Truth and emotions

“Roman as in your “just” doctor?'', Casper growled. My body reacted, goosebumps spreading all over as I tried not to shudder.

It was Nicolas who spoke again, “You agreed to be a marked mate even though you had a mate” His brows furrowed deep and his full lips parted slightly. His green eyes closed when I looked at them. Hurt. He is deeply hurt.

“This is not okay”, Valerino's nostrils flared with subtle anger, radiating off of him.

“I met Roman after I agreed to be a marked mate,” I say trying to make this situation any better.

“Why didn't you tell anyone then?”Angelo's voice slightly rose. I can clearly see he is angry but within those deep blue eyes, I can see hurt too.

Luciano scoffs at me. "What kind of Royal Beta family is this?" He comes from a long line of Betas from his pack. Out of all of us, I can say he is the only one in all of us with natural beta qualities. I can clearly understand the disappointed looks he is giving me now.

Biting back the shame, my eyes find Angelo, trying to explain, but Ren abruptly stands and shouts while approaching me, catching me off guard.

"This is ridiculous. Your pack lies to us, manipulates us and nobody even noticed that this little bitch has been fucking with us too. I say we end this now and make them pay."

Growls filled the room and tension grew. He called me a bitch, it hurt, but it will never compare to the hurt and betrayal I am putting them through.

"Woah, slow down," said Julian, putting a hand on Ren's chest to stop him from advancing towards me. "We don't know the whole story. Let's not jump to conclusions.”

The sound of breathing got louder, and I was trying to control my emotions from going haywire.

Zico immediately went to talk to Ren to calm him down. As we are werewolves and the emotions of the higher rank affect the lower rank, Ren’s emotions started to affect us and Zico is making him calm down.

I panted as I looked in awe, Zico got the last place, but Ren's emotions aren't affecting him somehow.

Suddenly the sound of glass breaking made me flinch and everyone alert. Looking at where the sound came from, I saw Casper growling loudly, his grip on the mug tight and it was in two pieces, hot chocolate spilled over his hand. He hisses in pain.

One moment he is losing it all, then the next I quickly lead him to the kitchen sink, running cold water over his hand. I gently examine his hand, furrowing my brow as I see a clear angry pink sheen forming on his skin. "Wait here," I mumble, grabbing the first aid kit from the cabinet.

My years spent taking care of pups have taught me a lot, especially when it comes to dealing with their antics on a daily basis. I've had to nurse many of them back to health after they've gotten injured, so this came naturally to me when I saw Casper hurt. As I applied a thin layer of vaseline to his skin, I didn't realise the ten shocked eyes that were watching me.

I look up at Casper, from his strong tattooed arms to his sharp features. His full lips are drawn to a thin line and his blue eyes pierce my dull brown ones. Even in pain, he is looking like a Viking King. Suddenly, he pulls away from me and I realise I was still holding his hand.

“Taylor,” Nicolas says. Surprised? Shocked? I can't tell. I look up at him and he towers over me several inches. On normal days, he would remind me so much of Roman, with his green eyes and tan skin but right now, he just seems like Nicolas to me.

He gently takes my chin with his thumb and index finger, his voice seems so distant when he says, “How did you do that?”

“Do what?” My eyes seek out Greyson out of instinct, who is looking at me silently.

“How did you manage to walk so fast? One second we are all here and the next, you and Casper are in the kitchen,” Valerino says surprised, all the anger washed away from him.

“I don't understand”, I tell Casper who is watching me with a look of disgust.

Gilbert seems to be thinking hard, his roaring red eyes biting at me, "Your father believes you are somehow involved in the attacks yesterday. Are you?" His eyes turn completely red as he looks at me, waiting for an answer

Nicolas rubs his thumb on my chin, encouraging me to speak. "It's not true," I say, my voice small. I don't know what just happened, but something tells me this isn't good.

“How do we believe anything that comes off your mouth,” Ren says with a straight face. “You lied to us about Roman. Who's to say you're not lying to us about this too” at the mention of Roman’s name or the fact that Ren put me on his radar, I do not know but Nicolas' thumb stopped moving and kept me behind him.

Julian strode to Nicolas and me. Placing his hand on my small back he said, “I understand if you got caught up in the emotions of finding your mate and wanted to keep it to yourself for a while. If you both want to settle together, I assure you that you won't get any resistance from my side. Finding a mate is a boon; some of us have wanted it for a very long time and I understand that finding your mate and having all these obligations make you think you can't be together with him. You did well by telling us”

My breathing got erratic and sounded relieved at the same time. Julian is the only one apart from Greyson who understood me. Even though his thoughts on this are wrong.

“Let's not overwhelm her, guys”, It was Zico who said that, “let her explain first” He took my small frame in his arms, away from Nicolas and Julian. He guided me towards the couch I had sat on earlier.

Reluctantly all the boys follow us and take their seats. I looked at them and began to explain, “I don't know how I walked that fast but let me tell you from the start. I was 18 when I first started searching for my mate. I searched for a whole year until the war broke out and I was ordered to come back home. I searched every pack but still couldn't find him. I knew he was alive though, I could feel it in my bones."

At my sudden pause, Zico started to rub comforting circles on my back. Taking strength from him, I continued.

"After the war ended, I didn't search for him again because the thought of him being dead was too much to bear. So instead, I started working at a pup care which helped me be content for a while. But then my health started deteriorating and no doctor could figure out why. That's when my father stepped in and said that I needed a mate so that I wouldn't die. Reluctantly, I agreed and met Roman."

Everyone started growling at the mention of his name. I looked around at everyone, saying the most important part.

"He was the doctor who was supposed to oversee my health and make sure that I looked healthy when meeting you guys for the first time. Roman told me that I was his second chance mate and everything finally clicked into place”

If I close my eyes, maybe the tears will stop falling. I've been so strong until now and breaking down would not be good at this point. “He didn't accept me, he didn't reject me either. He is in love with his dead mate and left the pack. Or at least, that's what I thought.”

It was silent for a long time, everyone was contemplating the situation at hand.

Greyson finally broke it by saying, “I know how it seems. She is lying about her mate. But we too have our own stories to share. Some of us had second-chance mates too, some watched our mates die right in front of us, and some of us rejected and got rejected. It is her story."

With a shrug, he added, "Good thing is, no offence love, that pillock is no longer here.”

“No offence taken”, I smile at him. My first genuine smile after a long time.

“But it changes everything. She didn't get rejected”, Julian interrupted my happy moment. "Yes, it does", Zico said. "But it wouldn't be a problem if they didn't interact physically. As Roman didn't want you from the start, he didn't unintentionally accept the bond through physical intimacy"

"Right?" Nicolas's eyes look at me with desperation. Intimacy….I kissed him and he kissed me back. It was a moment of desperation. To feel your mate first and last time before he leaves.

Luciano shook his head in disbelief, touching his brows with his thumb and index finger. "You've got to be kidding me," he roared.

"We're doomed," Casper said, shaking his head. "We should mark her - whose mate is alive, who bonded with him and didn't get rejected?”

"No need for that, Casper," Greyson's voice was slow and calculating. Just as he promised, he is taking my side and being with me every step of the way. But I couldn't help thinking that this was it – the night would turn into a disaster. First, Ren lost it then Casper and now almost everyone?