Romancing The Alpha Prince (Book 14 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 42

Dylan sat back on the bed and sighed softly. He knew this was going to come up sooner rather than later, but he hadn't been prepared for it to happen tonight. He'd been on his way back with food from the pack house when Damien had linked him and told him that Violet knew and was freaking out. He would have thought someone would have told Vanessa that Violet didn't know yet, but apparently not. "It's complicated."

She crossed her arms and he smiled. She was annoyed, and he couldn't blame her. But he also knew that what he told her might make her walk away. Any of what she was about to hear could make her walk away. And he'd have to let her go. "You're not my first mate."

Her eyes widened at that. "I'm not."

"No. I had a mate ten years ago. She was sexually abused and was in bad shape mentally. She wasn't happy that I was her mate. Her level of trust was practically non-existent, and her level of fear was off the charts. I really don't know what all happened to her because she never opened up to me. I honestly barely knew her, because she refused to let me close to her."

Violet rested her chin on her knees, looking at him still. She was a bit more relaxed now. 

"The drive to mark our mate is strong, and grows stronger the longer we wait. After a while, it becomes an obsession. I hit that point. It was all I could think about, but I'd never even touched her. She was..." he shook his head. "I don't know how she resisted the bond so much, but she did. She didn't want to hang out or talk to me. She wanted nothing to do with me at all. But I went to her because I had to do something. I have a job, and I couldn't concentrate enough to do it. I told her I needed to either mark her or reject her, and I honestly wish I would have rejected her."

"And that would have ended you being mates?" Violet asked. 

Dylan nodded. "Looking back, it would have been best for both of us, but I was an idiot. And she was going to let me mark her. We started to ... have sex, but she wasn't into it at all. She started crying, so I stopped. I ended up just marking her without mating, which isn't pleasant, and I have regretted it ever since."

"So you've already marked someone else? How are we mates then?" Violet asked. "Can you have more than one?"

"No. She refused to come here to the house with me. She was staying at the pack house in a guest room and she wanted to stay there even after I marked her. So I left her alone and came back here. That evening, she left the house for the first time ever and drowned herself in the lake." He felt a twist of pain, but it wasn't nearly as strong as it had once been, and the next thing he knew, Violet had her arms around him and was holding him. 

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. 

"Me too. I felt like it was my fault," he said quietly, letting her hold him. 

"It wsn't though," she said, running her fingers through his hair. 

"I know. Caleb and Kyra have both told me that over and over, but I still feel guilty about it," he said with a sigh.

"Who are they?" 

"Family members. Both of whom have lost mates as well." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. He had more to tell her. "The night before you moved here, Damien and I came up to the diner."

"I know," she said.

"You do?" He looked at her in surprise. 

"Yeah. I was supposed to be getting off early if no one came in, but then you two walked in." Violet smiled at him. "I would have been your server."

He sighed softly. "I caught your scent the moment I walked in and knew my second chance mate was there."

"That's why you left?"