I bolted up, hands balled, and paced back and forth. Past conversations rolled by on the train track that was my brain, appearing and disappearing, new ones sweeping past like the carriages of a steam locomotive.
I’d told himI needed a ladder to climb my mate…to climbhim! A ladder!
Oh, no…
When I slapped myself on the cheeks, Lachlan stood, taking my hands in his. “What’s wrong, Yvaine?”
And when Rudolph had told me he loved his mate, that she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen and how he hadn’t paid attention to anyone since the day he’d met her, he had been referring to me! Me! Yvaine, myself, and I.
“Oh my freaking capers!”
Logan had said his mate had cheated on him with someone else because she didn’t know they were mates! I covered my face. Logan had felt the pain of me being with Sillas.
I was going from blushing to crying, from laughing to angry so fast that Lachlan must’ve had an emotional headache bigger than mine.
“Why would you have called him gigantic, and what does it have to do with a ladder?” Lachlan was puzzled. “If it’s a fetish, Yvaine, don’t tell me.”
I went to touch my neck, as a habit and reassurance, only to realize that I no longer had the necklace. If I decided to talk to Logan again, how could I look him in the eye after all the awkward things I’d told “Rudolph” about Logan?
Things to Logan about Logan himself!
I sat and buried my face in my knees, groaning.
My guess was he first realized he’d found his mate when he felt pain during my date with Sillas. My photo would’ve just confirmed my identity. Though…he already knew who I was because I’d told him my real name, that Lachlan was my twin.
I always looked for answers. Now? Questions piled up in my brain.
“I knew that hooded guy smelled familiar,” Lachlan growled, pursing his lips. “Like rotting beans! Back at the party. I saw you with him, dancing and smiling like you were radiating light.” He pretended to vomit. “I just feel like the shittiest brother. I should have connected that you found your mate!”
He glanced at me, looking apprehensive.
“How?” I laughed, pressing the back of my head against the seat.
He scoffed. “You’re never likethatwith guys.”
I opened my mouth but was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. Lachlan reached out. Uncle Andrew’s name flashed across the screen. We pondered whether we should answer. We didn’t.
“Did you, um, tell them about our plans?”
Lachlan shook his head. “I just told Dad we’re going back to Inverness. He insisted on talking to you, even used his Alpha voice on me. Good thing you were sleeping.”
The boarding started, and we took our seats on the flight.
“Oh, Stephen.” I covered my mouth. “Remember the chest pain I felt almost every day?”
Understanding crossed his sky-blue eyes, and Lachlan growled.
“I’m going to murder him this time, I swear. I’ll pass my claws over a knife sharpener first.”
I grabbed his fist, shaking my head, peeling it open like a crumpled piece of paper. “He didn’t know I was his mate.”
“How do you know for sure?” Lachlan was just warming up, his voice rising. “What if he knew all along and just pretended, just to play you?” His eyes darkened, and his posture became aggressive. “The boy’s a joker, a cheat!”
His hand slammed against the seat in front of him; the passenger’s gasp went ignored.
“Do you know how many girls have cried over him and his idiotic friends?” He ran a hand over my cheek in a gentle way, quite the opposite of his emotional state. Only then did I realize the tears had started again. “They’re just a bunch of stupid, immature boys who love hunting and collecting females.”
However, I hadn’t felt any more chest pain since… I frowned, squeezing my brain and trying to remember when the pain in my chest had ended.
