There’s a knock on the door.
And then it slides open and Bailey comes in. “I’m so sorry to barge in, but I have really good hearing and thought I might be able to give you some insight.”
I say nothing.
“Our pack mates in birth order. Because you guys are in the same family, we think nature with the help of witches whose job it is to help keep the balance – well, they made sure the right matches happened by interfering. When Mason got back to town, he went missing and we’re guessing he went into limbo so he’d be out of the way while nature took its course and matched Tyson with Ivy. It’s not necessarily that he thought Ivy was who he wanted, he probably just got discombobulated because of the birth order thing put in place when our pack was formed with the help of the witches who created the hierarchy, the tethering bonds, and so forth.”
“None of this matters,” I say.
Bailey moves closer. “Let me explain though. It makes sense when you think about it. Joel helped me compile some data and I checked genealogy records and there have been two other cases in our pack of alpha council members mating with siblings. They aligned in birth order both times. Though they were all shifters. But that doesn’t matter. Obviously, the witches knew somehow that it made more sense for Tyson to be with Ivy and for Mason to mate with you. So they interfered to help things along. Tyson thought we hurt his family so he wanted nothing to do with us. But when Ivy got bit by a snake, our antivenom brought him back to us, that opened the door for him to complete the council. Everything seems like it’s happening for a reason.”
“Oh, my sister being publicly raped was a good thing?”
Bailey gulps. “I hate that it happened. I saw it and I was devastated for your sister.”
“But yet you did nothing.”
“Amie…” Ivy whispers. “Let her finish.”
Bailey gulps again. “Ivy has gone through some awful ordeals. And no, that’s not fair. And it sounds like you have, too. But you’re both getting your happy endings with great men. Amazing men. Maybe that makes it worth it.”
She stops.
I sigh.
She starts again, “It was awful that it happened but a lot of things happened so other things could happen. Mason going missing might have been a bit like that. It happened so that Tyson and Ivy could mate without any interference and put things on pause with Mase until you had an opportunity to get in his sights. Which you did when your sister went missing. You came to find her. And Mason found you.”
I say nothing as Bailey takes a big breath and then keeps going.
“And again, it was awful that Ivy was in danger because of that snake bite, but because all those things happened, it meant that we got to be part of his life again. It meant that his family now knew that branch of the Savage family line, that the next generation of Savage first alphas might actually happen, and-”
“Yeah,” I interrupt, “And it makes way more sense for your biggest, most important long-lost alpha to be with someone who can help further that family line. Because the first-born Brennan girl is barren, so heaven forbid she get matched with Tyson and that section of the Savage family line dies right there.”
God, my heart feels like it’s been ripped from my chest. It keeps coming back to this, doesn’t it?
My sister’s head has jerked back. Her eyes are wide with shock.
“Poor Mason Quinn,” I say, “Drew the short straw in the fated mate department, didn’t he? Guess the Quinn line can die, but the Savage line can’t.” An ugly sound of agony comes from me.
Something Skye said to me occurs to me now, too. She said something when we first met about something unfortunate happening and me looking like my sister.
Neither my sister nor Bailey say a word. I’ve never told Ivy I can’t have kids. She’s staring at me with shock.
“And Rick didn’t love me!” I shout. “I just found out that not only was he cheating on me with the cunty Sheila, the only reason he pushed me to have that wedding was because a) he had everything booked from his last fiancée and didn’t want to lose his deposits, he even gave me her ring, some cursed thing. No wonder it’s so butt ugly and…” I take in a big breath and dash the tears off my face, “B) the only reason he even proposed was because he had to marry me before he turned thirty to get an inheritance early, an inheritance he badly needs for some reason. So yeah, second choice. Consolation prize. Whatever. At least Mason helped his pack, took one for the team and fulfilled the fucking prophecy so the rest of the alphas can find their loves of their life and make big, beautiful families, even if Mason wound up with me instead of the perfect princess, the non-evil Brennan girl he should’ve had.”