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Angel stared at her in shock. ‘Wh-what?’
She looked away from me and back out to the small lake we were sitting in. ‘You heard me. Is my brother, Gerald, your fated mate?’
Angel dropped her head. ‘I can’t tell you yes or no, no matter how much I want to.” I forced Angel’s head up to look out over the water. ‘I can’t seem to fight my mate’s aura. It’s out of control.’
Scarlett’s bear nodded. ‘Will you tell me when you get your Bruin power?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good. Now we should get back. The Alpha challenge is in a little bit. I don’t want you to be late.’
As Angel led her back to the sleuth house, we discussed our plans and hopes for our sleuths when we took over. I had never been as excited to become Logan’s beta as I was talking to Scarlett. She was such a pure person, and I could see why Osprey was so crazy over her. She was still so innocent, even though I could tell that she had been through a lot. When we got back to the border, we separated to shift back and get dressed. As I walked back out to her, I lowered my eyes to avoid meeting Osprey’s eyes as he studied my face.
“Giselda, how are you?” He asked.
“Fine,” I replied nervously.
“You don’t have to tell us that Gerald is your mate, Giselda. We know he is,” he told me as we walked back toward the house.
“He’s—”
“I would be very careful about what you say right now. It would be better if you didn’t lie to me. So, before you lie, let me tell you how we know. You showed us a temporary mark yesterday at the end of the beta challenge. That type of mark is something that my grandfathers developed. It is a closely held family secret, so it had to come from one of us. And considering you haven’t told Annie who your mate is, I’m assuming that you haven’t even told her that you found him. If you had, she wouldn’t have a ‘boyfriend;’ you would have a mate, because that is just how Annie is. She would not get between the mate bond.” He paused to narrow his eyes on me. “And I know she’s not your mate, because we think she’s Logan’s mate. The look on his face when you said that Annie had a boyfriend says as much. Even if he doesn’t know it or was aura’ed to forget or stay away from her, he would still know even if he didn’t know exactly who. So, I am going to ask you again: Is Gerald your fated mate?”
I stopped walking to reach out to take Osprey’s hand, pulling on his aura as I answered.
“Yes, you are right about both situations,” I said slowly.
I cried out as pain surged through me, sending me to the ground as wave after wave of excruciating pain made my body jerk violently. Osprey dropped to his knees beside trying to push his aura through me to no avail. My body kept spasming, forcing him to roll me on my side as foam poured from my mouth while I gagged. Suddenly, warmth filled me as hands moved over my body, lessening the pain whipping through my body until I was able to lay still on the ground. Scarlett’s face swam above me, her eyes filled with worry.
“Giselda? Are you alright?” She asked, concerned.
“Yes. I told you his aura is strong,” I mumbled.
She sat back on her heels, glancing at Osprey as I gingerly sat up. “If it’s Gerry, why didn’t your aura work?” She inquired, frightened.
“I don’t know.”
Before any of us could say anything else, the ground cracked before opening a little to allow a tiny vine pod to come up. I curiously reached out to touch the pod, causing it to open to reveal a small vial inside. Moments after I gently took it out of the pod, it was gone, leaving not even a small clue to hint at being there in the first place. I turned the vial over in my hands cautiously as Scarlett leaned over my shoulder to study it with me.
“What is it?” She asked.
“I have no idea,” I answered as I pulled the small cork out to sniff it. A pleasant smell of peppermint mixed with an earthy aroma of soil greeted my nose. I replaced the cork into the vial before pocketing it. “But after the challenge, we should go to the library to find out. Since the vines gave it to us, it must be something to help us. I just wonder why the keeper of the vines is trying to help us now.”
Osprey sighed as he got to his feet. “If what you said about Annie is true, it’s because of her. The vines and Annie have always been very close. The Goddess has chosen to show her favor. It must be a way to help Annie.” He pulled Scarlett to her feet before reaching down to also pull me to mine. “After the challenge, we will help you research what it could possibly be before we go home. We will also research what could have possibly kept my aura from being able to help you. I need to be able to use my aura against him, so if there is a way to make that happen, we need to take it because if he’s as strong as you say he is and going feral, we are going to need everything we can use against him at our disposal.”
I nodded. “Yes. Thank you for being willing to help me.”
He gripped my elbow to stop me from going inside the house. “Tell me, Giselda, what exactly do you want to happen?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“To Annie and Gerald? Are you going to kill them?” He pressed as Scarlett put her hand on my arm, surrounding me with her aura to keep Gerald’s from taking me to the ground again.
“No. I want Annie to be with Logan and to be our Alpha Sow. I want Gerald to stop being so crazy over her and let her be happy with Logan.” I looked away. “As much as I say I wouldn’t give him a chance, it doesn’t stop me from loving him. I did mate with him after he turned his back on me. That’s how he was able to mark me.” I wiped a tear off my cheek. “We can’t tell Logan yet. Not until we can break Gerry's control over me and Logan. I am not sure if anything will be able to help him if Gerry’s aura is triggered. That’s why you have to trust me with how this has to go.”
Scarlett nodded. “Okay. Just don’t shut us out. We don’t want to lose either of them.” We began to walk again before Scarlett stopped abruptly. “Wait!”
I met her eyes. “Yes?”
“Speaking of mating, do you know if Gerald and Annie have mated with each other?” She asked.
I cleared my throat as I lowered my eyes away from hers again. “They have yes.”
Osprey let out a ferocious growl that made my knees quiver with my fear, threatening to make my legs buckle.
“What is it, ‘Sprey?” Scarlett said, clearly rattled.
“The last time that Annie came home, Mom said that she had a temporary mark. When Mom asked Annie about it, she said that it was from the wolf she was dating. I bet you it was Gerry’s temporary mark.” His eyes widened before he yanked Scarlett away from me to bury his face in her neck. “FUCK!”
“What’s wrong?” Scarlett asked, starting to run her hands over his back. “What’s wrong?”
He raised his head to look down into her eyes, and even a blind man could have seen the sadness and anger in his eyes. “That day I attacked you,” he whispered, his voice full of heartbreak.
She stiffened in his arms. “What about it?” She replied cautiously.
“We were at Gerald’s and Annie’s house prior to that. What if whatever made my aura unable to work against his made it easier for him to aura me?”
Scarlett’s eyes widened while I stood beside them completely in the dark about what they were talking about.
“Do you think he would have aura’ed you to attack me?” She whispered.
Osprey’s eyes moved to me for the briefest second before going back to hers. “If Giselda is correct about Gerald auraing people to kill themselves or others on his behalf, then yes. I have no doubt that he would order me to hurt you if he thought you and I, or even just me, were a threat to whatever he was doing with Annie.”
She burst into tears as she threw her arms around his neck. “It makes sense,” she sobbed. “You would never hurt me. That day you acted out of character.”
I swallowed hard as I looked away, not wanting to intrude on their moment while they continued their soft conversation. When Scarlett finally calmed down, he picked her up, cradling her to his chest. He nodded his head toward the house before immediately walking up the stairs, obviously expecting me to follow him, which I did without any argument. He led me up to their guest room, where he got Scarlett settled on the bed with him sitting next to her, holding her hand. He tucked her hair behind her ear before lifting her hand to his lips.
“I love you, Letti. I swear to you that we will figure this out, and when we do, I will never allow you to be hurt again. I will never hurt you again.”
She tugged him down onto the bed next to her, wrapping herself around him. “I know, Osprey. I love you too.”
I cleared my throat lightly, anxious to be dismissed so I could get ready for the alpha challenge that was starting in less than thirty minutes. Osprey slowly turned his head to look at me.
“I need to know if there is a chance that both Gerald and Annie can be saved,” he told me.
“I don’t know, Alpha Osprey. If they both can’t be, I think we should focus on Annie. To be honest with you, I think Gerald might be too far gone, but Annie wants to be with Logan. After we break Gerry’s hold on Logan, we can go and get her and bring her back to Havana, where we can protect her.”
“I’m glad you agree, because even if he can be saved, I’m still going to kill him for making me hurt my mate. There is no other punishment for such a high crime.” He kissed Scarlett’s cheek. “He knew the risk he was taking, and yet he still took it. Brother, be damned. He’s dead.”