Chương 23: The revelation

Lowell

"We should leave this place before the retreat is over,'' Griffin tells me, and usually, I would be on board with that decision, but this time is different. There is something I look forward to, and I don't want to leave yet until I am sure what it is.

I know one thing, Col is not my mate, but he excites both me and my wolf. That is enough to keep him around. This started as a fun game, but it is anything but that.

There is nothing fun about this anymore.

I crave him unlike anything before. His eyes have been stuck in my mind since he left, and there is an ache in my chest, one that can only be soothed by his presence.

"We stay till the end." I shake my head as I take a bite of the meat on my plate.

Griffen raises a brow in confusion. "Because of the kid?"

He keeps calling Col a kid. If only he knew the things we did together. If only he knew just how much of an adult that man was.

I glare at him, going all protective of him. I glare at him. "Call him a kid one last time and I will rip your head to shreds."

His eyes widen, but he cowers in his seat. Ashina is seated on the other side of the chair, and she is watching us, but I don't know what she is thinking. "Stop staring at me," I tell her blatantly.

She rolls her eyes. "Is the kid Colin?'' she asks curiously. It is almost like she knows something that I don't.

"Colin who?"

She rolls her eyes. "Cut the bullshit, bro. Your scent was all over him this morning. I know you guys have been hanging out."

I shrugged, "I don't know what you are talking about."

I guess we haven't been as subtle as I thought.

"You always seem to be interested in the people I am interested in. Why is that brother?'' she questions curiously.

Ashina is a product of everything she has been through in life. Everyone sees her and thinks she is an angel. They think she is the perfect little girl that can do no harm, but I know her. I know that things can be deceiving, and I see these things clearly. There is a lot of hate inside her, hate that comes from her childhood. Hate comes from our parents. There is nothing I can do to fix her because I am just as messed up as she is.

My relationship with her is nonexistent, and I don't plan to make it better. We are irreconcilable because I chose that.

I don't plan on changing things any time soon.

"I don't know what the fuck you are talking about, sis, so why not just stick to your food?" I look away from her, but I see the gleam in her eyes before. She is up to something, but I don't know what that is.

"I think I've found my mate,'' she mutters, and both I and Griffin turn to her immediately, shocked at her words. I don't want to think about why she could be telling me this, but there is a part of me that is full of dread.

"Good for you.''

She watches me. She is waiting for a reaction, but I will not give her that. I would rather choke on my meat than do that.

"You don't even want to know who it is?"

I shake my head.

I have no interest in her life or the things that go through her head.

I don't even want to think about that thought, but it is there, looming.

Fuck.

She stands up before I get another word out of her, and I watch her leave the field.

"What is she rambling on about now?" Griffin scowls as we both watch her disappear. I ignore him because I don't even want to focus any attention on her. I don't care about the things that happened with Ashina. Yeah, I know she is hinting that Col is her mate, but he would have known by now if she was. I mean, he wouldn't be in my bed, he wouldn't come running to me.

I don't have anything to worry about.

My nostrils flare up as Col's scent fills me up completely. I look up immediately and I see him as he walks over to a table. He is dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of cargo shorts that appear to be stretching over his body. His legs are strong and very lightly muscled. His hair is messy, almost like he didn't even bother to brush it in place. Everything about this man calls out to me.

"Fuck," I cover my hands with my face as I try to look away from him. My heart is aching. He is so close to me but so far away.

I don't know what is going on, but I feel a possessiveness that is making me lose my mind. I want to get up from this table and walk over to him. I want to claim him and possess him in front of all these people.

I am losing my self-control. I am not going to do this here in front of all of these people. People that I hate. His fucking Fathers are next to him.

My wolf has never been this awake.

My heart has never been this alive.

"What the fuck is going on with me?" I talk to no one in particular, but Griffin chooses to respond to my question.

"His dick must be magic or something," he laughs at his own joke.

I glare up immediately because he is taking the piss right now and I have all this pent up frustration and testosterone bubbling up. "Fucking say something else," I warn him.

Colin chooses this moment to stand up, and it is almost like he doesn't even notice me. He hasn't even looked at me once.

I watch him as he goes in the same direction that Ashina went, and all the anger that I have inside me comes out at once.

I don't even know what I am thinking, but it is the worst.

Her words ring up as I watch him disappear.

He is mine.

I can't let her have him.