“What happens when it’s time for us to go home?”
“I’m taking them back with me.”
“Bloody hell. Are you trying to get us all killed? You were excommunicated from your Clan, Baine, over that girl. What is it about her that has your head so screwed up?”
I smirked. “She’s my true mate, Silas. I’ve loved her my entire life and there is no way in hell I’m giving her up now that I know. Plus, we have a kid together and she’s pretty great.”
“I didn’t even think you liked kids,” Ben said.
“Not particularly, but I like this one. She’s a little smartass, just like her dad,” I said proudly.
Olivia
Chapter 10
I didn’t know that watching him leave would hurt so much. It felt like a piece of my heart was literally ripped from my chest. I had a small glimmer of hope that my father might still be alive, but that paled in comparison to watching Baine walk away.
He said he would be back. I had to hold on to that.
Logically, I now knew that he had never left me, and that he had been forced to leave.
“He’ll be back, Mom. Have a little faith.”
I wish I had even half of her optimism, but heartbreak from the last time he walked away from me was too close to the surface, fresh wounds cut open from seeing him back here after all these years.
Mate, my bear whined.
“I’m not sure anything or anyone will keep him from coming back here, Liv.”
I looked up at my brother, surprised by his comment. There was a hint of hope in his voice. I couldn’t understand it after all he had done, but in that moment, it was easy to remember that Baine had once been his best friend too.
“Come on, let’s go. I’m not even sure I locked up the shop.”
“You were a little distracted,” Killian teased.
I could tell he was trying but there was still tension in the air between us. Macie reached up and took my hand, and then his, as if she was sensing it too and trying to bridge that gap between us.
Just before we rounded the corner to my shop Killian stopped and turned to us both.
“I really owe you two an apology.”
“Why?” Macie asked. “What did you do this time?”
“I’m talking about what happened with Baine and why he left.”
“Oh, yeah, you really screwed that one up, but it was a long time ago,” she said matter-of-factly.
I smiled down at my daughter. She was so optimistic and young. It wasn’t going to be quite so easy for me to fully forgive him. I was pretty sure I was still in shock over the news. Finding out Baine was my true mate and knowing the time we lost was devastating if I let myself think about it. At some point I knew I needed to mourn those years and move on if we were ever going to get past this. I couldn’t control what happened, neither could Baine.
I knew now that it wasn’t his fault, but I’d always suspected something like that had happened. I never blamed him for leaving. I also had never even considered that my father and brothers had been the ones behind it all. It was the kind of betrayal I wasn’t sure I could ever allow myself to fully face.
“Say something, Liv. I screwed up. I was young and so angry. He was supposed to be my best friend. He was supposed to look after you, not take advantage of you like that.”
I sighed. “If only you had respected me enough to actually talk to me about it then you would know that he never took advantage of me, Kill.”
He looked down at Macie. “I think we both know that’s not true.”
I groaned. “You’re not listening to me. I’ve been in love with Baine Landry for as far back as I can remember. I tricked him into kissing me for my sixteenth birthday. He told me I was too young. He tried to stay away, but I didn’t let him. He didn’t come after me, Killian. If anyone seduced anyone, it was me seducing him, not the other way around. We were in love. He struggled with our age gap and I kept reminding him that as soon as my bear surfaced it wouldn’t matter. I’d be of age and no one could say anything. He wanted to wait. I didn’t. I can be very convincing when I want to be.”
He grimaced because he knew how true that was. “What have I done?”
“The past is in the past. I can’t handle the negative energy required to be angry about it. I can’t entirely forgive you for it yet, but I know that in some really screwed up way you thought you were just protecting me.”
“You still love him, don’t you?”
“I’ve always loved him, Killian. I always will. I never for one second thought he left on his own. I always knew something bad had to have happened. He would never have just left me like that.”
“You’re that confident in him? Even after all this time?”
I smiled. “If I’d had any doubts whatsoever, they were laid to rest after seeing him today.”
“What’s it like finding your one true mate?” He groaned. “I can’t even believe I just said that. Baine is your one true mate. That’s insane, Liv. I wouldn’t have kept you from a true mate. I couldn’t have known. You know that, right?”
I nodded. “We didn’t even know. Honestly, I think I’m probably the most shocked by that at this moment.”
“Well, I think it’s romantic,” Macie said in a dreamy voice. “It’s like a fairytale in one of my books.”
“You do, do you?” I smiled at her. “Come on, let’s go lock up and pick up a pizza. We can talk more at home or just go on a movie binge.”
“You mean I don’t have to go back to school today?”
I scoffed. “I think we both could use a day off.”
We rounded the corner, and I came up short. Outside of Olive’s was a group huddled around the door. My cousins.
I groaned. “What are they doing here?”
“Is it true?” Tori demanded.
“What?”
“The whole Clan’s talking about how Baine Landry’s back in town and parading you and Macie up and down Main Street,” Felix said.
“Oh Lord, get in here now before you stir up even more rumors,” I said fumbling with the door to my shop as quickly as possible.
Once finally inside, I ushered my family in and shut the door, then pulled the blind down on the front door. It didn’t help much since I didn’t have any blinds over the two large picture windows, but it somehow made the space feel a little more private to me.
A few minutes later Kano was banging on the door.
“Come on in,” I said as I greeted him. “Might as well join the party.”
“Hey, what is going on here? I don’t like hearing half the Clan gossiping about my baby sister.”
I groaned and flopped down into one of the chairs as I let it twirl me around.
“What is everyone saying?”
“That Baine is back to claim you,” Resa blurted out.
“That’s not true,” Kano insisted. “He’s here to help find our father. That’s it. He swore to me he wouldn’t even come near you.”
Macie squirmed and tried to back out of the room.
“Freeze young lady,” I said.