Page 10 of Back to You (Legendary Shifters #14)

Things hadn’t gotten better after Fulton had told Ronan that Vincent was dead.

He’d put Ronan in a cage and had auctioned him off.

He’d been giddy over earning money from a man he despised.

He hadn’t realized that he’d already hurt Ronan in the worst way he ever could and that the auctions didn’t really matter.

For years, Ronan had lost his will to live.

It was why he’d been auctioned so many times.

People bought him because they wanted a powerful wyvern shifter who would protect them and scare their enemies.

Instead, they’d gotten Ronan, who barely left his cage even when he was being forced to.

He hadn’t cared about anything because his mate had been dead.

It had been a lie.

Ronan was almost panicking by the time he parked on Main Street.

He didn’t know the little town well yet, but he liked it.

He felt comfortable enough here to meet Vincent, and knowing that he wasn’t far from the pack and a place where he felt safe helped.

Vincent would never hurt him physically, but there was no way to know what his words would do to Ronan.

The same went for Vincent. Ronan wasn’t sure which was worse—him thinking that Vincent was dead or Vincent thinking Ronan had ghosted him and had left him willingly.

How had Vincent dealt with that? How had he come to accept that his mate hadn’t wanted him?

Was it something he could get over, or would Fulton continue to ruin their lives from the grave?

Ronan had never imagined he’d be in this position, but he was. He and Vincent had a second chance. Ronan didn’t know how Vincent felt about it, but he wasn’t planning on wasting it. He’d believed Vincent was dead, and part of him had died with him. That part could be reborn.

It all depended on Vincent.

Ronan was early. He and Vincent had agreed to meet at three PM in the little park in front of the library, but it was only two-thirty, and Ronan couldn’t see Vincent anywhere.

He needed something to distract himself before he started freaking out, so he walked to the coffee shop.

He still remembered Vincent’s order, even after all these years.

It might have changed, but Vincent had always loved coffee, no matter what form it came in.

There was a good chance he’d enjoy whatever Ronan picked up.

The weather was turning colder, but Ronan got two iced coffees.

He figured that it would be better to drink something slightly melted than cold coffee that had been sitting there for half an hour.

He shouldn’t have worried, though. As soon as he stepped out of the coffee shop, clutching both cups, he saw Vincent walk into the park.

He wasn’t sure the area could even be called a park. There was a bit of grass, a few trees, and two benches. The swing at the back attracted children, but it was empty right now, which was a relief. There was a man walking his dog, but he didn’t pay attention to Ronan and Vincent.

That was good. Ronan didn’t want to make a scene, but he had no idea how he would react to whatever Vincent was about to tell him. Maybe he should have done this in pack territory, after all. At least there, he could have cried or screamed or whatever.

It was too late to go back. They were both here, and Vincent had sat on one of the benches. That meant he was facing Ronan now, and when he looked up, their gazes crossed and held.

It was obvious that years had passed since the last time they’d seen each other.

Vincent wasn’t old, but he wasn’t the mid-twenties guy he’d been when Ronan had first met him.

He was in his thirties now, and he looked confident and even more handsome.

It hurt Ronan’s heart to see how much he’d missed because of Fulton.

But he wouldn’t allow Vincent’s father to ruin their life any more than he had already. Fulton was gone, but Vincent and Ronan weren’t, and they’d found each other again. There was no reason to allow Fulton to continue hurting them.

There was a chance that Vincent had someone new in his life.

Ronan had never moved on, but he’d thought his mate was dead.

Vincent had believed that Ronan didn’t want him for years.

He was also human, which meant that while he felt the bond, he didn’t feel it as strongly as Ronan did.

He hadn’t said anything about having a boyfriend, but there was a chance he did.

Ronan couldn’t know what was about to be said between them, and he was suddenly scared.

But not so scared that he’d walk away.

He squared his shoulders and put one foot in front of the other.

He never looked away from Vincent, just like Vincent never looked away from him.

They stared at each other as Ronan walked to the bench and held out the coffee he’d gotten for Vincent.

“I hope your tastes haven’t changed too much,” he murmured.

Vincent took the coffee with a grateful smile. “They haven’t. I still love coffee.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.” Ronan hesitated, then slid onto the bench next to Vincent. “It’s good to see you.”

Vincent had been about to take a sip of coffee, but instead, he snorted. “You thought I was dead. I can imagine how good it is to see me.”

“Almost as much as it’s good for you to see me, I imagine. You really thought I abandoned you?” That wasn’t how Ronan had been planning on starting the conversation, but they were here to get answers from each other. They needed to start somewhere.

* * * *

VINCENT HAD KNOWN THAT question was coming. It made sense. He and Ronan had been together a few years before all of this happened, and they were mates. Vincent should have known better than to think that Ronan would ghost him. He should’ve known his father had been involved.

He looked down at his coffee. It was just the way he liked it.

Ronan remembered, even after all these years.

It made Vincent think about what Ronan’s life had been like, thinking he was dead.

He’d thought he’d been hurt over losing Ronan, but he imagined that was nothing next to what Ronan had felt losing him.

At least Vincent had thought that Ronan wanted to leave.

Part of him had wanted Ronan to be unhappy and miserable without him, but another part wouldn’t have wanted Ronan to stay if he didn’t want to. He’d thought Ronan was happy somewhere.

He hadn’t been.

“Initially, I didn’t,” he said. “I didn’t want to think you could leave me.

I’m your mate, and I know that means a lot to you.

I tried to find you. I thought something had happened to you, and I spent days calling hospitals and clinics, hoping you’d be there, even though I didn’t want you to be hurt.

I couldn’t find you anywhere. I even hired a PI, but his results were the same. You were just gone.”

“I was in a cage.”

Vincent swallowed. He didn’t know how Ronan had survived it, but he was glad his mate had.

Even if he and Ronan never got back together, he wanted Ronan to have a good life.

He hoped that life would be with him, and there was a good chance it would be, but it was too soon to tell.

They had too many things to tell each other and too many feelings to analyze and understand.

“You don’t know how sorry I am for what my father did to you,” Vincent said. He was afraid to look at Ronan.

He remembered the last time he’d seen him before yesterday.

Ronan had been leaving for work. He’d leaned over the bed to kiss Vincent, and Vincent had tempted him to come back to bed.

Ronan hadn’t because he was a responsible adult, but he’d kissed Vincent thoroughly and had promised he’d give him whatever he wanted when they both came home that night.

Vincent had gone to work with that promise on his mind.

His world had collapsed that same day. He’d come home to find that all of Ronan’s things were gone.

He’d been hurt and confused, but initially, he hadn’t thought that Ronan would leave him.

It didn’t make sense. He also hadn’t thought that his father could be involved, but he should have.

He should have known Fulton wouldn’t allow him to be happy when it went against what Fulton wanted for him.

Vincent swallowed. “I looked for you for weeks. Peter had to sit me down and tell me that it wasn’t healthy.

I wasn’t eating. I wasn’t sleeping. I jumped every time there was a noise in the apartment because I thought you were back.

I refused to accept what was happening. I couldn’t believe that you’d leave me. ”

Ronan slowly nodded. He didn’t say that he wouldn’t have. They both knew it now.

“I spent all my money on the search for you,” Vincent continued.

“I got kicked out of our apartment because I lost my job and couldn’t pay rent.

I had to stay with Peter for a while, which is when he saw the extent of how badly I was taking it.

He eventually told me that you’d left me and weren’t coming back and that I needed to accept it. ”

Ronan growled, but Vincent wasn’t afraid. He’d never been afraid of Ronan. “He was trying to help me,” Vincent explained. “I was self-destructing, and Peter didn’t want to lose me, too.”

Ronan sighed. “I understand. I don’t like it, but I’m glad you had him.”

“I don’t think I would have survived if I hadn’t. It was rough for the first few years. It took a lot for me to accept that my mate had left me. For a long time, I thought I did something wrong.”

“You don’t anymore?”

“I didn’t even before finding out what my father did. As much as I love you, my worth doesn’t depend on you. I had several talks with Peter, and he always pointed out that I didn’t know what was going through your head. I didn’t know what had pushed you to leave me or that you’d stopped loving me.”

“I never did.”

Vincent shivered at the promise in Ronan’s voice. It wasn’t time for that yet, but soon. “I can’t imagine what you went through. The auctions, everything else. Not surprised my father could organize something like that, but I’m glad he’s dead. I’m glad he’ll never hurt you again.”

“I’m glad he’s dead, too. He hurt you.”

Of course Ronan was still thinking about Vincent. It was what he always did. “He hurt you more.”

Neither of them had been drinking the coffee Ronan had bought. Vincent wasn’t sure how to fill the silence, though, so he took a sip, then another. The coffee settled in his stomach, making him feel queasy. It wasn’t really the coffee. It was the situation they were in.

“I already told you what happened that day. I came home, ready to make good on the promise I made you that morning, but you weren’t there.

Your father was in the apartment, and when I tried to kick him out and threatened to call the police, he told me you were gone.

He said that since we weren’t married, he was the one in charge of packing your things.

I didn’t have time to demand an explanation.

He wasn’t alone, and the people I thought were movers actually worked for him.

He ordered them to grab me, and I was so shocked and in pain that I didn’t resist. I allowed them to drag me out of the apartment and into a van.

I allowed them to drive me away and put me in a cage. ”

It was obvious from the sound of Ronan’s voice that he blamed himself for that, but Vincent didn’t. How could he? He’d reacted horribly when he’d thought he’d lost Ronan. Ronan had believed he was dead.

“You don’t have to go into details, but I’d like to know what my father did to you,” he said.

Ronan stared down at his feet. Vincent didn’t want to dredge up painful memories, and he already knew what an awful man his father had been, but he wanted to know everything.

He wanted to soothe Ronan’s pain. He wanted to promise Ronan that he was here now and that nothing like that would ever happen to him again.

He couldn’t do that, but he could listen. He could silently seethe and curse his father. He could hope that wherever Fulton was right now, he was in as much pain as he’d put Vincent and Ronan through.

“He was giddy,” Ronan said. “He told me how much he could get for a wyvern shifter. He said I was going to make him rich. I didn’t even try to escape. I didn’t feel like it mattered because I’d lost my mate. I didn’t even realize that Fulton wasn’t sad about your death.”

“I don’t think he would have been even if I’d actually died.”

“Probably not. I should’ve known there was something more behind all of it, though. I shouldn’t have believed him, and I definitely shouldn’t have allowed him to sell me time and time again.”

“People kept selling you back to him?”

Ronan shrugged. “When they realized they wouldn’t get anything out of me.

They wanted to show me off and for me to protect them, but I refused to even shift most of the time.

No matter how much they beat and threatened me, nothing they did or said could hurt me more than I already was. I thought I’d lost you forever.”

Vincent needed to find out where his father was buried or where his ashes had been scattered. He wanted to go there and spit on Fulton’s grave.

But no matter how much Fulton had hurt both Vincent and Ronan, they were alive, and he wasn’t. They had a chance to make things right. “Where does all of this leave us?” Vincent asked.

“I don’t know. I do know I don’t want to lose you again, though.”

“I don’t want to lose you, either.”

Ronan nodded. “We do this slowly, then.”

They both had to earn each other’s trust again. They had to get to know the people they were now. They had to get over what Fulton had done to them—if that was even possible.

But at the end of all of this, they had each other, and that was what Vincent wanted to focus on.