Mine

Chapter 73: Visions of Silver

*** Kane's POV ***

"No, she wasn't Charlie's mate, but he knew that," Matt answers Nick's question. "He knew she was Jesse's. She went to him to ask for help getting away from Jesse, and she told Charlie she overheard Jesse plotting to kill her. But in reality, she was plotting with Jesse to get rid of Charlie because he was starting to get too suspicious about Jesse's involvement with rogues."

If I had any doubts initially about whatever Matt saw with his ability, they dwindle more and more with every sentence he utters. I can tell Nick feels the same. There's no way he'd know all this about Jesse and the rogues any other way. Even I didn't know until now, and even Nick didn't know until last night.

"Though Charlie wasn't all that concerning to her, she knew it was all part of what she believed was a greater plot to get rid of Jesse's chosen mate, Sheena," Matt continues.

"Sheena was my mate that Jesse stole from me in the first place," Nick clarifies angrily. "He's scum, through and through."

"I never liked him," Aly comments with a scowl. "And I don't regret embarrassing him when I had the chance."

That's right, she did. I'd almost forgotten. She was just a scrawny little scrapper then. I think he made her angry while we were visiting Joel, though I don't recall what it was about. She won their brawl, though, and Joel and I had a good laugh about it. And then he made me promise not to bring her back, since he couldn't take the chance of having a little girl show up the future Alpha of his pack where anyone might see.

Nick smiles at her, though I wouldn't exactly describe it as a happy smile. There's fondness and appreciation there, but he's still plainly miserable over all that's happened.

"Why was she pretending to be human?" Tyler asks. Good question.

"To make it more believable, since Charlie knew that Jesse loathes them and would despise a human mate, and Jesse knew that Charlie is 'soft' about humans, always pushing him to make reforms or intervene when they're mistreated. I can't tell you for sure what they used to make her seem human, but it was something she had to drink every morning."

"So, what was the plan for Sheena? Do you think she's still in danger?" Nick asks next.

Poor kid. Rejected and betrayed by her, yet still cares enough to worry for her welfare.

"She was never in danger," Matt explains. "He never intended to get rid of her. He just wanted Colleen to believe he did so she'd play her part. It was her who contacted the rogues to tell them where Charlie took her, and her who kept giving away your location even as you were helping her escape. She didn't seem to realize that the rogues weren't just going to pretend kidnap her and eventually give her back to Jesse. It was her that was meant to be the Alpha's prize, not Sheena. Good thing you're infuriatingly skilled at tracking, running, and escaping, Nick. You were never part of the plan, and she and the rogues didn't know what to do about you since they couldn't seem to capture you."

"Wait, she was trying to get caught?" Nick asks in outrage. "That makes so much more sense than her just being the dumbest box of rocks I've ever met. My gosh, though. I'm so angry right now I'm vibrating."

He really is shaking quite a bit. Matt reaches out to grasp his shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. I suppose it's comforting that even Matt who now has some ability to see whatever it is he sees seems to be okay with Nick. Sounds like Nick was nothing more than an unlucky, accidental pawn, which is a relief to know.

"Wait, how was Colleen contacting the rogues? Could she be mind-linking them right now?" Tyler questions, now panicking at the thought.

"No, she never was able to. It was partly deliberately tripping any traps she noticed along the way to give away her location, and the rest was old-fashioned breadcrumbs. She dropped a hair tie at one point, clawed a tree, and so on. At least while she was with Nick. Before that it was a secret cell phone, which no she doesn't have on her, I don't think. I saw her put it in a hiding spot in the bathroom, which I don't think she had a chance to retrieve it from before she left with Nick."