Chapter 63


    63. The Treehouse


    ***Agnes***


    smell his scent nearby, my wolf impatiently wagging her tail for him toe inside the house and speak


    to us. But after finding out


    who he is to me, I do not wish to see him anytime soon.


    There’s a tap on my shoulder and I turn to find Zane watching me closely, his hair still wet from his


    shower.


    “What’s on your mind?” he signs.


    I try to brush him off but he insists.


    “You’ve been stirring the steak sauce with the stove off for 10 minutes now,” he argues with a soft smile.


    “What’s wrong?”


    “How is Talia handling her wolf and mark? Don’t think I didn’t see it,” I tease him, changing the subject.


    Zane blushes and timidly hides his red face from me, likely mumbling something under his breath. He


    turns back to me when he


    calms his blush down.


    “Whatever it is that’s bothering you, you can tell me,” Zane signs. “I still have time for you.”


    For a brief moment, my heart feels full but I cannot be selfish with his love. His mate and his pup should


    be his priority.


    “Take care of your family and I will be okay,” I smile, Zane’s eyes growing sad.


    “But you are my family,” He retorts. “I can take care of you too.”


    His words overwhelm my heart but I know he will not let this go until he is sure I am okay.


    “I’ll tell you when I am ready. I’m just not ready right now.”


    My reply seems to upset him but as always, he respects my wishes and drops the matter entirely, instead


    taking the saucepan from


    my hands and helping me set the table.


    I feel the floors vibrate beneath my feet as Dakota stomps down the hall. He’s started to stomp more


    around me to make his


    presence known or catch my attention and it makes me so happy he cares enough to do that.


    As I reach for the dinner tes, I feel Dakota pull at my pant leg. When I look down at him, he signs the


    word ‘help’and holds out his


    little hands for me to give him the tes. They are much too heavy for him so I give him his own stic


    te and cup to carry to the table


    and he happily trots along and ces them at the head of the table.


    No one seems to have the heart to tell him that’s Zane’s ce and so the little boy ims the seat. Talia


    and Rionna help me bring


    the food to the table and as we all settle at our seats, Tylen appears down the hall. I freeze upon seeing


    him, unsure if I should run and


    hide or pretend my heart isn’t racing now that he’s so close.


    He’s much more handsome than Ist remember, his brown eyes containing speckles of amber and


    emerald when the light hits


    them. His dark hair, which is longer at the top and shorter on the sides, is messilybed upwards with


    a few stubborn strands hanging


    over his forehead. His clean shaven jaw is sharp and a pair of thick brows frame hisrge eyes that look


    directly at me. He wears a ck t-shirt, his arm tattoos on full disy.


    “I invited Tylen for dinner,” Rionna exins. “I hope that’s alright. He just needs his space from his father


    right now.”


    I force a smile on my face and silently nod as Tylen slides into the seat directly across from me. He signs


    hello but I pretend I don’t see


    him and pour myself a ss of wine instead.


    Dinner chat quickly begins, Zane signing the entire conversation for my benefit.


    “So Tylen…tell us about yourself…” Talia asks, Zane giving her a look of misery. “Do you have a mate?”


    Tylen steals a nce at me and turns back to Talia.


    “I’ve met her…but she doesn’t trust me,” Tylen replies both audibly and in sign. “I can’t say I me her.”


    “You met your mate and didn’t tell me?” Rionna res at Tylen, hurt flickering in her eyes. “How could


    you?”


    “It’s not for me to tell, ”Tylen argues. “I am respecting her privacy.”


    “If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t trust my mate in the beginning either,” Talia says as she pours


    juice for Kota. “I refused to let


    him in but he slowly tore down my walls and gave me his heart,” she adds with a smile. “Whoever your


    mate is, don’t give up on her. She


    might just be afraid of her own feelings. Give her time and patience and you’ll find a way to show her


    you’re worth opening up to.”


    Tylen eyes the ne on my neck and I ignore him once more, concentrating on cutting my steak.


    The silence which has always been my refuge is now ufortable and I find myself drowning in my


    memories. I miss my Damon


    and my Archie every day and that fact will never change, no matter who forces their way into my life.


    Not wanting to go down the painful road of my past, I look up again and find a new conversation taking


    ce, Zane still tranting


    for my sake. From the corner of my eye, I notice Tylen tranting as well, the kind gesture filling me with


    a warm fuzzy feeling,


    “I hear my father has offered you his pack, Zane,” Tylen signs, Talia sitting up straighter to give him her


    undivided attention. “I


    assume you have questions.”


    “Yes, I’d like to know why an Alpha would give up his pack?” Talia exins. “I’ve never met an Alpha, or


    wolf, to be honest, who


    would, so why would you?”


    Tylen does not answer right away, taking his time to formte an answer.


    “I’ve been on a battlefield from the time I could shift,”Tylen finally responds. “All my wolf and I have ever


    known is war. I live it, I


    dream it, I breathe it. It’s in my veins. Even my gift makes me a weapon of destruction. Rionna tried her


    best to keep me off the battlefield


    but my sense of duty always dragged me into battle. I had to be a warrior for my pack because that’s


    what they needed me to be. A


    soldier who could kill a man today and not lose an ounce of sleep over it. That’s what I became…and


    that frightens me. I fight because I


    have to….but I fear the day I fight because I want to. That’s not a good leader. That’s a monster in the


    making. My pack may need a


    ruthless soldier now, but it will not need another ruthless Alphater on. You may think it selfish for me to


    choose to abstain from my position when there is no heir left to take the title, but I think I’ve earned the


    right to walk away after all my years of service. My pack deserves a good Alpha…and unfortunately that


    is not whm.”


    “That’s very mature of you,” Talia replies. “It takes a true Alpha to realize his or her own limitations and I


    admire your courage to step


    away and create your own destiny.”


    Tylen’s eyes meet mine one more time, loneliness and fear darkening them and he looks away before


    anyone else notices.


    “Will Zane be epting my father’s proposal?” Tylen asks when there are no more questions for him.


    “I don’t know,” Zane signs. “How do I know I can trust him?”


    Tylen and Rionna exchange nces and it appears they share a few words via mindlink before Tylen


    has an answer.


    “My father isplicated,” Tn signs. “And while I have not forgiven him for what he did to Rionna


    and I…I am trying to


    understand him. He lost everything because of this war, his mate, his best friend, his throne. I imagine he


    feared losing everything again


    and kept Rionna’s past a secret for that reason, but he makes it very difficult to trust him sometimes. I


    don’t know. I can’t think of a


    reason for him to lie but I also wouldn’t put it past him to hide his true motive and have something up his


    sleeve.”


    He settles back in his seat with a shrug, but it seems the entire situation has left him unsettled. My wolf,


    Cynthia, bes restless as


    she senses Tylen’s turmoil and I struggle to restrain her.


    “Excuse me,” I sign, quickly getting up to leave.


    In desperate need of some peace and quiet, I take a walk outside with no destination in mind. My


    thoughts begin to race and I break


    into a sprint as I try to outrun them. Not long into my run, I stumble into a clearing and find arge tree


    house perched atop a majestic


    oak tree. It has a wrap around deck and steps built into the trunk for easy ess to the house. A tire


    swing hangs from one of the tree’s


    sturdy branches and I carefully climb onto it, swinging my legs to and fro while inhaling the fresh air to


    soothe my turbulent mind.


    Thave not felt butterflies in my belly since Damon stole a kiss from me the day he went off to war. I was


    so angry at him for leaving


    that I refused to kiss him back. It’s been 20 vears and I have still not forgiven myself. Had I only known it


    would best time I’d see him,


    would have savored hisst kiss and told him how much I loved being his Aggy.


    Now it seems the universe is mocking my pain, sending my son off to the same war that took my family


    and mating me to the son of the man who started it all.


    edge of the clearing, his eyes following me when I jump off the swing onto my feet.


    “This is a nice little space, isn’t it?” He signs, taking two steps into the clearing while I take two steps


    back and nearly bump into the


    tree trunk. Seeing my reaction he stops moving but continues speaking. “I found it the day you left me.”


    I want nothing more than to run and hide but I remain still and frozen in ce.


    “‘Is my family name the only objection you have for epting me as your mate?” he asks bluntly.


    I pinch my fingers at him, anger burning inside me at the audacity he has to think that that is my only


    objection.


    “I already had a mate,” I sign furiously. “And he was more than enough.”


    His brows furrow in anger, creating a shadow over his eyes and his lips press firmly into a frown.


    “So you refuse to ept me over something I have no control over?” He responds with annoyed


    enthusiasm. “That doesn’t seem very fair to me.”


    “Well neither is being mated to you!” I retort. “I did not ask to lose my family. I did not ask to be forced


    into exile. I did not ask to


    start a new life in the pack of the man I hate most in the world. I did not ask for any of this!”


    “Well, what do you want?” He signs angrily. “Do you want me to apologize for being the son of Toran


    Ravenstone? Do you want me


    to apologize for the sins of other Alphas? Let me remind you that you are not the only one who’s lost


    something because of this war. You


    are not the only person who’s mourned the death of your family!”


    I don’t know how to respond and fidget with my ne.


    “Tobias was more than just my cousin, he was my brother. We grew up together,” Tylen continues. “He


    was going to take the title on my behalf. We talked about it for years. That was the n,” he adds with a


    shrug. “But s**t happens.”


    He walks past me and takes a seat on the swing, letting out a tired sigh before nting his feet firmly on


    the ground.


    “We were on a mission. Undercover. Our job was to gather intel on Scarlett Haven’s underground tunnel


    system. We got caught.


    Tobias caused a distraction sond another soldier could escape. He never made it home. Sebastian


    tortured him and when he had had his fun, he gassed Tobias and sent the body to my aunt in pieces as a


    cruel gift.”


    There is no emotion in Tylen’s eyes as he exins the death of his cousin and it saddens me that he has


    grown ustomed to


    grotesque loss.


    “You may hate what my father and his rivals have done to each other and to us,” Tylen says as he


    stands. “But you don’t know me… and you have no right to judge me.”


    He walks back to the edge of the clearing, his back facing the trees and his eyes focused on me.


    “I have no reservations against being your mate,” Tylen exins. “But if you do, reject me now.”


    I don’t know how to respond and he holds up his hand and begins counting down.


    “5”


    My wolf paces back and forth anxiously and if I could hear her, I am sure she would be howling in


    distress.


    “4”


    My hands remain frozen at my sides and no matter how much I will them to move, I am unable to lift


    them up.


    “3”


    My heart begins to race and I feel a sudden tightness in my chest.


    “2”


    I can’t…


    “I”


    He holds my gaze for what seems like an eternity, expecting me to move or show signs of regret, but I


    say nothing. Very slowly, he


    lowers his hand and breaks the distance between us until he’s towering just a few inches from my face.


    He cups my cheeks in his rough hands, my face bursting with sparks I haven’t felt in two decades and


    presses his lips harshly against mine. Stunned, my instincts take over and my body rxes into his kiss.


    woods. I stare at the spot he had just upied, my mind inplete chaos.


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