Chapter 14 What He Kept From Me
ZANE'S POV
Her door was slightly open. Not enough to see inside, but just enough that the warm smell of the fire reached me on the path before I even knocked.
I stood there for a second longer than I should have, with my knuckles raised, and listened to the compound settle into its midday quiet around me. Somewhere behind me a wolf was chopping wood, and somewhere further, two voices were arguing about a border rotation, and one of them was getting louder.
Just another day in the pack.
I knocked and the chopping stopped for a moment then started again.
"Come in," she called out.
When I stepped inside, I found her sitting cross-legged on the bed, a book resting in her lap, her hair cascading loosely around her shoulders. She glanced up as I entered, and whatever she saw on my face made her close the book slowly.
Sit," she said, nodding toward the chair by the fire.
I took a seat and for a moment, we both just sat there in silence. The fire crackled softly, and outside, the chopping still continued..
"You look like you have something to say." she said, breaking the quiet.
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and staring at my hands for a moment before meeting her gaze.
"There’s something about wolves," I began, "that I should have told you the night I brought you here. I kept telling myself I’d find the right moment to share it." I paused, taking a breath. "But honestly, there’s never a perfect time. So I’m just going to say it."
She didn’t move, she just watched me with those piercing grey eyes that seemed to catch every little detail.
"Wolves have something called a mate bond, and they have only one mate," I said. "Your mate is someone this bond recognises, it's not a choice you can make or someone you choose. It hits you the first time you catch their scent, and once that happens, there’s no turning back. Your wolf knows first, even before you’ve said a single word to them." I paused for a moment, letting the weight of my words settle. "Three months ago, I was at the edge of town, and I caught yours.”
The fire crackled softly in the background.
Davina didn’t move, but I could see something shift behind her eyes.
"I knew right away," I continued. "I knew what you were to me before I ever stepped foot in your shop. Before those men crashed through your window. Before any of this chaos started." I held her gaze, because she deserved that much. "You’re my mate, Davina."
The silence that followed felt different, thicker, and charged with unspoken words.
She got off the bed, and walked over to the window. I watched her, her back to me, arms crossed, shoulders rising and falling with a breath that felt just a bit too controlled.
Then she turned around. "Say that again," she said quietly.
"Davina…"
"No, say it again. I want to make sure I’m hearing you right." Her voice was low, but I could sense something building beneath the surface.
"You’re telling me that you've known me for three months, that you've probably been stalking me, and that I’m your mate. That some bond decided that."
"Yes, I've known you for three months even before we officially met, and I tried to stay away, I really tried... and yes, you're my mate."
She laughed, the kind of laugh that comes when something hits you so hard that your available response feels completely out of place.
"Okay." She pressed her fingers against her mouth for a moment, as if trying to hold back a flood of thoughts. "So let me get this straight." She started moving, not quite pacing, but clearly restless. "Three months ago, I was just living my life. My very normal, very human life. I had a shop, a routine. I was finally getting to a point where I could breathe again after everything with Steven, and I was fine." She paused, her expression shifting. "I was fine. And then your people come crashing through my window, dragging me into a world I didn’t even know existed, something I had no say in, and now you’re telling me that on top of all that, I don’t even get to choose who I…” She stopped herself, turning away again, lost in thought.
"Did it ever occur to you," she said, facing the window, "to just tell me? Before you brought me here. Before I spent a week in this compound being treated like I meant nothing because I'm human. Before any of that." She turned back around. "Did it ever once occur to you that I deserved to know what was happening?"
"Yes," I replied. "It occurred to me every day."
"Then why…"
"Because I was afraid," I admitted. "Of exactly this. Of you looking at me the way you're looking at me right now.”
She stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths, and I stayed in my chair, giving her the space she needed. I had no defense that mattered more than the fact that she was absolutely right.
“I’m not a trophy,” she said finally, her voice softer now but still firm. “I’m not something your wolf gets to decide about without me. I’ve spent a good time letting someone else make choices about my life, and I’m done with that.” She locked eyes with me. “Do you understand?”
“Yes.” I replied simply.
"What does this actually mean for me, right now?"
I held her gaze. "It means whatever you decide it means. The bond is there, whether you acknowledge it or not, I can’t change that. But I’m not asking you to feel anything. I’m not asking for anything from you."
"Then why tell me at all?"
I let out a slow breath. "Because there’s a Council hearing in three weeks," I explained. "Grayson filed a formal complaint this morning. He’s claiming you’re here against your will, and if the Council sides with him, my pack loses its Alpha claim entirely." I watched her face shift as she processed that. "You’ll have to stand in front of them and argue your own case. I needed you to know all of this before you did."
She just stared at me, her expression shifting as the reality of the situation sank in.
The chopping outside had faded away at some point, and the compound was eerily quiet. Davina stood in the middle of the room, looking at me as if she was just starting to grasp the magnitude of what she’d been thrown into.
"So," she said slowly, "he's not just trying to take me, but he is using me to tear your whole pack apart."
"Yes."
That seemed to annoy her even more.
"Tell me about this pack law," she asked.