Unlikely Mates
Chapter 7

Kira

My panther is riled up to the point of no return. After finally managing to shift back to my human form and getting dressed, I take a seat on the back steps. My panther prowls my mind, pushing at the edges and trying to get me to let her back out. But that isn’t really an option. She just wants to kill Odette.

My panther has always been a bloodthirsty little thing. Max says that’s what makes me a great fighter. The years of suppressing my nature, not defending myself, and allowing people to walk all over me has made me stronger and more resilient. One of the best fighters he has ever seen.

A noise draws my attention to the far side of the yard. Silas walks through the side gate with his hands in the air. “I come in peace,” he calls out with his hands raised.

“What do you want, Silas?” My voice sounds tired, frustration bleeding through from every word.

“I just want to talk,” Silas replies as he walks closer.

“Say your piece and leave.” Already my panther is on full alert again. I barely got her calmed down and now he’s here.

“Kira.” He sighs, stopping two feet from me. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I want to apologize. Kids are assholes, and I was the biggest of them all.”

I try to interject, but he holds up a hand stopping me. “Please let me finish?” His eyes implore me to hear him out.

I nod lightly before Silas continues.

“I always knew what I was doing was wrong. The bullying, the name-calling, all of it. But it’s so easy to do the wrong thing when other people are doing it too.” He takes a deep breath before sitting beside me on the stairs. “I always thought that I would be able to apologize to your father for my actions, but now it’s too late. I don’t want it to be too late to apologize to you.”

Sincerity burns in the depths of his eyes, and I can feel the emotions pouring off him. I want to be a bitch and tell him to f**k off, but this is what I have always wanted. Someone to admit they were wrong.

“Silas…”

“No, Kira,” he interrupts me again. “I know saying I’m sorry isn’t going to change anything. That it doesn’t fix what we all did to you. What I am asking for is a second chance, to prove I have changed.”

“Why?” I ask, genuinely confused. “What does my opinion matter?”

“Of course, it matters, Kira. I was a prick and helped to make your childhood a living nightmare. I want to prove that I have grown up to be a better man.”

“That’s great, Silas, but I don’t think I’m ready to be your friend.” I get up off the stairs to enter the house.

“That’s fine too, Kira. We can work toward that,” he says. “I just don’t want us at each other’s throats the entire time. It will rip Rowan apart.”

Pivoting on my heel, I stare down at Silas where he is still seated on the stairs. “So, that’s why you’re here. Rowan sent you.” Rage courses through my veins anew.

“No, Kira,” Silas says, hanging his head low. “Rowan didn’t send me. But he is my best friend. His entire life, all he’s ever wanted was to replace his fated mate, to have what his parents had. I don’t want to be the part of the reason that you leave.”

“Believe me, there is more than your sorry a*s that has me wanting to leave,” I say before walking into the house and slamming the door behind me.

Rowan

My nerves are shot as I knock on the front door of Kira’s father’s house. Surely it’s her house now? Will she want to live here or with me after we are mated? Shit, I’m getting ahead of myself again. I need her to accept me as her mate first.

The door opens, and my breath is taken away by the vision of her. Earlier today, she was dressed formally for the funeral. Black slacks with a black long-sleeve shirt, but now she is way more casual. Cut-off jean shorts and a white tank top with some sneakers. So much skin on display. My gaze traces the tattoos running the length of her arms, and I wonder where they stop. So much color and life are infused into the art she wears on her body.

“Are you ready to go?” she asks casually.

I have never been more ready for anything in my life. “Where are we headed?”

“Caine has a cabin out in the forest about two hours’ drive from here. The pack usually uses it when the mating heat strikes. But because all of our pack are already mated or not yet of age, we don’t have to worry about anyone needing it in the near future,” Kira says as she locks the door and marches toward her little blue Jeep.

After throwing my bag into the back, I hop into the passenger seat. My mind runs a mile a minute with all the questions she just brought up.

“Your pack?” It’s the first question that pops out as she starts driving us toward our destination.

“Well, it’s a little complicated. But yes, I see them as my pack.” She keeps her gaze glued to the gravel road she needs to traverse before getting to the main road.

“Why don’t you explain it to me,” I say as casually as I can. “We have quite a drive ahead.”

I’m feeling anything but calm at the thought of her having found somewhere she wants to be. She has found a new pack and a new family, and that’s just going to make this all so much harder.

“When I left years ago, I had no idea what waited for me out there. I only knew I had to get away.” Her gaze flits to me, and I nod, remembering the night she left. “For six months, I was on my own, barely coping and struggling to get by. I even thought of coming back a couple of times. But then Talia found me.”

She laughs, her entire face lighting up. “She just stormed into my life without giving me a choice, and we’ve been best friends ever since. I live with her pack.”

“What’s so complicated about that?” I ask. Seems like she just found somewhere to be, with people who accepted her.

“They’re wolves,” Kira says with her head held high.

“What?” I ask way too loudly in the small space. “You can’t live with wolves! They are volatile, violent creatures. Barely in control of their animal.”

Kira hits the brakes so hard I have to catch myself on the dashboard. She turns toward me, fire blazing in her glare. “Don’t you dare presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, Rowan. Those people are more family to me than anyone in your godforsaken pack has ever been. They haven’t mentally and physically abused me or stripped me of all my worth.”

“I hear you, Kira, but it’s not safe.” I try to calm her down.

“And I’m so safe here?” She laughs harshly. “Wasn’t I attacked by your little girlfriend earlier today?”

“She’s not my girlfriend. And you managed yourself pretty well,” I retort.

“Because of Max,” she snaps. “Because the Katu Pack took me in and taught me how to fight, how to survive. Things my pack never did.”

I fall silent, chastised. How am I supposed to convince her to give me a chance? To accept me as her mate? She has so many other, better options out there. As she starts driving again, I ponder how I am going to make her stay in my life. I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive knowing she is out there when she is meant to be by my side.