บททั้งหมดของ Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal: บทที่ 61 - บทที่ 70

(Xander POV)When Piper got that funny look in her eyes, I knew immediately what was about to happen. Unfortunately, there were chairs between us, so —although I have killer instincts and I was able to quickly catch her— I was half a second too late and the back of Piper’s head still managed to hit the corner of the desk.The blood suddenly oozing from her head made our already horrible situation even worse. The overwhelming guilt hit me immediately, replacing the rage that I had been feeling.Goddess, I cannot believe that I blurted out the news about her father that way. The horrified, pained look in her eyes may be forever burned into my memory. I know it is no excuse, but I was just so angry with her… and myself… and the Moon Goddess… and the entire crappy situation. And to make matters worse, I knew I still had to tell her about Alpha Aiden being her brother. On top of that, all throughout our fight, I kept thinking about how we had so many secrets keeping us apart, and how

(Xander POV)I did not want to leave Piper behind at Moon Shadow Pack, especially after our fight. However, the doctor reassured me that she was going to be okay; I had already been there far too long; and I knew that it was only a matter of time before Amanda and Leo’s men came looking for me.Ultimately, trusting that Alpha Aiden and Beta Jonas would follow through on our discussion, I left the herbs with them and headed out with Daphne.As we waited for our taxi, Daphne excitedly asked me where we were going. Her excitement annoyed me to no end, but it was a fair question.A part of me debated whether I should take Daphne directly back to Blue Ridge, or whether I should first return to the hotel where I left Amanda. There were pros and cons with both approaches.The deciding factor for me was that I knew Amanda would lose her sh&t upon seeing me with my fated mate. In fact, I knew that there was a decent probability that —if I brought Daphne back to the hotel— Amanda might even

(Piper POV)I could tell that Asher was hiding something from me, and I had a ton of questions. However, I knew that most of my questions would have to wait. I needed to get out of Moon Shadow before an unnecessary war broke out; I did not want any lives to be lost over me.For a brief moment, I thought about leaving Moon Shadow and going directly to Bloodstone Pack. However, Penelope was against the idea, and I knew that both Aiden and Xander would view it as another betrayal. I also worried that one or both of them would try to get me back from Leo, which would give up any home field advantage they might have otherwise had. Whether I liked it or not, running again was the only logical answer right now. Or so I thought.I hurried to try to get out of bed, but I was still dizzy and my legs a bit wobbly. I guess I hit my head harder than I realized. Asher caught me just before I fell.“Easy, there, Piper. I am going to have to carry you out of here. I am also going to have to

(Piper POV)We hit the third pothole hard, and we could hear and feel the damage being done to the car.I suggested that Asher pull over so that we could check how bad it was, but he did not want to. Instead, he wanted to get as far away from the pack as we could. He insisted that we would continue to drive until we got to the next town, or until we couldn’t drive anymore, whichever came first.Unfortunately, it was the latter. We probably only made it another 2000 - 3000 feet before he was forced to stop.Thankfully, despite everything, I now had a decent amount of adrenaline in my system. That adrenaline allowed me to temporarily ignore my dizziness and my head wound —by this point, head wounds— and get out of the car on my own. I grabbed the umbrella that I saw in the back seat and used it to cover myself and Asher.The damage wasn’t as bad as we feared. Basically, our back passenger tire had been punctured and completely shredded. Asher opened the trunk and found a spare, w

(Asher POV)I have watched Piper since the first day she arrived at Moon Shadow Pack, in part because Jonas was nervous about having her around. In anticipation of her arrival, Xander told Jonas a variety of things about Piper. Some nice things; some not-so-nice. I had a bad feeling about the entire situation, and that feeling grew the more time I spent around her.My bad feeling was part of the reason that Jonas started to become suspicious of Xander too. They had been friends for a long time, but Jonas had slowly started to realize that he only knew the side of Xander that Xander wanted him to see. I suppose that is the benefit and downside of a long-distance friendship.Fast-forwarding to today, and I am not sure of many things. So much about the Piper-Xander-Leo situation confuses me. There is one thing that I am absolutely sure of, though: Piper is cream of the crop when it comes to she-wolves. She is kind, funny, and loyal. She calls you out on sh&t when you cross a lin