“Because I lied to him.”
“Why would you do that? That’s not you.”
“I know. It’s a long story and I was stupid and afraid. You know I wasn’t eager to have a mate like Logan is. I always wanted to get my degree and join Frontline Doctors. It’s been my dream since I was a child.”
“But why couldn’t you do that and have a mate at the same time?”
“I can. However, when I found out about Ian, I’d just recovered from a near fatal fall and trust me, I wasn’t thinking straight. Everything was a jumble, my pow...” Colton stopped himself before he blurted out about his gift.
“Relax, I know about your gift. I overheard you and Jackson talking after you saved him. So you’re saying you lied because you were confused?”
“Yes…no. I woke up after the angel gave me his power and smelled this delicious scent. My cock hardened and all I could think of was finding its owner. I knew immediately it came from my mate. When I saw Ian, I fell in love instantly and all I could think of was claiming him. He was so thrilled he saved me I didn’t have the heart to tell him he didn’t.”
“But hedidsave you.”
“Yes, in a way he did. I was dying and when Ian bit me, he gave my wolf enough strength to survive until Archangel Raphael healed me. You’re right, Ian did save me, just not the way he thought.”
“So why didn’t you tell him that?”
“I don’t know. Looking back, I thought I was behaving as a mate should…you know, protecting my mate from unhappiness. And then there was my new power. I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to choose who would live and who would die. Oracle told me it wasn’t that way but I didn’t believe her. But you know what? She was right. Because when I was in the room with Jackson as he lay dying, it became so clear to me. I’d been looking at it all wrong. This power isn’t playing God and choosing who lives but it’s another weapon in my arsenal to save shifters, just like my natural healing ability. And that is who I am, and who I’ve always been and who I always will be.”
“That’s why I fell in love with you the first time I saw you,” a sleepy voice said.
“Oh Ian, I love you so much!” Colton said, bending down to kiss his mate.
“I’m leaving,” Cody said. “Everything you need for a couple of days is here. And I think this is as good as a place as any for you two to have a badly needed conversation.” Shifting, Cody disappeared into the shadows of the night.
Chapter 35
“Babe, I’m so sorry…” Colton began, before his mate interrupted.
“I heard everything you said to Cody and now I know why you kept your power a secret,” Ian said, wriggling an arm out of the blanket so he could touch his mate’s face. He loved Colton’s day-old scruff and wanted to feel it on his body. But before that could happen, he needed to tell Colton some things, too. “Darling, while I get it, I can’t have you making decisions based on how you think it will affect me. In Mexico, what mattered most to me was your survival. How you were saved didn’t matter…just as long as I could be with you.”
“I promise I won’t do that ever again,” Colton pledged. “We’re partners in this mating and we both deserve honesty from each other.”
“Yes, we do. And I’m sorry I ran off. I should have stayed and talked it out instead of throwing a hissy fit.”
“Ian, I deserved it because I lied to you. My parents, Jackson, and Cody knew I was a natural healer and they kept it from me. I was furious when I found out. What’s worse, knowing what it was like to be deceived, I should’ve known better than to do it to you,” Colton said, pausing to give his mate a deep and sensuous kiss, before continuing. “After you left, I thought about everything Oracle revealed to you about your past and imagined how I would feel if I were in your place.”
Then Ian said softly, “When Oracle gave me the trunk the other night, I wasn’t as surprised as you might have imagined. Throughout my childhood and into my adult life I had visions of the trunk, the crowns and a castle. When I asked my mother about them, she told me they were dreams and I should forget about them.
“But they weren’t dreams; instead they are memories of life with my birth parents. That’s why I was upset…not because of what Oracle told me, but that my parents…guardians, I guess would be more like it…knew who I was. And while I can understand the need to keep it secret when I was a child, why not tell me about it when I’d grown up…especially when it would answer questions that had troubled me my whole life?”
“You remember your birth parents?”
“Yes, I do. All my life I felt alone, but really didn’t know why. Now I do. When I left you, I was still trying to forgive the people who claimed to be my parents for lying to me all those years…and when you lied to me about using your natural healing on Jackson, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I felt betrayed by the one person on earth I thought would always be honest with me.”
“I’m so sorry, Ian. It will never happen again.”
“I believe you. I know you did it out of love and not to hurt me.”
Colton sat before the fire holding Ian, gently caressing his back through the blanket. “You know, babe, why don’t we go to Scotland? It might help you put some of these ghosts to rest and besides, you have a castle there.”
Ian’s face lit up. “That’s a great idea. Where would we go? Maybe where the smoky quartz that covered the trunk can be found? I seem to remember hearing about it. And of course, our castle and maybe the thrones are still there and we can sit on them, wearing the crowns and take selfies.”
Laughing, Colton agreed. “I could use the photos to tease my brothers.”
Ian nuzzled his nose against his mate’s neck, inhaling the scents of home. “Damn, now I know why I was homesick when Mystia removed the spell. You remind me of my real parents and Scotland. Your scent gives me a feeling of safety and security just like theirs always did. When I’m with you, I’m home again, Colton. And wherever you are, that’s where my heart will always be.”
