“It’sokayifyoudon’t, Lucy. I am giving you an out. I will walk away and let you live in peace with Tyson. I know I don’t deserve you after everything I put you through, after what I have done.”
I let his words sink in for a second; he was giving me an out. But I didn’t want an out, we were all paired together for a reason, and if the Moon Goddess believed it would work, I had no reason to doubt her, right? It was unconventional to be destined to two mates, yet I knew it would work with them being twins. It worked for Aunty Lana and so many others. Tyson might agree that the choice was mine, only it wasn’t. It was up to the Moon Goddess, and if I were to be paired with anyone, I was now glad it was two people I knew, two people I loved anyway. Two people who loved me just as much as I loved them.
“Just let me gather a few things, and I will go,” Ace said, mistaking my silence for rejection.Why does he think I would just toss him aside after everything?Yes, Ace fucked up, but he couldn’t be blamed for Josie and Melana. He thought he was doing the right thing by banishing them; he had the right intentions, and it wasn't his fault they retaliated by trying to ruin me.
“What? No!” I told him in panic. That was the last thing I wanted. The entire time at home, all I could think about was coming home to my mates; that meant both of them. Ace stopped and turned around to face me, his eyes moving to Tyson, but Tyson didn’t interrupt or add anything. He just watched us, though I could feel his worry loud and clear through the bond.
“You don’t have to say yes because of Tyson, Lucy. I know Tyson is the better choice,” Ace said, stunning me. I shook my head, stepping closer to him, and I could feel Tyson watching us, but he remained quiet, and I realized they were really giving me a choice to turn him away.
“There is no better choice, Ace. If I can’t have both of you, then I would rather have neither of you,” I told him. His eyebrows pinched together before he looked at Tyson behind me. I couldn’t choose, and I didn’t want to, and it would destroy both of them if they didn’t have each other. It would also destroy me not to have them. I marked Tyson already, and he had marked me, but that didn’t mean I felt nothing for Ace. Yes, the bond was gone, but I had always loved them. I just didn’t realize it.
“So, you want me to stay?” Ace asked, scratching the back of his neck and looking down at me. I ran my hands across his chest to his shoulders, stepping closer to him. He needed to understand that this decision was what I wanted, that Tyson didn’t influence it in any way. I just needed him to stay.
“You’re mine, Ace. Nothing changes that. You are mine just as I am yours,” I told him.
“You’re not just saying that for Tyson, are you? I can’t feel you, Lucy, so I need to be sure. If you don’t want this, I understand. Don’t feel guilty or pity me. I made mistakes, and I will live with them no matter what you decide.” The look on his face told me he really thought I was saying this for Tyson’s sake.
I reached up, wrapping my arms around his neck. His arms wrapped around my waist, and he dropped his face into my neck, inhaling my scent before he sighed, pulling back to look at me. Before he could say anything or question me further, I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist and sinking my teeth into his neck. His grip on me tightened, one of his hands going under my butt, the other pulling me closer and crushing me against his chest like he was afraid to let go, and this all had been a mere trick of his imagination. His blood poured into my mouth, and I moaned at the taste of him.
The tingles returned, making me shiver, and Ace made a noise in the back of his throat. I felt the bond solidify and snap into place with so much force that it made me jerk back. My mark now lay on his flesh, forever marking him as mine. I leaned down, pressing my lips to his mark before running my tongue over it to seal it and stop the bleeding. Ace let out a shaky breath, and I looked at him to see tears rolling down his face. I clutched his face in my hands, his silver eyes glowing back at me.
“You’re mine, Ace. Just as I belong to you. I want to be yours too,'' I told him. I pressed my lips to his before turning my face and baring my throat to him, where Tyson’s mark lay etched into my skin. I felt heat press against my back as Tyson wrapped his arms around both of us, his lips pressing to my cheek softly when I felt Ace’s teeth sink into my neck above Tyson’s mark.
My entire body ignited in sparks, and goosebumps raised all over my skin. Ace pulled his teeth from my neck, running his tongue over his fresh mark, and I felt the heaviness of the bond creeping in and trying to suck me under as I pulled back from him.
“And now I’m yours,” I whispered, my eyes growing heavy when Ace clutched my face staring at me as I fought to remain awake, my muscles becoming heavy and my face falling forward against his hand.
“Tyson, her eyes,” I heard him whisper before losing consciousness, wondering what he was talking about.
Chapter fifty-six
Josie
The creaking of the cell door had my head snap up to see Alpha Jamie walk into the cell I was put in. Melana said we would be safe here, but the moment we stepped over the pack border after Ace had banished us, we were dragged to the cells and separated.
“Where is my sister?” I asked, looking at the man that had ruined her life from the moment we left the facility. Recruiting kids to run his drugs on the street, he was as low as they came. Melana never stood a chance when he took us in. Only to send us off to Ace’s pack a year later as a spy, under the excuse he didn’t want mutations breeding with his pack.
“You don’t ask questions, mutt. Now get up and follow me,” he growled, and I got off the concrete floor. My back cracked as I stood up. I had no idea how long I had been stuck down here, but the tightness of my muscles meant I had been here for at least a few hours already. Walking up the steps, I stepped outside of the bunker. Alpha Jamie shoved me toward the packhouse, and I nearly stumbled.
“Get moving. She should have let you die; it would have saved all this drama,” Alpha Jamie snapped at me. I felt my stomach sink. He was right; this was my fault. My sister was the only reason I was still alive. I walked toward the packhouse, keeping my head down when I picked up my sister's scent, making me move quickly as I stepped inside. The polished floorboard made my sneakers squeak.
Turning into the living room, I saw my sister sitting in the armchair by the fireplace. Her lip was split but already healing, and she had a huge black eye. Tears brimmed in my eyes at the sight of her, knowing it was all my fault. I rushed to her side, and she opened her arms up, instantly embracing me in a hug and checking me over.
This was my fault. She was hurting because of me. I put my trust in the wrong person. I thought I could trust him. How was I supposed to know he would keep Alpha Jamie’s shipment for himself? He said he would do the job; he was my mate. I had no reason to think he would do that to me. Mates were supposed to love us. Clearly, that was a lie.
“Both fucking useless. You were supposed to convince Ace to hand that land over, not fall in love with him. Is that why you rejected him, Melana? I will fucking kill him. Is that what you want?” Alpha Jamie snapped at her. Melana shook her head.
“No, no, please. You know that’s not why. I don’t know what you expected. I told you Lucy was their mate. Leave him out of it. We can work something out. I will get you your money back,” she begged him with tears rolling down her cheeks. Alpha Jamie laughed cruelly.
“You got 500 thousand, Melana. The deal was you would convince Ace to sign that land over, or I would kill your sister. So since I don’t own that piece of land, looks like it's going to cost you your sister,” he said, taking a threatening step toward me.
Melana jumped to her feet, shoving me behind her and onto the armchair behind her. Alpha Jamie punched her, and I screamed as blood spurted from her nose, and he grabbed her hair.
“Stand down, Melana. We had a deal, but I am open to negotiations,” Alpha Jamie growled at her.
“She was meant to have nothing to do with this. Keep her out of it. I told you not to involve her. If it is anyone's fault, it is yours for putting your shipment in a seventeen-year-old girl's hands. There is no way she could move that amount in a fucking school,” Melana snapped at him. Despite bleeding and being in pain, she still fought for me, still defended me fiercely.
“I will get the money. I will speak to Ace—” Melana said, but Alpha Jamie laughed in her face before shoving her backward onto me, her entire body shaking, blood drenching the front of her shirt.