“Nope.” I popped the p. “I don’t resent you one bit. I thought you and your sisters wanted or maybe needed time together to heal. Because—” I shrugged. “—the school doesn’t offer therapy.”
Kaja snickered. As she pulled me into a tight hug, she whispered, “You’re certifiable. Also, you’re my BFF too. And I want you around all the time.”
On second thought, the alpha king could keep the money and get his own therapist. I had Kaja.
“Let’s go order pizza,” Kaja said, pulling me toward the Harvest dorm. “Nell and Rue will probably demand a sleepover too. Girl, don’t ever think we need time away from you. As far as we’re concerned, we’re all part of the same pack.”
Tears pricked my eyes again as we strode toward her dorm, each of us with an arm around the other. We walked through the door, and both Rue and Nell screamed and raced forward to greet me.
“Nai’s back!”
Nell burst into laughter.
“I can’t wait for us to all go to Samhain tomorrow,” Rue said.
Oh, crap.
The ball was tomorrow, and I didn’t have a dress.
* * *
I staredat the empty white dress box that lay at the edge of Kaja’s bed, the red silk ribbon now on the floor from when she’d torn it open for me.
I clutched the card against my chest and tried to rein in my breathing.
Beautiful Miss Blue,
Wear this tonight so I can find you.
-Your Mate
“It’s sooo romantic,”Kaja squealed.
I ran my fingertips over the dark blue silk where it faded to teal near the hem.
“It’s psychotic,” I replied.
Nell and Rue shared a worried glance, making me feel like I needed to explain.
I shook my head. “He’s not proud to be my mate in real life, only in hidden corners and moonlight runs. I feel like a secret mistress.”
Tears burned my eyes and clogged my throat.Mother Mage, I care too much.More than I’d allowed myself to believe.
Rage.
Justice.
Theyknewme.
I understood it wasn’t ideal to have your mate be from another clan—it was a high crime, even—but then why bother with the beautiful dress? Why the freaking boxes of food? Why get all of the Midnight princes to help me shift? Why do all these thingsandstill keep me in the dark?
I was done playing his games. From here forward, it needed to be all or nothing. So tonight, I was going to tell my green-eyed Midnight boy to choose. Either we were honest with each other, trusted each other, or … not. If he wouldn’t share his identity, then I was done. I was Nai of Crescent Clan, and no one worth my time was ashamed to be with me.
“A girl in our pack found her fated mate last summer.” Kaja’s voice was small, and she offered me a tremulous smile. “I’d never seen anyone so blissful and euphoric. He was a few years older than her, and everyone wondered why he wouldn’t pick a mate. I don’t know if he knew and was waiting for her to grow up or what, but when she turned eighteen, he kissed her at her birthday party, and all these white butterflies descended onto her shoulders … it wasincredible. They light each other up, and the coolest thing is they can speak to each other telepathically.” She sighed and then added, “Our entire pack partied for three days and three nights straight; we were so happy for them.”
Silence descended.
A wistful sense of melancholy settled in my chest, a dull ache of loss. I took a deep breath to dislodge the sensation then cleared my throat. “I’ll never have that.”
