.Chapter 23-3
Clar
“I don’t know,” Dash shrugged, sharing a confused look with Simone. He still hadn’t released her,
which was making my lycan pace frantically in my head.
My beautiful Simone.
She looked absolutely perfect. My memory hadn’t done her beauty justice at all. Her honey-colored hair was longer now, falling in waves past her waist, and there was a glow to her skin that made the empty space where my heart used to be hurt with longing. But she was pointedly trying to ignore me, I realized, keeping her gaze fixed anywhere but on my face.
That hurt more than I’d expected. I’d dreamed of this moment for months, imagined what it would be like to see her again, and she wouldn’t even look at me.
Finn came from behind me and patted my shoulder. “I think I know what happened.”
They all looked at him expectantly, but I kept staring at Simone. I couldn’t fucking help myself. After everything, she was real and here and breathing the same air as me. I was tempted to throw her over my shoulder and fucking run with her where no one could find us. The mate bond that she’d tried to sever was quietly humming, making my skin tingle with awareness.
“You saw her struggling, didn’t you?” Finn asked me, bringing me back to present.
I just growled in answer, not trusting my voice to remain steady. Dash laughed out loud. “You’re a real knight, dude. No need to get your panties twisted. We were just playing around.”
“Playing?” I snarled, scowling at him. The idea of anyone playing rough with Simone made my blood boil. Who the fuck did he think he was…?
“She doesn’t need rescuing,” Dash said with obvious amusement. That fucking asshole- “This is my little sister, Simone.”
Oh, shit.
I fought my own body to stop from reacting visibly to that revelation. My friend was my mate’s brother? The universe had one fucking hellish sense of humor. No wonder I’d felt drawn to Dash during our travels. He was family, even if we didn’t know it yet. My brother-in-law. I almost snorted
at the thought.
“And this is my father, Troy,” Dash continued, pointing to the middle-aged man standing next to
them.
My mate’s father and brother. I was making a damn fool of myself, trying to protect my mate from her own family. Fuck. I wanted them to like me, which was going to be infinitely harder now that I’d
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Chapter 23-3
just threatened their pack heir.
I cleared my throat and faced Troy directly, forcing my posture to become less aggressive.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said, extending my hand in a gesture of peace. “I thought your daughter was trying to get away from an unwanted advance. My name is Kane Vayne.”
Clam
Troy shook my hand with a firm grip, but I could see him studying my face carefully. His eyebrow lifted as he narrowed his eyes, clearly recognizing the surname.
“Vayne?” he repeated, and I could hear the suspicion creeping into his voice.
I could feel everyone in the room behind us going quiet, conversations dying as people turned to
listen to our exchange. Everyone was paying attention now, which meant there was no backing
down from this moment.
“Yes,” I said, turning around to face the entire room. My voice carried clearly through the space as I
made the declaration that would change everything. “I’m the king of Aerith Kingdom. Kellan Vayne
is my son.”
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