Page 17 of Ronen (Sweet Alps Legacy #1)

Knowing Matty had really taken this job as a favor to Becca, I took a few seconds to take a good look at my brother. He looked happy, his blue eyes shining, his posture relaxed. He was enjoying teaching, as he had said a few weeks ago.

“I need to know what you know about fated mates.”

Matty leaned back in his chair, “How much time do you have?”

Knowing my brother had spent the last year and a half doing extensive research on the subject, interviewing fated mates couples around the world, going over old and new documents he could find on the subject, in many different cultures and languages, I amended my request.

“Maybe just hit the key points.”

Matty narrowed his eyes at me, “What’s the sudden interest? Did you meet your fated mate or something?”

“Or something,” I muttered, gripping the arms of the hard chair.

“Oh shit,” Matty exclaimed, “Ronen, did you meet your fated mate?”

When I looked up at him, he was leaning forward in his chair, on the edge of his seat.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed, “Yes, okay. I met my fated mate today. Now how do I get out of this? Can I get out of this? What am I working with here?”

“Who is it?”

Of course, Matty would want to know that.

Setting my lips into a tight, thin line, I looked past his shoulder to the blue sky outside, up at the ceiling, over to the side wall.

“Stop stalling,” Matty growled, “you know Dad probably already knows. Which means Papa knows, and Uncle Becks and Uncle Wyatt. Probably Uncle Brendan and Ryan. Charlie. Grandma Mary and Nana.”

Holding up a hand, I ordered, “Stop. Just stop.” My head was starting to pound. From lack of sleep, or just this day. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“I don’t think I’m the one giving you a headache. Spill. You know I’m going to find out.”

Sighing loudly, I grumbled, “Mason Caldwell.”

Matty stared at me, then put his hand to his ear. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I didn’t quite catch it.”

Giving him a look that clearly said he was an asshole, because all he had to do was use his wolf hearing and he would know, I repeated loudly, “Mason fucking Caldwell.”

“Odd middle name, but people are weird,” Matty smirked at me, enjoying himself immensely at my expense. “Mason Caldwell. The sheriff Mason Caldwell? Stealer and destroyer of books? That Mason Caldwell?”

“Stop saying his name! He’s probably like Beetlejuice. You say his name three times and he appears. No one needs that.”

Matty’s lips quirked, his shoulders shaking. Waving my fingers at him, I said, “Get it out of your system, so we can move on, please and thank you.”

My brother’s laughter went on for a good five minutes, while I waited patiently for him to finish.

Wiping his eyes, he finally wheezed, “What do you want to know? Is there something specific?”

“Can fated mates really take this out clause thing?” I asked. “Is that a thing, or just something that is part of the stories?”

“Honestly?”

“Please.”

“I’ve interviewed about fifty people who opted for the out clause,” he told me, leaning his elbows on his desk. “All from different backgrounds, shifter species, and countries. For various reasons, they all decided being with their fated mate wasn’t a path they wanted to pursue.”

“So it is possible?”

Matty frowned. “I didn’t say that.”

Now it was my turn to frown.

“In every single case, all those fated mates ended up together. Some were apart for years–like Uncle Finn and Wade–some only a few months. But all of them ended up together.”

“Pfft,” I blew out a breath, slumping in my chair, feeling defeated.

“But, they all said the same thing. ”

“What’s that?”

“That Fate wasn’t wrong, and that they truly were meant to be together. Most people described their mates as being the perfect person for them, even when they hadn’t realized it. They are all happy, extremely happy.”

“Are you saying I should just ride off into the sunset with Mason?”

“I’m saying maybe take the time to get to know the man, Ro,” Matty told me softly. “He might just be what you’ve been searching for.”

Frowning at him, I plucked at my shirt sleeve, realizing it was still rolled up, showing off my ink.

“I haven’t been searching for anything. I’m perfectly happy.

I actually like taking off at a moment’s notice to do whatever I want, by myself.

Without having to ask someone permission, or tell them where I’m going and what I’m doing. ”

“Okay,” Matty held out his hands in defeat. “I’m not going to argue with you.”

“I’m not arguing,” I argued. “What else should I know about this fated mates bullshit.”

Matty had a nearly photographic memory, which is why he didn’t have to bother opening his laptop to give me the information I was asking for.

“Every couple also said that being near their fated mates–once they had discovered they were fated, usually with their first touch of skin on skin–the omegas all experienced either a full blown heat or what most described as a mini type heat. It was notable to them because in most cases, it was not the time of their normal heats, and sometimes the symptoms were almost not noticeable enough for it to register that it was any type of heat at first. The funny thing is, once they got past the first crazy rush of lust, their heats were then back on track, coming at their normally scheduled times.”

“So it was just that first rush of hormones?”

Matty tilted his head, “Something like that. Now, when this happens has varied drastically from couple to couple. Some couples it was like a blind lust that they had to sate right away. Others it took a few meetings, or even longer.”

“How long?” I mean if I was destined to fuck Mason’s brains out, it couldn’t hurt to have a timeline, right?

“Well, for Uncle Lachlan and Uncle Quinn, it was their third meeting.”

“Ew,” I covered my ears, “don’t tell me about our family.”

Matty laughed. “Oh no, I can’t be the only one tortured by this knowledge. Uncle Finn and Uncle Wade it was five years, because they did their best to not be in the same room and alone.”

“Huh? What changed for them?”

“Uncle Lachlan and Uncle Quinn’s wedding,” Matty told me.

“It was a whole hate fuck scenario, to which I heard more details then I needed from Uncle Wade who was more than happy to share. Don’t ask me what they used to get up to in Dad’s club,” Matty shook his head.

“I’ll never be able to look them in the eye again. ”

Opening my mouth, I went to ask, then thought better of it, and snapped my mouth closed.

“Now Dad and Papa,” Matty continued, because he really meant he wasn’t going to suffer alone any longer, “theirs was within minutes of meeting.”

Covering my ears, I begged him to stop torturing me. “There are things we should never know, even for the sake of your research. ”

Matty was enjoying this way too much, if the gleam in his eyes was any indication.

“Okay, so I just need to not have sex with Mason. And then move to another country, far away from him.” Absolutely doable.

Who was I kidding? I loved my family too much for that and my job was too important to me to ever consider moving away.

“Ronen, this is the most important thing to remember,” Matty turned serious now.

“Look, another consistent thing in my research is that when the omegas experienced this heat, they all–and I do mean all–got pregnant. It didn’t matter that they were on birth control that had never failed.

Or if they were on birth control, and the alpha used a knotting condom.

All of them got pregnant. Obviously, there are cases where no birth control was used, because they got caught up in the moment, and just didn’t care.

One omega described it as being drunk on pheromones, knowing in the back of their mind that they were taking a huge risk, and just not giving one care about the consequences. ”

I let all this sink in for a few minutes. “So basically, I’m fucked? And, I’m going to be stuck with this man, and have his baby?”

Matty spread his arms across his desk, “I mean…kind of, yeah.”

“Why is this happening to me?” I cried, feeling the heat of tears sting my eyes. Which pissed me off, because I was not one for random tears.

Matty stood and came around, sitting in the empty seat next to me.

Putting his arm around my shoulder, he whispered, “I think this is actually a good thing, Ronen. You just can’t see it at the moment.

” He placed a kiss on the side of my head.

“Just don’t push Mason away before you give him a chance, okay?

Fate has never been wrong when it comes to picking someone’s fated for them.

This is a good thing, and I’m pretty much an expert on this subject. ”

Good thing, my ass.

Fate was not getting her way this time. Not with me.