Page 33 of Fae Devoted (Fae Touched #3)

C losing the latches on her roller case, Johnnie placed it next to the bedroom door; they’d be leaving to meet Samuel soon.

Jacob wanted to arrive at the private airport before sundown, taking Lord Daimhín’s rogues out of the picture if the Athair was monitoring the interstate.

Next, she stuffed her makeup bag and computer tablet into her daisy-printed tote bag, then set the large purse on the freshly made bed.

Despite the ongoing challenges ahead, there was a huge grin on her face.

Her instincts—her she-wolf—hadn’t made a mistake.

Jacob was her truemate, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

Sensing the anxiety in her future Ca’anam through the heightened bond a moment before the front door slammed, she grabbed her luggage and darted into the hallway.

Jacob’s and Dylan’s wolves hadn’t caught a whiff of either brother’s trail after combing the woods yesterday, and it didn’t look as if their luck had changed.

“What happened? Did you find something?”

“No,” Jacob said, his body stiff, spine straight as a board.

“Then what—”

“Can I talk to you a minute, Johnnie?” Dylan interrupted. “In private.”

“I…” She glanced at Jacob, expecting a reflexive response of “ not a chance in hell” before his conscious reasoning kicked in.

Despite the second bite confirming compatibility, the Dance would continue to be a pain in the ass until the final Mark was placed over her heart.

But Jacob only nodded, then headed to the guest bedroom.

“Walk with me?” Dylan pulled her attention from the empty hallway.

“Yeah, okay,” she agreed, even though her intuition told her to go after Jacob. Her instincts screamed that something was very, very wrong.

Leaving her suitcase in the middle of the living room and her tote on the kitchen table, she followed Dylan outside.

He led them into the woodlands, then veered off the well-worn path toward a gurgling brook.

Trailing a few paces behind, her mind drifted to the last time the two of them were together.

Johnnie stepped outside, the cold smacking her in the face.

The heavy club door closed behind her seconds later, shutting out the music and chatter from inside the bar.

Her skin was flushed and hot in spite of the chill, and she gulped in the brisk night air before turning to confront Dylan. “What’s going on?”

“We’re too young to be in the Dance,” he said with a firmness that stated his mind was made up. “It’s better if we end this before someone gets hurt.”

“End this?” She stumbled as if pushed. “But you’re my—”

“We can’t know that for sure,” Dylan cut her off. “And we won’t for years if we’re smart.”

“I know it’s hard to wait, but—”

“I love this spot,” Dylan said, jarring her from the past into the present.

Johnnie crossed her arms and scanned the tranquil surroundings, needing a moment to collect herself. Their romantic relationship may have ended long ago, but her error in judgment when it came to the mating pull and Dylan was still hard to accept.

“It’s beautiful.” And it was. Shafts of sunlight filtered through the tall hardwoods, the rays reflecting on the ripples of the nearby stream.

The water glittered like tiny colored diamonds, the light through the fall foliage creating rainbow prisms that danced on the gently rolling surface.

“The pack must love getting together for a run in the park.”

Including Dylan, there were five males who comprised the Fowler Pack, and all of them were unmated.

“We do.”

“And even though the reasons you decided to leave weren’t the greatest, you’re happy here?” No matter what happened in college, Johnnie cared about Dylan and would never wish him ill.

“Surprisingly enough, I am…or I will be once we discover who’s taking our people and put a stop to it.” He took a hesitant step closer. “I do have one regret.”

“Just one?” she teased.

“Only one that still matters. And after leaving the region the way I did, I didn’t think I’d get a chance to apologize to you in person.”

“Apologize?” His sudden hesitance made her nervous. “For what?”

“How I handled things…back then.”

“Oh,” she said, letting out a slow breath. “Dylan, what happened in college doesn’t matter anymore.” She had Jacob now.

“It matters to me.” He paced away, then spun and came back. “It matters a helluva lot. You deserved better.”

“I never blamed you. You know as well as I do that compatibility is either there, or it’s not. I do wish…” She hugged herself tighter and confessed, “I wish you would have told me sooner your wolf sensed we weren’t meant to be together.”

A shifter male’s primal instincts were more acute than a female’s, and Dylan would have recognized the signs long before Johnnie did. Long before he told her the truth.

“I was such an ass.”

“We were both young.” Considered little more than teenagers in Ferwyn society.

Didn’t mean the breakup hadn’t hurt. At the time, Johnnie was sure Dylan was her truemate.

And when it turned out he wasn’t, her faith in her wolf was shaken.

The loss of confidence led to doubts and fears concerning her feelings for Jacob.

Doubts that weren’t completely laid to rest until last night.

“You don’t understand.” He looked down. “I lied.”

“Lied about what?” She frowned and waited for him to explain.

“I lied.” He raised his chin and met her puzzled gaze. “I lied to you the night we broke up.”

Johnnie shook her head. He couldn’t possibly mean…

“We’d never be able to have a family if it turns out we’re not truemates.” Dylan looked away, whipping off the Cardinal baseball cap he always wore backward and smacking it hard against his thigh.

“The Dance won’t fail, Dylan.” Johnnie laid her palm over his heart. “I can feel it.”

His jaw hardened, and the muscle in his cheek jumped. “I don’t.”

“But you said…” If what he just implied was true, his rejection had been a conscious choice and not a biologically prudent one.

“I know what I said.” His mouth twisted in a grimace. “I was afraid.”

“Of what?” she whispered.

“Ending up as miserable as my uncle.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know you don’t, but how could you? I’ve never spoken about this to anyone.” He mumbled a self-derogatory curse and ripped his hands through his hair. “I need to start from the beginning.”

Johnnie nodded, shock closing her throat. A Ferwyn male could spend a lifetime waiting for his truemate and never find one. Why would Dylan throw away a potential Ca’anam—throw her away—without giving them a chance?

“My Uncle Lawrence met and fell in love with a human woman a few years before I was born. She was…uncomfortable with the intensity of the Mating Dance and insisted on slowing things down to a more organic, Untouched pace. By the time my uncle discovered they weren’t truemates, it was too late for both of them.

“What I remember most about Aunt Sylvia growing up was her kindness…and her laugh. It came easily and often, and was so contagious you couldn’t hear it and not join in.” The muscles of his throat worked as he swallowed. “She left us when I was ten.”

Left us .

“What happened?”

“I heard them arguing once when I was supposed to be asleep. It was a few months after my sire went Glaofin.”

After his mother died, and his father left him. Though his voice didn’t waver, Johnnie heard the lingering pain in that frank statement.

“My aunt was worried about aging at a much faster rate than my uncle without the Ca’anam bond to extend her lifespan.

He tried to assure her that to him, she would always be the most beautiful woman in the world.

He told her how much he loved her and would always love her.

Always want her.” He closed his eyes as if trying to block out a painful memory.

“It was the first time the sound of Sylvia’s quick laughter didn’t make me smile. ”

Johnnie couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to grow older while your spouse remained virtually unchanged. The Ferwyn-Untouched couple was the worst relationship dynamic for staying together after a failed second bite; human’s time on Earth was by far the shortest of all the races.

“My presence in their home didn’t help. And though Aunt Sylvia never said it out loud, I must have been a daily reminder that she’d never have pups of her own.

After she left, my uncle spiraled into depression.

” His expression shuttered. “I think a part of him blamed me for the divorce since she remarried and had a baby just a few years later.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Dylan. You were a child.” A broken-hearted pup who had lost or was losing everyone he had ever loved.

“I was falling in love with you, Johnnie. More every day. And if it turned out we weren’t compatible, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk away from you. And one day—”

“I’d leave you too.”

“Yes.” He averted his gaze, hands jammed in his pockets. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t mean much now, but—”

“Your wolf did feel something then,” she blurted, needing to know the truth. Needing to hear the words said out loud.

“My dominance level wasn’t high enough to be certain.” His gaze swung to hers, lips twisting in a half-smile. “But I felt it too.”

Johnnie sighed. He’d lied to her. Crushed her young heart and chipped away a chunk of the burgeoning self-confidence she had in she-wolf’s intuition.

She should be royally pissed at his confession.

Should feel bitter resentment for every tear that was shed for a male who was afraid to take a chance on her.

On them. But the prevailing emotion making her lightheaded wasn’t anger.

Instead, it was pure, unadulterated relief.