Chapter 43 Chapter 43
Hanging up the phone, Devin moved back over to the window and watched Rayne walk along the water’s edge. She had run for cover when his agent had called, feeling responsible for the fast departure. He had expected to be raked over the coals and back when he’d answered the call, only to be shocked beyond words when she had told him that he had sold out. Not one single painting left. What had happened to make that possible he still had no idea, but he’d take it.
Despite the feeling of wonder that had him flying high since last night, the guilt kept over-powering them and leaving him feeling like a heel. He had marked her. She had claimed him. They were a mated pair and she was none the wiser. His instinct and body had taken over when she’d climbed on him and sunk her teeth into him, unknowingly accepting him as hers, but still he had let it happen and now had to face the truth and tell her—everything. What Devin had to figure out now was how to tell her. It had to be today, he couldn’t let it go any longer, not after last night.
His cell phone cut off thoughts off. Without taking his eyes off the sunbathed woman he answered it.
“A car just headed towards the gate.”
Calum’s news brought his whole body on alert. “Plates?”
“Way out of towners.”
“Fuck!”
“I’m on my way—save some for me.”
Snapping the phone shut, he jammed it into his pocket and headed to the front door. His only thought was to reach Rayne before someone else did, but he’d have to stay in skin form until he saw who it was first. As Devin rounded the corner of the house, he looked down to where Rayne was, she wasn’t there. His heart slammed to a stop. She had just been there. Inhaling deeply, he sought her scent and almost collapsed in relief when he didn’t smell anyone but her. She must have wandered down the path towards her tent.
Jogging in that direction, he focused on listening for the car coming closer. He could hear branches snapping and moving as Calum moved with cat-like speed through the bush from the other direction. When Devin cleared the trees near the small cabin Rayne was using, every muscle in his body came to an abrupt halt. Two large men were with her, and she looked scared shitless.
Tomas had found her.
Branches to his right cracked signaling Calum had arrived. A faint low growl meant for his hearing only told Devin he saw what he was looking at. Moving forward slowly, he gauged the size of the men and knew neither were Tomas himself. Just as he was shifter, so too were the goons that had his mate sandwiched between them.
“Aiden said to bring you back. He doesn’t give a damn about the car.” The dark-haired man said to Rayne with a smile.
Rayne glared at him. “All he’s getting back is the damn car. I am not going anywhere. You can tell him I want nothing to do with him. Ever.”
That was his girl. Devin was trying to stay out of their line of sight until he knew Calum had checked out the entire area.
“You can tell him yourself.” The other man grabbed her arm and started to drag her along with him.
He cleared the trees and stood in the path. “I suggest you let go of her. Now.” Devin felt Calum move up beside him.
The one holding Rayne snorted at him. “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you better mind your own business.”
He watched the fear appear in Rayne’s eyes and had to clamp down on his temper. “Devin Addison.”
Calum emitted a low warning growl.
The shock was clear to see as a look passed between the two strangers. They knew exactly who he was. Rayne was pushed in front of them, the cowards were practically hiding behind his mate.
“We uh...” one of them mumbled.
“Didn’t know. We thought she was unclaimed and it wouldn’t...”
He no longer looked at either of them as both bent down into what could have loosely been termed a submissive pose. He watched Rayne’s face as he uttered the next words. “She is marked and if you wish to leave here, you will back away from her slowly.” They hunched down further and moved in opposite directions away from her. The confusion was so clear on Rayne’s face Devin wanted to drop to his knees and tell her he didn’t want it this way.
Calum hunkered down beside him for a second and then moved over to stand with her. He knew the first priority was to get her out of here, as if he’d spoken out loud he circled around her and pushed her gently towards the cabin.
She glanced down at the cat and then at him for a moment before moving quickly to the cabin and going inside. Calum stood outside the door and looked at the cowards almost kneeling on the ground.
Devin had to finish this before he could go to her. “You tell Aiden Tomas who I am—to you and the others that he’s trapped into service for him and we’ll see if he’s man enough to come for her then.” They nodded in unison and lifted their heads. “When you’re ready to be free, the Alliance will help you.” A look of hope appeared in their eyes as they straightened.
“We’ll do that. T-thank you.” Turning they headed back in the other direction.
Calum chuffed as he went by him to follow them. “Disappointed you didn’t get to bite them?” Devin whispered knowing he would hear. He only glanced over his shoulder and then trotted along after Tomas’s shifters.
Devin stood there watching, procrastinating before explaining what Rayne needed to know. When the cabin door opened, he waited one heartbeat before turning to face her. Her face carried a hurt expression, and to know he was the reason it was there would be something he would never forget.
“Rayne...”
She shook her head. “I’m marked? What does that mean?” There was a note of anger in her voice.
“I didn’t intend to do it. It happened before I could...”
“What happened?”
Letting out a deep breath, he grasped at how to tell her this in the easiest way possible. There was no easy way. “Last night, when we—the mark on your neck, it won’t ever leave.”
Her eyes widened and flew to his neck before she looked back to his eyes.
“Neither will mine.” He took a deep breath. “We’re mates. A mated pair—now.”
Devin wasn’t sure if the look was a scowl or something else. Either way it wasn’t a good look.
“And you knew this before last night?”
He tried for the words to explain, but only was able to nod.
“Were you going to tell me?”
“Yes. Yes, I was going to tell you. I just wanted to give you time to adjust to everything else...” He was losing ground and knew it when she crossed her arms over her chest. “I was trying to stay away from you so it wouldn’t happen.” Devin thought he’d won a few inches when her face relaxed a small bit. She looked in the direction Calum had gone in.
“Who are you, Devin?” She motioned towards the men that had left. “Who are you to them? Why did those idiots of Aiden’s almost drop to their knees when you told them your name?”
For one brief moment, he’d hoped she hadn’t caught any of that. This part wasn’t going to go as well, instinct told him. “My father is the King of the Alliance—the head of all the clans... all shifters.”
She pursed her lips and was silent for too long. “So, you’re a Prince then?”
He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut and nodded as a reply again.
“I see.” Her eyes moved slowly over him. “And I’m your mate? Is that like a wife or something?”
Devin shrugged in a way he never thought he’d ever done. “Sort of, we do have actual weddings though as well...”
“You’ve made me a Princess of all the clans—without my knowledge?’
His mind flew through answers trying to find anything that would make it seem okay, he failed. “Yes.”
“Is this—leadership an election sort of position or a monarchy?”
He realized suddenly, that she was far too intelligent for his own good. Glancing at the sky fleetingly, he looked for a storm and prayed lightening would strike him before he had to answer. “My family is the monarchy.”
“I would someday be the queen?” Her voice squeaked and he winced.
There was only one more thing to tell her now. “If I take the place of my father.”
“If? Do you have an older sibling?”
He shook his head and stood perfectly still as she paced a few feet away from him and then spun around and glared at him.
“Is there anything else I should know?”
Where was that lightening? “I would be leader of the Alliance and the alpha of the wolf clan.”
“Oh, is that all? A King of two countries—more or less.” She huffed out a breath and turned away from him and looked at the trees. “I ran away from endless lies and deceit and you’re not any different than what I fled from.”
Devin’s heart was stuck in his throat, making breathing harder with each breath. “Rayne—I didn’t expect...”
She spun and if he’d been a young cub he might have dropped to the ground to hide from the look she was giving him. “You didn’t expect me. I understand that part. But you knew who you were and I’m pretty sure you knew we were mates long before I did.” She looked down at the ground. “That I had a right to know.”
Calum stepped out of the trees. He had stopped somewhere along the way and dressed. “They’re gone.” He said solemnly to neither in particular as he looked from one to the other.
Rayne cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
She turned from him and looked back at Devin, the pain in her expression almost undid him.
“Devin, I’d like some time alone please.”
He could feel Calum’s stare boring into him, but didn’t meet it. He wanted to drop to his knees and beg forgiveness, but knew enough by the way she held herself she was done listening to him for the day. “I’ll be at the house.”
He glanced briefly at Calum and knew he wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. Turning, Devin started back along the path. With each step his legs trembled as he prayed he hadn’t just lost her for good.
~
Losing track of how long he stood under the water, Devin went over every second that had passed since he’d met Rayne. Had there been opportunities to tell her everything? Yes. Would he have done it differently if he could do it again? Probably not.
Turning the now cold water off, he continued to stand there in thought. It was killing him to stay here and give her the time she wanted. He should be with her, talking to her—explaining about everything not standing here thinking about it. Devin kept hoping enough time had passed, but in truth it had only been an hour. He didn’t know her all that well, but she had a kind heart and had been very forgiving up to this point...
Stepping out, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist as he headed to the kitchen. If he were a drinking man, now would have been the time, but as it was he didn’t even have a beer in the fridge to distract his heart. Grabbing the coffee pot, he went over to the sink to fill it. The only thing he knew would take his mind off things was to paint, and he’d be at it for a while and would need a lot of caffeine to paint these emotions away.
When he finished in the kitchen he headed to grab some track pants, as he passed the front window spotted Calum standing down on the beach. How was he keeping an eye on Rayne if he was on the beach? Devin looked around for any sign of her, seeing none, he went to the other window to see if she had gone for a walk and he was keeping his distance. He didn’t see her there either.
As soon as he threw the window open, Calum turned and shook his head. Devin didn’t understand. As he started walking towards him, Devin bolted to grab his jeans.
By the time he got out on the deck Calum was already there. “Where is she?”
In all the years he had never seen the look Calum was giving him. It was one of hesitance.
“She’s gone.”
Devin’s heart slammed into his ribs. “Gone? Where?” How could he be so stupid as to let her leave? He was sure those goons were long gone and wouldn’t be coming back but he still shouldn’t have let her leave.
“She’ll be safe. I sent her to the one place no one is going to bother her. Actually, she asked to go...”
“She asked to go where?” Devin was trying not to yell at him, but his slow manner in telling him wasn’t helping the situation at all.
“To see your mother.”
If Devin lived another hundred years, he didn’t think he’d ever be as shocked as he was now. He hadn’t seen that coming. “You sent her to my parents?” Wasn’t Calum supposed to be on his side of things?
He shrugged. “Anywhere else and I’d be obligated to follow her and I didn’t think you’d go for that.”
He was right, but still his mother? “When is she coming back?”
Stuffing his hands in his pockets he looked down at the wood under their feet. “I don’t know if she is. She’s pretty upset, Dev.”
His chest hurt suddenly. The phone shrilled inside the house, and he knew who was going to be on the other end of it. Devin hoped he could explain to his mother the events of the last few days a hell of a lot better than he had Rayne. At least his parents he knew were on his side or he hoped they were.