Collecting the Pieces of the Shandhi Sword (Book 2 of Mark Series)

Chapter 28

I woke up with a loud gasp and sat up, my heart stopped before it started to pound hard in my chest with a fast thump,thump, thump.

Blearily I looked around with a hazy gaze, noticing that I was in the room that I had been in since I got here with my mate by my side.

Cameron shifted beside me with a small groan while he woke up. "Jaz?" he asked, his voice cracking and filled with sleep while he focused his gaze on me. "Are you ok?"

I grimaced and rubbed my eyes before I slowly nodded. "I am," I confirmed before I rubbed my eyes some more and blink back sleep. "It was just a nightmare."

My mate sat up behind me with a small groan of pain. He placed his hand on my shoulder, and I put my hand on his.

I closed my eyes when he placed a kiss on my cheek, and my heart grew warm and filled with this feeling called love. "How are you feeling?" I asked, ignoring the silent nagging in the back of my mind.

I was still supposed to be mated to another...

My heart ached and yearned to get my pack to safety, especially Kate and my brother.

However, I knew that I couldn't; I wasn't strong enough...

"Jaz?" Cameron asked, concerned, and squeezed my shoulder. He put his other arm around me and pulled me closer to him, and I put my arms around him and laid my head on his shoulder.

"Hmm?" I asked and closed my eyes.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes," I replied and nodded before I cleared my throat and furrowed my brows. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you didn't respond when I said that I was doing better but still a little sore," he said. "Are you sure that you are ok?"

I sighed before I shrugged and pulled away from him so that I could look at him. "I miss my pack," I admitted before I cleared my throat. "I am worried about what is happening to them and if they'll forgive me for leaving them behind."

"They'll forgive you for leaving," Cameron said softly while he dipped his head closer to his chest. He pulled me back into a hug and cleared his throat. "If you didn't then it would be a hell of a lot worse."

I pressed my lips into a thin line and didn't say a word. My heart ached, and I couldn't help but pray that what he said was true, that it would have been a hell of a lot worse if I hadn't left.

"Do you miss Blake?" Cameron asked randomly after a few minutes of silence while he rubbed my back.

There was no animosity in his voice, no accusing. It was merely a question out of curiosity.

But it still made me stiffen...

"Jaz?" Cameron asked softly while he raised an eyebrow.

I bit back a sigh but slowly nodded.

I felt ashamed that I still missed him, but I couldn't help it.

Unlike my mother and father before me, I knew that I was to be mated to him. I knew what it meant for the pack, both of ours.

My mate didn't let me go when I silently told him that I missed Blake. He kept me in his arms and held me tight, not letting me pull away from him again.

"I'm sorry," I said and closed my eyes.

Cameron shook his head. "Don't," he said, and there still was no animosity, no nothing but this calmness that I didn't understand. "Don't apologize, Jaz. You had been set up with him under the guise of mateship for both packs."