Because he hadn’t. Not in so many words. He’d let her draw that conclusion, but now that she thought about it, he’d been very careful never to say that directly.
And there had been the way he’d looked at her when they first met. Those green, green eyes, fixing on her with such utterfocus, as though she was the only thing that mattered in the entire world…
“No,” she said slowly. “He didn’t.”
“See?” Estelle said to Beth. “If we hadn’t come in here and explained everything, we’d have ended up with another disaster like Honey and Buck. You can’t rely on grown-ups to do anything right.”
Beth twisted her hands together. “I’m sure Uncle Conleth is planning to tell her soon. He’s probably just… taking some time to figure out the best way to do it.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Conleth,” Estelle agreed. She turned back to Paige. “He’s pretty much the world’s biggest control freak. And if heisplanning a big romantic reveal, he’ll kill us if he finds out we tipped you off in advance. So make sure you act surprised, okay?”
The door slammed back against the wall again. Conleth practically flew into the room, moving so fast that he almost slammed into the opposite wall. His wild eyes met hers.
And Paige knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was true.
It was all true.
She was Conleth’s mate.
CHAPTER 8
One look at Paige’s face, and Conleth knew he was too late.
“Uncle Conleth!” Beth flushed a guilty scarlet. “We were just, uh…”
“Saying hello to Paige,” Estelle supplied, the very picture of innocence. “She’s Archie’s sister. Have you met her yet?”
“There’s no need to try to conceal the truth, Estelle.” Paige sounded calm, but her eyes were icy. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Um.” Estelle looked from Paige to Conleth, some of her usual boldness faltering. “I kinda feel that we have, actually.”
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Paige said to the girls. “Now, perhaps you could go and find something to do elsewhere. Conleth and I need to talk.”
Estelle needed no further excuse. She bolted out the door, not waiting to see if either of the other kids would follow.
Beth hesitated, clearly torn between a deep desire to make an equally speedy exit, and a need to try to fix things. “Please, Miss Paige, ma’am. Don’t blame Uncle Conleth. I’m sure he was going to tell you.”
“It’s all right, Beth,” Conleth forced a reassuring smile, putting a hand on his niece’s shoulder. “You go with Estelle. I can take it from here.”
Beth looked less than confident about that, but allowed him to steer her out of the room. Conleth followed her with his pegasus senses, checking that she was actually heading after Estelle rather than doubling back to eavesdrop.
That left Archie. The bear glared at Conleth, setting his paws in a way that suggested the only way he was going to be cleared from the room was with the assistance of a bulldozer.
Or, as it turned out, a sister.
“You too, Archie.” Paige’s tone brooked no argument. “Go with the girls. I need to talk to Conleth alone.”
The bear faltered, ears flattening. With clear reluctance, he slunk after Estelle and Beth.
“I can explain,” Conleth said the instant all three kids were out of earshot. He knew he should approach this carefully, yet he couldn’t help words spilling out of him in a torrent of desperation. “Iwasgoing to tell you, I swear by all that’s holy. I just couldn’t risk explaining everything straight away. You couldn’t feel the same instant sense of connection, and then there was Archie?—”
“Yes,” Paige interrupted, still in that level, dangerous voice. “Then there was Archie. Who said we were mates. Correctly, as it turns out.”
“I never said weweren’tmates,” Conleth pointed out, and instantly wished he hadn’t.
“You let me think we weren’t! You—” Paige cut herself off, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to discuss this here. The kids could be eavesdropping again. Let’s find somewhere more private.”
That suited Conleth just fine. He trailed behind her as she strode from the cabin, grateful for the excuse to step outside.It was easier to think under the open sky, away from the constraining pressure of walls.
