“This isn’t over, Rachel.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Nash did it for me. “It is,” he snapped. “I don’t know who the fuck you are or why you think you’re anything to my wife. There’s nothing between the two of you. She made it clear, and now I’m telling you. Get the fuck out of her life.”
12
CORD
Holy shit. There was a lot to absorb today. When I’d dreamed of having a scent match and a mate, I’d never pictured this. First, we found out from Wade that Nash was the son of an abusive and quite possibly murderous wolf. Now Rachel had just married the guy.
Not that I objected. Locking her down in this relationship was our goal, so having the paper ticket humans required to prove a union was a win, even if I wasn’t the husband named on said paper.
When Rachel blurted out she and Nash were married, I’d lost my shit. That had been a bad move, but my wolf had been pleased. It was our number one priority as shifters to protect our mates and get rid of any threats. We couldn’t kill a human and bury him in the woods, no matter how much my wolf wanted to do that with Chester. Marriage was what the fucker wanted with Rachel. Having her legally bound to someone else instead solved that problem.
Wolf happy.
But it didn’t solve any of our actual problems. She’d tossed those words out as a lie. She hadn’t meant them. So we couldn’t tell her about us being shifters, and we couldn’t claim her.
Nash was a wild card, and now legally bound to her. Would I have to protect our mate from her other match just as Noble had done for Nash’s mother?
Fuck.
We had to convince her to want to be married and bound to both of us. For real. To let us mark her and claim her for life. I didn’t think either of us were going to go moon mad too soon, but I didn’t know of any match based on a lie. And secrets. And a dark history.
As soon as Chester walked out, we drew Rachel into a three-way hug. When I felt her body trembling, a low growl formed in my throat. I was ready to chase Chester down and bury him like I’d imagined.
“Are you okay, beautiful? He’s gone.”
We released her, and stood back.
“I’m fine. I’m just pissed off,” she said, but tears formed in her eyes. “Here I thought all this time I was just confused. I wanted to please everyone and make things work with Chester, the way they were supposed to. I thought I was the asshole for not wanting such a perfect guy.”
This time, it was Nash who growled.
“He’s not a perfect guy. Far from it. He just wanted my money!” She sounded so offended as she flung her arms in the air.
No way that man was in love with her. His intentions were obvious, and far from pure.
“I mean, I think I knew it on some level. I thought we were mutually using each other. I thought I was okay with that. An easy, perfect-on-paper match, that sort of thing. We had the right families, the right status, a shared history. All that stupid high-society political stuff. But he was straight up using me for his own gain. He didn’t care about me at all!”
Tears streamed down her cheeks and she wiped them away.
Fuck, tears. Her cheeks were flushed and she paced the small space. Norma, the county clerk, watched quietly. I wasn’t sure how much Bessie had told her to get the license made in time. I was thankful Bessie and I had thought the same thing, and that Norma was all for getting dumbass humans to leave town.
Norma went over and put an arm around Rachel’s slim shoulders. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s go to the ladies’ room and get you cleaned up. That guy isn’t worth your tears. You’ve got these two right here.”
Rachel turned her teary eyes to me, then Nash, and let Norma lead her out of the office and down the hall.
While Rachel couldn’t hear me from the restroom, I stepped close to Nash. “Well, shit,” I murmured.
He took off his hat, ran his free hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, man. It should have been you. I’m—I don’t know if I’m cut out for this Two Marks thing. And now I’m the one fucking married to her. While I don’t give a shit about human marriages, I at least figured it would be legit.”
“It’s legit,” I said, looking at the paper lying on the desk. “But still a lie. She didn’t do it because she wanted you for the rest of her life.”
“And she shouldn’t,” he said, his eyes filled with a mix of bleakness and anger. “You heard what Wade said about Harlan. There’s no question that I’ve got his DNA. I’m not suited for a triad. I’m way too aggressive. Rough. I wanted to rip her ex apart.”