SWNOVELS Chapter 101
Chapter 101: Ayla
I left Theo to check on Annabelle. Mina was with her at the gatehouse, tending to her head wound. The inoment she saw me, she launched herself at me, giving me a tight hug.
“Thank you, Ayla,” she said. “You saved my life.”
“You’re my oldest.friend,” I told her. “What else could I do? How’s your head?”
“All good,” she said, tipping her head to show me. It was already healing nicely. It would probably be gone in a day or so.
“How are you?” Mina asked, giving me a hug as well.
“I’m fine,” I said. “No permanent damage. What about you?”
Mina laughed. “I’m good. That do**he didn’t even leave a scratch.”
Annabelle’s mate had arrived. They were going to stay with her parents for the night while the packhouse was getting cleaned up. We told them goodbye and that we would see them soon, promising to check in tomorrow.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” Mina said, throwing her arm over my shoulders.
“How is the cleanup looking?” I asked, looking toward the packhouse.
“They will manage without you, Ayla,” Mina said. “Let’s go pick up dinner. Our apartments should be fine by the time we get back. We’ll settle in for the night because you and I” she waved her finger between us
“need to talk.”
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I knew what she wanted to talk about. Honestly, I needed to talk too. So much had happened.
“Alright,” I conceded. “Let’s go.”
***
We got enough food for some of the others. The ranking pack members had their own wing of the packhouse. So we set it up in the common room before Mina dragged me to the apartment I had stayed in previously. She immediately plopped down on the couch with her take-
out.
“Okay, woman, spill,” she commanded.
I huffed as I collapsed next to her. “Where do I begin?”
“I mean, I know where I would,” Mina said, elbowing me. “But I have a feeling a lot has gone down. So, let’s start from the beginning. Last time we talked, you had broken up with Kingston and were going to hide out at the lake house for a while, including avoiding a certain Alpha. How the hell did that turn into a date?”
“Well, apparently, I suck at actually avoiding people,” I teased. “I
guess that’s why I felt the need to go rogue the last time.”
“Apparently,” Mina laughed. “Well, that or Theo’s persistence wore you down.”
“No, actually,” I replied. “He’s respected my space from the start. Even after I ended things with Kingston.” I took a deep breath. “The only reason he came to the guest house was to tell me what his father said.”
“About what?”
I knew this would be as hard a conversation for her as it was for me,
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but I wouldn’t keep it from her. I told her all about what Dad had done and her parents. I told her about the story and who Dad thought I was.
I held her as she cried, letting her work through it all.
Mina sniffled as she sat back on the couch, wiping her eyes. “I’m glad you told me, Ayla. I know that wasn’t easy,” she said. “But don’t think that’s gotten you out of telling me the rest.”
I laughed through my own pain. “I didn’t think I’d get that lucky,” I joked. “Theo was so kind and supportive when he told me. He let me grieve. That led to us talking. We talked for hours. I got to know him.”
“Yeah, he’s not so bad,” Mina said. “I really didn’t want to like him myself after what he did, but he’s just so da*n charming.”
“Mina,” I said, “what would Briggs think?”
“Are you kidding?” Mina replied. “He’s the one who wouldn’t stop talking about him. Sometimes I wonder who his mate really was.” We both laughed. “Now, tell me about the date? Was it perfect?”
“You have no idea,” I said, describing how wonderful the evening was.
“Hold on,” Mina interrupted, grabbing my arm. “Ayla, did you sleep with Theo?”
I felt my face go red. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that part of the conversation with her, so I tried something that would throw her off a little.
‘Yeah,’ I said through the mind-link.
Her grip tightened and her eyes went wide.
“What the… He didn’t…” She jumped up and started pulling my hair
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back to examine my n*eck for a mark.
“No, no, of course not,” I said, pushing her off.
“When the hell did this happen?” Mina demanded to know.
“Today, after the fire.”
“That’s what you two were doing in the shed?” she asked. “Now that I know you already banged him, I don’t know whether to be
disappointed or happy.”
“Mina,” I exclaimed.
—
“I’m just saying,” she said with a shrug. “From what I heard, the look on his face said you were either getting a beating or a” she made a lewd gesture – “you know, beating.”
“Dear goddess,” I said, trying to hold my laughter. “But don’t
encourage those rumors, please. We’re not ready for people to find out right now.
“So, you’re not together?” Mina asked, scrunching her face in confusion.
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, I… I mean, I’m not sure…” I huffed. “I don’t know.’
”
“Ayla,” her tone was serious now, “he’s your fated mate. Forget the possibility that the other Alphas could be. Theo IS your mate. That bond exists. If you’re not together, then why?”
“Something else happened.”
I finally told her about my stalker and the envelopes. I told her how close he had gotten just that morning. With the incident at the
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packhouse, I hadn’t heard if the patrols had any luck finding the guy. But in my gut, I knew they hadn’t.
“Mina, I need to talk to Kingston,” I said.
She sighed.
“I just feel like such a bi*ch,” I rushed. “There were a few issues with us, but I ended it mainly because he was keeping something from me. But I was keeping the messages from him, too. I’m just such a hypocrite. I can’t let it end the way it did.”
“Do you want to get back together with him?”
“No,” I insisted, surprising myself. I knew I had to make things right with Kingston, but I hadn’t thought about going back. I guess I realized that I didn’t want that. “I hadn’t even considered that. But I do owe him an apology and an explanation.”
“Okay,” Mina said. “But you should talk to Theo. It will be better if you two are on the same page when the pack finds out.”
“I know,” I said. “I want to talk to him.”
“Good, because you two showing up together hand-in-hand today is going to be a thing.”