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chapter Twenty-seven

Enzo

I watch as my pack celebrates my union. However, I don’t feel the slightest bit like celebrating.

I’ve had a lot of mixed emotions the last few days since mating with Michaela. Of course, disgust and remorse are in the forefront, but there is also this strong feeling of guilt. And this isn’t my guilt from mating with the thing that killed Ana, this is guilt from the way things have gone with Michaela.

It started that day I saw her in those woods, and I could feel her sadness and loneliness. Then coming home to Marley having cooked for me only for me to not eat. Even today, when I forgot about the gift for the ceremony. Instead of letting me take the fall and look like the unprepared Beta to my pack, she took the blame.

I’m not sure how to feel about her. I still believe the goddess blessed this union so that I can see behind that wall in her head.

Her laughter floats over the noise and causes me to look over at her. She’s leaning against a tree beside Luna. They are both watching Marley as she dances with Anya in the middle of the dance floor.

I pay attention to Michaela. Her hair is in a long braid hanging over her shoulder. I like when she pulls her hair back showing off those beautiful features. Although I’m a fan of her wild curls too. Her face is bare, and she's wearing dark red lipstick showcasing those succulent lips. My wolf nearly leaped out of me when she stood in front of us, and I got a glimpse of her dark chocolate nipples and the perfectly shaved triangle of hair covering her mound. She’s fucking stunning.

However, I’m noticing the slight darkness under her eyes. Also, her skin isn’t glowing as it usually does. She’s hungry. I’ve picked up enough about the vampires to determine when they need to feed. I glance over at Marley, expecting to find the same features. Yet, she looks fine.

That’s peculiar. I wonder if her lack of food is why she’s been stumbling and moving slower these few days.

“So you’re mated now?”

I turn to Nadia. Her long dark hair is hanging down her back, and her green eyes stare back at me. Her dress hugs her thick body like it’s her lover. I immediately think back over the many nights she’s warmed my bed. As soon as the memory of her pops in my head, it’s quickly replaced with the memory of Michaela.

“Looks like it,” I say, shaking the memory out of my head.

She steps a little closer to me, her large breasts brushing against my arm. “I’ve been told that you’re just doing this to find out information about the leech.”

The word leech causes a knot to form in my stomach. I don’t like the idea of her calling Michaela that name. I shake the thought off.

“Something like that.”

“Lie,” my wolf growls. He is making it known he is not a fan of this she-wolf being as close to me as she is. I ignore his whining.

“I guess that means no more of our late-night rendezvous.” She runs her finger up my arm. I wait for the excitement. For that desire that usually hits me the moment I’m around her. It used to be just the mere sight of Nadia would get my dick hard, but for some reason my member has not moved or jerked.

I plaster a smile on my face. Pinching her chin, I lift her lush lips up toward mine. I wonder if kissing her would make me hard. However, the only thing I notice is that no matter how full her lips seem, they are nowhere near as full as Michaela’s. Suddenly, even the thought of kissing her doesn’t sit right with me.

Letting her face go, I step back and look away. My gaze immediately connects with the light brown orbs of my mate.

“She saw us,” my wolf snarls. “You fool.”

For the first time, I don’t have to slip inside Michaela’s head. The channel opens wide for me, and I nearly fall into her mind. Sadness and loneliness hit me. But something else is here. A scene plays out in front of me.

It’s Michaela, staring at her reflection in a broken mirror. Tears track down her face as she sobs. A pain I’m all too familiar with hits me. Heartbreak.

Just as fast as I got sucked into the memory, I am shoved out. I’m no longer staring at a broken woman in a shattered mirror. I’m back standing in my forest with my pack celebrating around me.

Michaela turns away from me. She says something to Luna before pushing away from the tree and walking off.

“Enzo, are you alright?” Nadia calls my name, getting my attention.

I look down at her. I almost forgot she was here. Before I can open my mouth, Chayton walks up.

“Give us a minute, Nadia,” he says.

She quickly bows and walks away. I watch her retreat. The way her ass sways in that tight dress should have me standing at attention. However, there is nothing going on down there. My dick is completely flaccid.

“You good?” Chayton asks.

I turn to face him. Clearing my throat, I say, “Yes.” Searching through the crowd, I try to find Michaela, but she’s not here.

“I almost got through,” I say, turning to Chayton. “The woman is locked up tighter than a vault. She has this wall built up in her head. I can’t get near her inner thoughts. But I’m determined to break it down and see what’s behind it. I just need to win her trust, have her let her guard down a little, and I can see exactly what she’s hiding back there.”

Chayton remains quiet for a moment before he finally speaks. “And then what?”

I narrow my gaze at him. “What do you mean? If I break down the wall, I can see what she’s hiding.”

He folds his arms over his chest and watches me. “Let’s say you do exactly what you have planned. You convince that woman to trust you, to fall for you, and then you slip into her head and break down her wall only to find she’s hiding nothing but sad memories and embarrassing childhood moments. What happens then?”

I stop and think about that for a minute. I never even considered it before. The memory of her crying in that mirror plays back in my mind. What if it’s just pain behind that wall?

“I don’t know,” I admit honestly.

Chayton shakes his head. “This entire time you’ve been looking at her as if she is the enemy, but what if she isn’t? What if she is just a girl running from her sister’s fiancé or the vampire council, or the mob? What if you waste this opportunity to bond with your mate because you are waiting for the gotcha moment?”

I remain silent as I think about what he’s saying. If the vampire is my real mate and I break her trust by breaking into her memories, she will never forgive me. I wouldn’t even blame her. I would question if the goddess would actually give me a vampire as a mate, but it’s clear that she is a fan of the union. Twice she has proven she blessed us. Am I really viewing this all wrong?

But what about Ana?

“Ana is not here,” my wolf huffs. “Michaela is here.”

“Do you remember what you told me when I mated with Elizabeth?” Chayton asks.

It doesn’t take me long to recall the conversation. “I told you to stop fighting against your wolf. But this isn’t the same.”

“Are you sure?” he asks. “The goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”

He runs his hands over his long hair. “Listen, put down your pitch fork. Stop looking at her through the eyes of an enemy and start paying attention to the woman. And if in a few months you still don’t want her, I’ll give you permission to break the bond. I just don’t want you to miss out on your happiness clinging to the past. Take it from someone that nearly lost everything for the same reason.”

He's right. He was so busy clinging to Kamyra and her lies that Luna and Miko were almost burned alive. Maybe it’s time I let the memory of Ana go. Phaedra was right. She isn’t coming back. And though she was slaughtered by vampires, I can’t prove that Michaela was one of the vampires. It isn’t fair to blame her for it. Besides, so far she has saved Torak’s life, taught my scouts how to protect themselves from vampires, and even helped me hunt down and kill a vampire and a feral. Not once has she shown me anything that should make me hate her.

“Okay. You’re right. We both deserve to see where this goes.”

“Exactly,” he says, placing a hand on my shoulder briefly. “And Enzo, like it or not, she is your mate. Never let me see you disrespect her like that again. That’s not who we are.”

I couldn’t even argue with him because he’s right. My interaction with Nadia was out of line. If Michaela would’ve been touching on another male like that…

I don’t even finish the thought as hot rage boils up in me. It almost causes me to transform. Just the thought of her with another man has me ready to kill.

I say goodbye to Chayton and go look for my mate. It doesn’t take me long to find her. She wasn’t far. She’s alone in a small clearing. Her head is back, and she’s staring up at the moon. She’s so still it looks as if she’s frozen. I don’t speak as I lean against a tree and watch her.

“You can go back to your party, Beta,” she says, not looking at me. “I promise I’m not plotting against your pack.”

She looks over her shoulder. Those light brown eyes crinkle as she smirks at me. Now, my dick wants to react. Damn, all she did was smile and I’m hard as a brick.

That reminds me. Pushing away from the tree I was leaning on, I walk toward her.

“I want to apologize for what you saw back there.”

She tilts her head back and looks up at the stars again. “No need to apologize. You are free to do what you want. There are no false pretenses in this marriage. I know you don’t want to be with me. You might as well enjoy yourself. It’s not like I ever believed you would be faithful. Men never are.”

Her words stab me in the chest. Despite how I feel about this mating, Chayton was right. Wolves are faithful to their mates. What I did was disrespectful. That thought brings something else to the forefront of my mind.

“Why were you crying in that memory?” I question. “Did someone break your heart?”

She tilts her head forward, no longer staring at the sky. She then turns to face me. For a long moment, she doesn’t respond. A wide range of emotions play across her face. It is the most emotion I’ve seen her have since she showed up here. Finally, her shoulders seem to drop, and she licks her lips.

“Yes,” she says.

“Who?”

She shakes her head. “Too many people to name.”

“Is that why you’re so sad?”

She looks away, her jaw tightening.

“My memories are not a safe place, Enzo. I’ve lived too long, and I’ve done too much. Whatever you want to know, ask. I don’t have the energy for games tonight.” She cuts her gaze back at me.

“Why are you really here?” This has been the question that has bugged me since they got here. I didn’t believe that she was running from her sister’s fiancé.

She shakes her head. “When I was young, I fell in love with a man I thought was everything I could ever want. It turns out he was the complete opposite. When I realized what he truly was, I told the union about him. He was sentenced to ground for life 300 years ago. But now he’s back. And he wants me.”

“Why didn’t you say that from the beginning? Why lie?”

A slow grin spreads over her face.

“Do you think your Alpha would have allowed me to stay if I was just running from an ex?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say yes, but I stop and think. Hell, we almost didn’t let her stay when we thought her defenseless little sister was being sold off and abused. If she would have come to us and said she was running from an ex-lover, Chayton wouldn’t have even second guessed telling her she couldn’t stay. He would have assumed, like me, that she’s an adult and she can handle her own problems.

I answer her honestly. “No.”

She nods.

A new concern pops into my head. “Are you in danger?”

Without even hearing her next response, I know for a fact that the moment of openness we shared is over. Her face falls back to that neutral look she’s so good at.

“I’m fine, Beta. Go back and enjoy your party. I’m heading home.” She turns her back on me and walks off into the trees, heading back to our cabin.

I don’t follow her, but I don’t go back to the party either. I watch her until I can no longer see her. For the first time, I got to see the real Michaela.

From the moment she showed up on our doorstep, she had been this unbreakable figure of strength and independence. Tonight, I got to see the real person hiding behind her persona. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Michaela is everything she portrays herself to be, but I also now know that she is a sad, lonely, broken-hearted woman. Chayton was right. I’ve spent all my time looking at her as an enemy and I’ve missed some crucial details.

“Okay goddess,” I say out loud. “I’m listening now. Let’s see where this is going.”