Page 25 of Glass
“What? Where is he?” I knew I should have been suspicious when he didn’t follow me to the other campground, or even come looking for me when I was gone for hours with Shelby.
“He’s dealing with an issue with a pack member,” Doc says diplomatically, but it’s too late now. If Felix were dealing with routine Alpha stuff, Doc wouldn’t have hesitated. Luckily for me, Doc’s nervousness gets the better of him. He swings his gaze toward his left and then quickly back to me as if catching himself.
I slip my hand out of Shelby’s, ignoring Doc as he sputters and tries asking for my help with Jacob in a bad attempt to keep me there.
There doesn’t seem to be anyone in the next campsite; I pause long enough to listen, making sure there isn’t sound coming from inside the tents. It makes my stomach churn, but the reality is sinking in that I don’tknowmy mate. I swallow the bad feelings rising up my throat and keep moving.
I don’t make it far.
I pause at the edge of the next campsite as I take in Felix and the woman clinging to his arm. Her hair is pulled back in a long ponytail that swishes around her as she animatedly talks to Felix, who seems to be listening intently.
My wolf snarls deep in my chest, and I clench my fists as I strain to fight against the instinct to shift. I want nothing more than to be in the comfort of my wolf form to approach them, but doing so would put the kids’ safety at risk.
Put the kids first.
It goes against everything the mate bond stands for, but after a moment, I manage to calm myself and place Felix firmly below the kids in my priorities. It’s easier to face what I’m seeing then.
The woman strokes his chest fondly, and he does nothing to stop her. I wouldn’t say he’s encouraging it, exactly, but he isn’t pushing her off of him either.
The man wears my mark on his neck—and I can smell the shifter on her—there’s no excuse for stepping on someone’s mate bond like this. It’s not appropriate, and I don’t care how she came to be part of The Lost, she should still know that.
“Felix.” His name rolls off my tongue in a deceptively calm, soft voice. He hears me loud and clear even from fifty feet away, though, raising his chin and looking at me with his face completely void of expression. If his lips didn’t purse slightly, I would think he somehow managed to look right through me.
“This is her?” the woman asks.
Her. As if I’m the other woman here, the one who’s come to scorn her. “Who are you?” I ask, no trace of softness left in my voice.
She looks at Felix instead of answering me, and I scoff loudly.
My mate finally seems to realize that the woman’s hand is still lingering possessively on his chest. He grabs her wrist and removes it, that same blank look on his face as he shakes his head at her. I expected… so much more.
I turn and flee blindly in the first direction I land on—away from camp and away from Felix.
“Dammit, Poppy, wait.” His footsteps follow me as I break into a panic-induced jog. I don’t dare look back and see how close he is for fear of falling and making an even bigger fool out of myself.
My mind spins almost as quickly as my heart is beating. I’m putting too much distance between my siblings and me; but no matter how much my brain tries to work to convince me to stop and turn around, it’s just not happening. Too much of my wolf has taken over, leaving me in a blind panic about the reality that my mate might be unfaithful.
I don’t know what people do in situations like this. If only my phone wasn’t back at camp, I would call Tasha and ask for some of her special Luna Sovereign brand of wisdom.
Can I reject a mate even after we’ve both marked the other? It seems unlikely, but I won’t know until I ask.
“Would you stop for a minute,” Felix finally growls, apparently deciding he’s had enough of playing cat-and-mouse across the Blackwoods Campground. He grabs me by the waist and jerks me against him, tightening his arms across my midsection so I’m imprisoned in his grasp.
“I don’t want to talk to you.” I try to stomp his foot but he doesn’t so much as flinch.
“Too damn bad,” he mutters, squeezing me tighter, “because I want to talk to you.”
I’m not sure what he could possibly want to say. “I just want to take my siblings and go,” I tell him, my voice hoarse as my mouth goes dry.
Now he flinches.
“I think you misunderstood how all of this works.” He sucks in a ragged breath as I fight to control my erratic heart rate. “Your siblings belong to The Lost, there’s no way to take them away from the pack once they’ve joined. And you, Poppy, are marked. There’s no leaving me now that we’re bonded.”
I puff out a disbelieving laugh. “You might be in chargehere, Felix, but your word isn’t law. The Luna Sovereign will have something to say about you holding my family—and me—hostage.”
“The Luna Sovereigns don’t care about The Lost. If they did, they would have intervened generations ago.” He sounds so sure of himself, and a thrill runs through me knowing I get to burst his bubble. I know something he doesn’t.
“That might have been true before, but the current Luna Sovereign, Tasha Jarreau, is my brother’s mate.”