Rejected
Chapter 18

Liam

I stand in shock, eyes locked onto the door as her words echo in my mind. The goddess said we are mates…SHE is my mate? It could explain the way my wolf reacts to her, the reason I feel so eager to ensure her happiness and the need to protect her, but why would she wait until now to say something?! It isn’t possible. I sit back on the hospital bed with my head swirling with our entire conversation when the door to my room swings open.

“Oh goddess, I am so sorry. Kyle said that Dia was coming here to talk to you, so I thought I would replace her here. I will go, I am so sorry.” Nadia’s mother fumbles the words out on one uneasy breath.

“Wait!” She pauses mid-turn then looks at me with a cautious gaze.

“Yes?” Her tone is off, don’t ask me how I know, but I do. She looks like someone who has a lot to say, but is clamping down, determined to keep their secrets safe from prying eyes.

“Nadia was here. She had questioned some intruders for me and brought me the information she got from them. She said something to me before she stormed off…perhaps you can shed light on it for me.” Her eyes widen slightly, clearly curious about what her daughter revealed.

“What did she say?” That was too easy.

“She said that the Goddess told her that we are mates.” Her eyes grow impossibly wider and her mouth gapes open.

“So, she told you. I honestly didn’t think she would.” Her surprised expression tells me that this was something Nadia had not planned to share.

“She did. Now, can you tell me why she didn’t say something sooner?” She averts her gaze, looking anywhere but at me.

“I can’t, she didn’t want you to know.” I feel my patience running thin and am done playing games.

“You can tell me willingly, or I and use my alpha command. You know as well as I do that she has no plans of telling me. She only let slip the part about us being mates because I pissed her off.” She thinks for a moment, but when she lets out a pained sigh, I know I’ve won.

“The goddess told her that you are her mate, but should she accept you, it would come at a price. She can choose to be mated with you, leaving you with a mate that cannot give you an heir, or she can use her unimaginable powers to help others during the remainder of her time here until the power finally consumes her. She didn’t want to make you choose for fear that you would regret taking a mate who could not give you an heir and that you would equally blame yourself for her death should you reject her. She…she thought it would be easier if you just didn’t know. It honestly surprises me that you didn’t feel the mate bond.” She stares at me as her last comment plays in her mind.

“A second chance mate doesn’t always present the bond in the same way. A true mate can be even more different. I have felt something toward her, but I thought it was just the heartache we both shared. I thought maybe it bonded us in someway, but I never imagined that bond was a mate bond.” She walks closer and her expression becomes serious.

“If you cannot accept my daughter as your mate, flaws and all, then please…pretend this never happened. Let her live out the last years of her life helping others and doing what makes her feel happy. She has endured enough heartache for a hundred lifetimes.” The agony and heartache she is feeling are seeping through and I would be lying if I said it is not having a profound effect. I can’t help but wonder if my anger towards the rogues is misplaced and with that thought, I feel regret slithering its way in as I realize my reaction toward Nadia was unfair.

“I think Nadia and I have some things to discuss.” She gives me a pleading look, begging me for what though? Not to go after her daughter? To save her daughter from this awful curse?

“You said she stormed off, so how will you replace her? I can assure you that if she does not want to be found, she won’t” There is a glint of anger in her tone as if she just remembered that I had done something to make her daughter upset enough that she stormed out of the hospital.

“I have a pretty good idea of where she went.” I walk stiffly to the chair in the corner of the room where Kyle set a clean change of clothes and quickly get dressed, wincing with every swift and uncomfortable movement. I do not say anything more to Nadia’s mother before rushing out of the hospital and past Doctor Morrow as he shouts his concern and displeasure with my action.