Xo Novel
Chapter 28
Chapter 28
Chapter 28: Theo
“Briggs,” I ordered, “tell me you found her.”
He made a face. “I found her,” he said shortly. “She’s alive and she’s safe. We should leave it at that.”
I didn’t like what he was saying. There was something he didn‘ t want me to know, and now wasn’t the time to try my patience. Or Kieran’s. He was pacing in my head, ready to command Briggs to tell us everything he knew about Ayla.
“So she is in Sablemane territory?” I pushed. “Did you talk to her? Do you know where she’ll go next? A rogue won’t be able to stay in pack lands for long.”
“She will be safe.”
“How?” I wanted to know what he was keeping from me. “Did you talk to her?”
“Why does it matter, Theo?” Briggs asked calmly.
“Because it matters, Briggs.”
He sat there watching me for a few minutes, weighing his words carefully, which didn’t put me any more at ease. Finally, he sighed and started to talk.
“Ayla is with the Sablemane Pack. She was in a car accident in their territory and was taken to the closest hospital. Her injuries were pretty bad. She was in the hospital for four days.”
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Chapter 28: Theo
So she definitely wasn’t healing. Dasha hadn’t returned to her.
“Theo, someone has taken an interest in her,” Briggs said.
My focus snapped to attention, my mind now only on my
mate.
“What do you mean ‘taken an interest?‘ Who?”
“She’s staying with Alpha Kingston. He made it clear to me that she is under his protection. She won’t be a rogue for much longer,” Briggs said.
“He’s bringing her into the pack?” I shot up from my seat. “Why the f*** does he care? Why is she staying with him?”
“I don’t know.”
“What kind of interest does he have in her?”
“He didn’t exactly share that with me,” Briggs said.
“Then how do you know?” I yelled.
“His behavior made it pretty obvious. He wants her,” Briggs explained. “And he made sure I would give you the message to forget about her and leave her alone.”
“Excuse me?” I hissed. My whole body was tense with the rage and jealousy coursing through me.
“I’m just saying what I witnessed, Theo.”
“But did you talk to her? How do you know he’s not keeping her there against her will?” My chest was on fire. My wolf was going insane in my head, not knowing which situation would be worse.
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Chapter 28: Theo
“I spoke to her myself,” Briggs said. “I met with her at his private lodge.”
He saw her. He actually saw her. “How did she look? Did she seem scared?”
“No,” Briggs confirmed confidently. “She was beat the hell up from the accident. But she was perfectly comfortable with her surroundings. She was there by choice.”
Did that mean she was interested in Kingston? Did she want another Alpha?
Kieran was howling. I turned my back to Briggs as I clutched at my chest.
“What does it matter, Theo? What are you going to do? Drive her out of Sablemane because someone likes her? Are you really going to be so cruel as to force her to be alone the rest of her life?”
He was getting upset now. And he was right. What was I going to do? Even if I could get her away from Kingston, what would that do? It would make me the bastard Briggs was saying it would. But I still couldn’t get the image of someone else’s hands on Ayla out of my head. Or ignore the way my gut twisted at picturing it.
“The way I see it, this wraps this whole mess up conveniently,” Briggs said. “You have enough to put her family at ease and she’s out of the picture. If you really don’t want her, that should be enough.”
“Of course I want her,” I blurted out without thinking. I shook my head. “Kieran wants her. Between him and the mate bond, it’s hard to keep a part of me from wanting her.”
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Chapter 28: Theo
“Or maybe you just want her anyway.”
“What? No,” I said, pushing my hands through my hair. “Even if I did, it doesn’t change who she is or what she’s done.”
“And who is that, Theo?” Briggs asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because I have to say, the woman I met wasn’t the same person we’ve been told about.”
I threw myself back in my armchair.
“Has Kylee been living up to who you thought she was?” Briggs asked gently. “I heard she was MIA when everything was going down today.”
“I’ve already addressed that with her,” I said. “She’s young. She knows she made a mistake.”
“Have you?”
His question wasn’t accusatory. It wasn’t lined with anger or disappointment. It was genuine and full of concern and caring. A lump formed in my throat.
“I don’t know anymore,” I answered.
“Do you want to talk it through?”
I rubbed my hands over my face. This had turned into such a mess. And it hurt like hell.
“I guess I felt ambushed,” I finally said.
“When?”
“When I met Ayla,” I told him. “I was there with the woman I had just announced would be my chosen mate and Luna. I
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was meeting her family for the first time. We hadn’t been in the house for two minutes and there she was.”
“Ayla?” Briggs asked.
I nodded. “She was incredible, Briggs. For a minute, I… I don’t know. It was like I felt complete. But then I realized that she was Kylee’s sister.”
“But why reject her in the first place, Theo? Why not talk to her first? Kylee would have gotten over it eventually. Ayla’s your fated mate. It’s not like…”
“She didn’t want me, Briggs,” I rushed out. “She didn’t want me. So I made things easier for all of us.”
“Wait,” Briggs said. “Theo, are you saying you rejected her just so she couldn’t reject you first?”
I didn’t respond.
“Fuck, Theo. Of all the times for your stupid pride.”
“It wasn’t about pride, Briggs. I thought it would hurt less if | made the decision. That I’d be able to move on knowing I chose to walk away, rather than knowing she did.”
“But you didn’t know that she would,” Briggs yelled, jumping to his feet. “You have no idea what her reasons were for accepting the rejection. What about when you went back? What exactly triggered her to cut her ties?”
“I told her what Kylee told us about her. It hurt her – deeply.”
“Well, guilt can do that. Even if Ayla never intentionally hurt Kylee, finding out the consequences of your actions can still be painful,” Briggs said, pacing the floor.
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Chapter 28: Theo
I closed my eyes, swallowing the lump forming in my throat again. I had to face what I had been ignoring since that day.
“What?” Briggs asked.
“There was no guilt in her eyes, Briggs,” I said quietly. “There was no shame. Just… pain, and confusion, and sadness. She didn’t understand, Briggs. She didn’t understand why Kylee would say those things.”
“Theo, I told you we didn’t know everything.” Briggs returned to his seat. “I think it’s time we looked further into Ayla.”
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Chapter 29. Kingston