Page 38 of Fighting Fate (Monsters of London #4)

Vince

His mate?

His mate ?

For a second, the room seems to spin around me, but I know it’s just in my head. Because there’s not a chance Dax just said we were mates and in a tone of voice that suggests he’s known that little fact for a long fucking time.

“I don’t understand,” Jamie rasps from the other side of the room. I look at him because it’s easier than looking at Dax right now. The confusion is clear on his face, and for a moment, I think he might not ever need to know about this at all. He’s been through a shock. He might forget just about everything he hears this afternoon.

Except that’s not fucking fair, is it? And neither is the fact that I’ve been honest. Honest to the point where Dax could have left at any point, and I’d have had no one to blame but myself.

“Vince,” Dax says, and I look at him again.

He’s still standing next to Tim like he’s worried he’ll escape, and I don’t push off from the wall to get any closer.

“Why don’t we all go outside? I should call Ophelia, anyway. Get her to come check out your neck,” Sam says. He’s talking to Kieran and Jamie, his voice full of false cheer.

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” I hold Dax’s gaze, and Sam grimaces. He’ll have to walk between us to get out the back door, and I know he doesn’t want to do that.

“I—We—”

“You mean mates like how Kieran and Lucien are mates?”

“Yes,” Dax says. He sounds miserable.

“Like Sam and Drew and Adam?”

“Yes.”

I clench my jaw so hard my teeth ache. “Mates like you said wolves know about straight away ? How long have you known?”

Dax is silent. He drops my gaze, staring down at the kitchen floor.

“ Dax. How long?”

“Since the first weekend,” he says to the floor.

I rear back like I’ve been slapped. Sam makes a surprised sound—did he not know, or did he not know how long ? “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Vince, I didn’t—”

“I told you before we even slept together that I didn’t want a long-term thing, and you still asked me to stay? You—”

“I didn’t know right away!”

I hear the front door open but don’t turn to look. Kieran and Sam aren’t any more tense than they were two seconds ago, so it’s probably Nick.

“I didn’t realise until the next morning.”

“When you made me breakfast and convinced me to stay?”

Dax frowns. “You said yes. I didn’t trick you into anything.”

“But you knew there was something else between us. And you didn’t even tell me—”

“You didn’t know about wolves then!”

“What about that meeting at Kieran’s?” I snap. Nick’s in the kitchen now, arms full of shopping bags, watching us with wide eyes. “You could have told me afterwards. You had the perfect opportunity. Fuck, Dax! We talked about mates. I told you what I thought about the whole thing.”

Dax shakes his head, and his mouth opens and closes like he’s trying to find the words. “I thought if we didn’t—You said you didn’t want… anything. So it wouldn’t matter.”

“Really? Don’t fucking lie to me now.”

“Fine!” Dax roars, and Jamie and Nick flinch, but I don’t. Fuck me, I’m furious, but I know he won’t hurt me. “Fine, I knew it was there. It’s a mate bond. Fated. I wanted it to work out, and I still do. But I knew you were scared, and I didn’t want you to run before we gave it a try.”

“Well, it’s too late for that now, isn’t it?” I say, my voice cold.

Dax’s expression falls. “Vince, please—”

“Get out.”

“Vince—”

“I mean it. Get out, now. I don’t want to see you again.”

Something trembles inside my chest, something that doesn’t quite feel like me at all. Dax swallows hard, blinking too fast when he nods. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs, and I stare fixedly at a spot on the wall until I hear the front door close.

“Vince,” Kieran says, and I shake my head.

“Don’t.”

“You should—”

“You knew too, didn’t you?”

I look up just in time to see guilt flash across Kieran’s face. “I thought it was best for him to tell you.”

“But he didn’t. Neither did you.”

“Vince, please, I didn’t—”

“Hey,” Sam says, interrupting. He looks at Kieran. “Wait outside, okay? Take that prick with you.” He gestures at Tim, and Kieran gives me a wary look before he nods. He doesn’t bother unfastening Tim, just drags him, chair and all, out of our house.

“I don’t want you here either,” I say to Sam, who just raises an eyebrow at me.

“While I understand your attitude, you can tone it the fuck down,” he replies lightly. He’s moved since Dax left and now he’s standing close to Jamie, still eyeing his neck. “Ophelia’s coming to check Jamie out. And no, I’m not asking for your permission. You can be fucked off at me all you want, but he needs the help, and you know it.”

“Anyone gonna ask me?” Jamie croaks.

Sam smiles at him. “Do you want your neck healed up in the next hour, or do you fancy waiting a few weeks?”

Jamie’s expression is sceptical. “Hour?”

“Yep.” In contrast, Sam’s never wavers, and I see the moment Jamie chooses to believe him.

“Yeah, that one. Obviously.”

Sam ushers me, Jamie, and Nick into the remaining three dining chairs before he goes and locks the back door. “You might as well tell them what’s going on,” he says to me, and I stare after him, incredulous, as he locks up the front, too.

“Tim got in?” Nick asks.

“Yeah, back garden,” Jamie replies. He looks at me. “That’s not what he means.”

“No,” I say with a heavy sigh. “It’s not.” And I begin to explain everything Kieran told me, back in that café weeks ago, about vampires and mages and wolves.