My Fated Mate Can Have Her-Chapter 239: Reunion

Violet

"You didn’t fail," I said firmly. "What happened to you wasn’t your fault. Rowan—" I caught myself, the name slipping out too easily. "Lord Rowan did something you couldn’t have resisted..." I clutched my wrist, lowering my eyes. "No one could have."

Bei’s expression darkened slightly. "We figured as much. Telsid explained some of it when we arrived. But it still doesn’t sit right." She shook her head slowly. "One moment we were with you, and the next we were running through the Silverwood with no idea how we got here."

"It’s been eating at us," Ana added quietly. "It was like we abandoned you out there. And despite what we were told by their beta..."

"Please, don’t say that." I looked up to meet Ana’s gaze. "You didn’t abandon me, especially not by your own will."

Corin didn’t look convinced, but some of the tension in his shoulders eased slightly.

Bei studied me.

"What happened out there, Violet?" she asked. "After we... left. And why are you here now? With him?"

Corin added, suddenly at alert, "He didn’t do anything to you, did he?"

The question did something I never would have expected.

An image of Rowan’s body pressed against mine beneath the glowing willows popped up in my head before I sharply got rid of it, forcing the memory back into whatever corner of my mind it had escaped from.

He had done something to me. Just not what they were imagining.

"No," I managed, "Nothing like that."

Bei’s eyebrow rose slightly, and I could tell she had noticed my reaction. But she didn’t press.

"Then why?" Ana asked. "I am confused as to why he would do any of this."

I hesitated, my mind racing.

I couldn’t tell them the truth. That Rowan was my mate. That the bond had been pulling us together from the moment we met. That I had kissed him, slept with him, let him hold me like I belonged to him.

And I couldn’t lie and say Kael had sent him either. That would be a betrayal of a different kind, using Kael’s name to cover something he knew nothing about.

So, I told them a half truth instead.

"Rowan took the initiative himself," I said carefully. "He felt that with other Supreme Alphas potentially searching for me, it wasn’t enough for just the three of you to keep me safe. I do not know what conversation he had with Kael before leaving, but he wanted to ensure my protection personally."

Bei frowned. She looked confused.

"But if that was the case," she said slowly, "why didn’t he just join us? Why send us away and come alone?"

I honestly didn’t have an answer for that.

Or rather, I did, but it wasn’t one I could give.

"I don’t know," I said, the lie tasting bitter on my tongue. I looked down at my hands, a frown settling over my features. "I asked myself the same thing at the time."

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Corin spoke first, his voice grim. "This could cause complications. Silverwood and Fresna are allied nations, but what he did... manipulating wolves under another Supreme Alpha’s command..." He shook his head. "That’s not something that can be easily overlooked."

"I know," I said quietly. "Ro—he said he would bear full responsibility for it."

I had almost said his name too casually again. I caught myself just in time, but the near-slip made something twist uncomfortably in my stomach.

I needed to distance myself from him.

Whatever had happened between us, whatever I had allowed to happen, it couldn’t continue. Not here. And especially not with Bei and Ana and Corin watching. Not with the weight of everything pressing down on me.

I would stay in Silverwood until it was safe to leave. I would be polite and grateful for the protection. But I would not let myself get any closer to Rowan than I already had.

The decision settled into my chest like a stone.

I did not like how painful it made me feel.

Why was I even torturing myself like this?

I thought back to the night Rowan held me down and confronted me about Kael and why exactly I was holding myself to one mate I hadn’t even bonded with when I had another.

"How have you been treated?" I asked, deliberately changing the subject. "Here, I mean. Have they been good to you?"

Bei exchanged a glance with Ana and Corin.

"Well enough," Ana admitted reluctantly. "We’ve been given comfortable quarters and plenty of food. We’re free to move around the city, though always with an escort."

"Surveillance," Corin added flatly.

"Well, all in all, our minds are more at ease now," Bei said softly, her gaze returning to me as she reached forward and grabbed my hands in hers. "Knowing you’re here and safe."

I smiled faintly. "I am sorry it took so long. There were... detours. Some of the other nations were already searching for me, and we had to be careful."

Bei nodded slowly, processing this.

"Then perhaps it’s best you stay here for a while," she said. "Rest. Recover. Let things settle before we continue."

"Oh, yes."

Bei nodded, then let go of me. "Did you find it? The place you were searching for?"

The pull stirred in my chest at her words, that familiar tug toward a place I still hadn’t found yet.

I shook my head. "Not yet."

"Then we wait," Bei said simply. "And when it’s safer, we’ll go. Together this time." She paused, a hint of dryness entering her voice. "And hopefully without Lord Rowan deciding to accompany us. Though I imagine he’ll be far too busy to even consider it now."

I thought of the chaos we had walked into. Telsid’s frantic energy, the piled work, and the months of absence.

"Yes," I agreed quietly. "He will be."

But even as I said it, I couldn’t shake the feeling he would still plan things to make sure he came along.

The four of us spoke for a long time after that.

They told me about their arrival in Silverwood, the confusion and fear of those first days, along with the slow realization that while they weren’t prisoners but weren’t exactly free either.

They told me about their experience in the city, and for a little while, things almost felt normal.

But beneath it all, the decision I had made sat heavy in my chest.

Aside from these three not knowing about Rowan and I, why was I fighting so hard to keep him away from me?