Cronan is angry. Angry that after years of waiting, he's mated to the one wolf he never wanted.
Fen is stuck. Stuck in a state of purgatory that he doesn't know how to escape from.
After learning of his mate's crimes, Cronan never expected to see h...
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"Give me back my mate," I growled out, glaring at Nixon as we walked in for same direction Cronan had disappeared to.
"Clearly, I can't do that right now."
"Tell your mate to bring him back. I don't want Cronan to get hurt."
Nixon sighed. "Relax, Tatum wouldn't hurt a fly."
"That doesn't mean I trust him with Cronan," I shot back. "I don't know what he could be doing to him."
"Realistically speaking? Probably talking about us. If I know my mate well, and I do, this was probably an attempt to get you and me together."
I frowned at the thought. "Why? You and I already talked." Nixon shrugged and my eyes narrowed. "Why, Nixon?"
"Because maybe I was too snippy last time," he grumbled out. "Because I've received calls from both Eli and Nolan telling me I should consider hearing you out more after the last time we talked and I didn't know how to do that. This is Tatum's strange way of making that happen for me."
"By kidnapping my mate?"
"Don't be dramatic. He did not kidnap your mate."
"That's what it looked like."
"If he really wanted to leave then Tatum would let him," Nixon said matter-of-factly. "I think I know where they are anyway."
I followed Nixon, aware of the way he kept glancing at me. After a few awkward minutes, I sighed and asked, "What did you want to talk about?"
He hesitated. "I guess just you in general. What was your life like before you left the pack and after? I know a little, obviously, from secondhand recounts but you never really know until you go to the source, so that's what I'm doing."
Hearing Nixon speak reminded me of how little the two of us actually spoke one-on-one even though I was his brother's gamma and he'd been my alpha. The two of us just never had that kind of relationship.
"I liked our pack. I enjoyed being Nolan's beta and all, but realistically speaking, I don't think I ever really felt at home there."
Nixon nodded, processing my words. "What do you mean by that?"
"I didn't grow up there like everyone else did. I was a member because of my parents, but my home was always with my grandparents. I felt like I was always playing a role, you know? Supporting everyone else while trying to fit into the mold of what a good gamma should be and make my parents proud. It was rewarding in some ways, but ultimately... it wasn't me. I think that's what originally made me want to befriend Eli. He understood that to some degree."
"Then your crush started to develop," Nixon mentioned and I nodded.
"I can't tell you when it started because I honestly don't know. It just kind of hit me in the face one day. I thought I knew all there was about mates and I was so sure Eli and I would be a pair." I shook my head. "And when it turned out we weren't, I was completely blindsided."
