Fated (Doomsday Brethren 2)

“Indeed. Not only possible, but real. Some of Mathias"s followers attacked The Witch"s Brew. Kari was nearly killed. ”

“Of course she was. We"re cursed. You knew that. ” Raiden raked a hand through his long golden hair. “Daft prick. She likely would be dead if she had spoken the Binding. ”

“I stopped her. ”

“Good. ” Raiden nodded. “Resume your normal life. We"ll go out tomorrow night and—”

“I can"t. ” Ronan closed his eyes. He didn"t want to confess this, truly. But neither could

he lie, especially to Raiden. “Something inside me…changed. I can no longer endure strangers. ”

“What are you saying? You plan to be…faithful?” Raiden spit the word. “To a woman who will never be your mate?”

“I know it sounds foolish—”

“It sounds ridiculously self-sacrificing, actually. If you"re attempting to deepen Kari"s feelings for you, you"re wasting your time. She"s already madly in love with you. ”

And he"d hurt her. Deeply. After spending the night with her, he"d destroyed her feelings by leaving the pub with another woman. Shame roiled through him.

“Not any longer. She thinks I bedded another woman. ”

Raiden frowned. “She thinks? You didn"t?”

Ronan shook his head.

“It"s been days since you…” Understanding dawned. “Are you utterly daft?”

“I couldn"t hurt her more,” Ronan argued, though that was but half the truth.

“Nor can you complete that mate bond. Or you"ll have her death on your conscience. ”

So he must either break her heart or be her death. At the moment, he felt as if either would kill him. “Raiden, I tried to bed another woman. I couldn"t abide her touch, her smell. Her kiss made me retch. Literally. ”

This time, Raiden had no sarcasm or growled advice. “I won"t ask if she was unattractive.

No woman has ever been so unattractive to you during sex that you became ill. ”

“She was perfectly acceptable. Completely amenable. One kiss and I…” He shuddered.

Raiden stared a bloody hole through him. “Maybe another woman? Another day—”

“I don"t want anyone else. ”

His twin paused. “So you"re going to leave me to our usual haunts and activities alone?

Though we"ve shared the same curse and taken the same path for decades, you"re planning to abandon me?”

Ronan tensed. This was it, the question he feared would drive a permanent wedge between them. “I can no longer be who I was. ”

With a shout, Raiden turned and punched the wall. “You"d rather sink into your fucking fairy tale where love and happily-ever-after can happen for a Wolvesey? What you want, Ronan, is impossible. ”

Perhaps, but that changed nothing. With everything inside him, he wanted Kari for his mate, to see her grow round with his children, to love her for the next nine hundred years.

None of that would ever come to pass.

“If it pleases you, knowing that I"ve lost Kari and will likely lose you as well is killing me. ”

Raiden looked at him as if he talked to a complete stranger. Then he shook his head. “Did you ever think that, perhaps, I had feelings for someone?”

Ronan stared, stunned. No, he hadn"t. “You never shag anyone more than once. ”

Raiden looked away with a guilty flush. “Tabitha carries my child now. It"s all I can do to stay away from her, to ensure her safety. It"s best for her and the baby. ”

What a bloody mess. Ronan felt like a failure. He wanted to know how his brother could stand to share a bed with one woman with another in his heart, but he knew: close your eyes and pretend. But for Ronan, that was impossible now.

With a snort of disgust, Raiden turned away. “Let me know when you"ve come to your senses. Otherwise, stay the fuck away. ”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ronan sat in his usual table, in his usual corner. And he watched Kari"s every move from across the room.

The pub was busy for a Thursday night. Humans mingled with magickind without ever knowing they flirted with someone not quite their own species. Music blared, drinks flowed, people laughed—and Ronan had never been more miserable.

Kari refused to talk to him. The first night he"d occupied this spot, she"d never acknowledged him. By the following evening, she"d hired a waiter—a large one—with a shaved head and a skull and crossbones tattoo on one forearm and a fire-breathing dragon on the other.

Human, so not much of a threat to him, but Ronan received the message clearly: piss off.

Nursing a scotch, he watched the ebb and flow of the patrons for the twelfth straight night. He"d long given up hope of Kari talking to him. But he would ensure she stayed safe, no matter what it took. The one ray of hope was that Tynan had been too busy with the Doomsday Brethren to put in his usual appearance at The Witch"s Brew. Small favor, that. But one that kept her safer.

Again, Ronan wondered if Kari would be better protected if he actively fought evil, rather than sat her at the pub waiting for it to strike. Now that he no longer chased a different female every night, he realized he"d given little thought to the future. What would he do? A part of him wouldn"t relinquish the idea that joining the Doomsday Brethren would both give him purpose and protect his mate.