Chapter Twenty-Eight

Kane tugged on Mason's hand. He liked the feeling of their hands intertwined between them. Kane tried not to think about the fact that it was as close to Mason as he could physically get. Instead, he just enjoyed the feeling of the warm hand in his own. "Let's go," he told him as he took a step, "or we are going to be late."

Mason let him lead them towards the car. "Do we have to go?" he asked as they got closer.

Kane stopped walking. He turned back to Mason. "You don't want to go to Tyler's?" he asked, watching Mason's expression.

"I don't know," Mason told him with a shrug. He seemed conflicted. "It's kind of awkward going to a dinner to celebrate a road trip."

"You know that's not what it really is," Kane explained. "I just want to tell them what's been going on. They deserve to know the truth."

Mason seemed to consider that for a moment. He tapped the tip of his converse against the pavement. "We don't even know what's going on," he replied in a small voice.

Kane tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Mason let go of Kane's hand. He came to stand against the side of the car. He ran a hand through his hair and Kane didn't miss that it caused the edge of his black t-shirt to rise up, showing the skin underneath. "I guess this is a lot," he mumbled.

Kane took a few steps closer to him, his hand suddenly feeling colder than the rest of his body. His expression matched the concerned one that covered Mason's features. "You mean us?"

Kane considered what Mason had said. He was right, this was a lot. In the last twenty-four hours they had found out not only that he and Nora really weren't mates, but also that Mason might just be his mate after all. Kane sighed. He hadn't asked Mason if he was okay. There was a small part of Kane that worried about what Mason was thinking. Did he want to be his mate after all?

Mason nodded. "Yes, but not in a bad way. It's just, what we found out yesterday was more than a surprise. I knew that there was something between us, but having a question mark around us being mates is confusing."

Kane smiled. "It's funny, because I think the opposite."

Mason furrowed his eyebrows. "How?"

Kane smiled at him. "Me and Nora, now that was confusing. Me wanting to be with you, despite having a mate, that was confusing as all hell. Now, that's all gone and I feel like I can see clearly for the first time. It's you and me. We are mates. I don't see a question mark." Kane was going to stop there, but he knew that he could trust Mason with his real feelings. He added, "It kind of scares me that you do."

Mason shook his head quickly. "No, no. It's not that. It's not that I don't want to be with you or that I think we aren't mates. It's just that it's scary knowing that there's some crazy spell stopping us from having a mate connection. I'm worried about that, not about you and me."

Any worry that Kane held before was free to fly out the window in that moment. He was overcome with a sense of determination. "We will reverse the spell."

Mason's lips turned into a small smile. "You seem sure of that."

"I am," Kane told him with certainty. He reached over and linked their fingers, not caring if anyone saw. "When I heard that Nora and I weren't real mates, it was like everything fell into place. I know now why all of this happened. It was always supposed to be you and me. There's no way that this was all for nothing."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're sure it's me and not someone else?" Mason asked with a small smile.

Kane knew he was joking but the thought still ran through his mind. He thought about it but he couldn't even consider it. He remembered that feeling in his chest he'd experienced when they had kissed, the way that the entire world melted away when they were in the same room. There was no way that he could feel the same away about someone who wasn't his mate. There was more to it too, a way that he and Mason connected on a level that he never did with Kai or Wyatt. Kane couldn't believe , even for a second, that all of that was for nothing.

"It's you." Kane smiled over at him. "I know that it's you."

Mason smiled back, dimples in his cheeks. Kane wanted to kiss the smile right off his face, and he was about to, before he realised that he couldn't.

"What happens if we get to this witch doctor and she says that she can't reverse the spell?" Mason asked, his voice small. "What happens to us then?"

Kane shook his head. "We can't think like that."

"It's a possibility."

Kane squeezed his hand. "Witches are powerful, but as we've seen, a true mate connection is more powerful. Our connection is still there. I have to believe that means it can be salvaged."

"I hope you're right."

Kane motioned towards the house. "If you really don't want to go, we can stay here."

Mason shook his head. "No, we should go. Plus," he glanced back at the house, "I don't think Nora would want us to stay. She didn't seem to be in the best mood."

Kane looked over at the big, double windows in the centre of the house. He imagined her in there, just as he had left her, sitting in his bed with a frown on her face. He couldn't blame her, but he did wish she would have come with them.

"Yeah, best we let her have some alone time."

"She's mad at me still, isn't she?"

Kane didn't know for sure why she was so upset. He figured that she was more mad at his mother and the situation as a whole than Mason. He had tried to talk to her that morning but she had been avoiding him like the plague. The one moment they did get together that afternoon she had just muttered out one word answers at him. The bond between them was hurting and Kane had to actively try to push the feelings aside.

"She's just upset."

"How on earth are we going to survive a road trip together?" Mason asked.

Kane sighed. The mental image of the three of them fighting in his car popped into his head and he had to forcibly wash the image from his eyes. "We will figure it out." He wasn't sure if that was the truth, but he sure as hell was going to try.

By the time they arrived at Tyler's house everyone was already there. Kane was glad to see that Adam's car wasn't in the driveway. He had told Tyler not to invite him, but he couldn't guarantee Violet wouldn't bring him. He knew that he couldn't handle talking to Adam right now. He would have to deal with him when they got back. Kane felt a hand on his as they walked up to the porch steps.

"We are telling them everything, right?" Mason asked.

Kane nodded. His friends deserved to be told the truth. "It will be okay. They will understand."

Kane turned the knob. The door was unlocked. They walked into the house and were instantly greeted by Hannah. The dog wagged her tail and nudged them happily. "Where's Ty?" Kane asked the dog.

"We are in here," Amelia's voice rang out from the other room.

Kane glanced at Mason. "You ready for this?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Mason told him.

The two of them walked down the hallway and into the living room. Amelia and Violet sat on one couch together, with Tyler sitting opposite them. All three of them were looking at them as they walked into the room. They had been talking but silence fell over them until the only sounds were of Hannah's heavy, excited breathing. Kane looked into the shocked faces of his friends, not knowing why they were looking at him like that.

"Hi?" he said, almost like a question. He looked between their surprised faces.

"You have some explaining to do," Amelia said with a sudden wide smile.

"Everything simultaneously makes so much more and less sense," Tyler said with a laugh.

Kane only then realised that he and Mason were still holding hands. He looked down at their linked fingers and smiled. "We have a lot to tell you guys."

Thirty minutes later, they were sitting at the dinner table, spoonful's of Tyler's homemade spaghetti in their mouths and shocked looks on their faces. Kane had explained the entire situation to them, omitting some details, such as those involving Adam.

Tyler lifted his eyes from his plate for a moment. "So this road trip isn't really a road trip?"

"It's to find the witch doctor who cast the spell," he explained.

"Are the three of you going?" Amelia asked.

"Yes," Mason confirmed. "We can pray that we make it there without ripping each other's throats out.

Tyler laughed. "I'm, uh, sure you'll be fine."

"Such a convincing tone," Kane replied with a smirk.

Tyler shrugged and filled his mouth with more pasta.

Violet perked up from the end of the table. "I'm still just confused, how do you know that you two are the real mates?"

Kane glanced over at Mason. He didn't have the words to explain it fully. He knew some things pointed strongly to them being soul mates, however, the real reason was just that he knew. Deep down, when he looked at Mason, he knew. He found himself starting into Mason's grey eyes.

"We know," Mason replied for him.

Kane managed to tear his eyes away from Mason for a moment. "He's the only one I can kiss without it hurting us. Plus, we have a connection. It might not be a mate connection right now, but there's something between us."

Violet's expression changed. Her eyes grew sad. "I'm sorry that I tried to force you and Nora together."

"You couldn't have known," Kane reminded her. He couldn't blame her, or anyone really, except those who knew the truth. "No one could have ever guessed this would happen."

"Does Adam know that you two are together?" she asked. Suddenly, there was something in the way she looked at him that pointed to a realisation. Kane wondered if she had put the pieces together, his situation with Adam's recent behaviour change. "Does he?"

Kane shook his head. He didn't want to explain right then and there what Adam did and didn't know. According to his parents, Adam knew that Nora wasn't his mate, but it was questionable if he knew Mason was. He had been ignoring his calls and messages since he found out.

"Why?" she asked.

Kane huffed out a breath. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

Violet nodded. Amelia and Tyler shared a confused look across the table.

Kane reached under the table for Mason's hand. "The important thing is that we've found each other and we are going to get this mate spell reversed."

Violet raised her soda class. "To you three, you've got our support."

"Here, here," Tyler added with his own glass raised.

Kane couldn't stop his smile as he raised his glass. "Thank you all."

Amelia reached over and placed her hand on Mason's arm. "I'm happy for you."

Mason blushed. "And you said I should find a new crush."

Everyone at the table laughed. "Okay," Amelia said with her hands up, "I might have been wrong there."

"I'm glad you didn't," Kane told Mason with a smirk.

Just as they took a sip of their drinks, they heard the front door open and close. Hannah ran into the hallway. Kane had hoped that it was Tyler's parents, but was proven wrong when Adam walked into the dining room with Hannah on his heels. "Hey Tyler, sorry to barge in. I spotted Violet's car in the driveway," he said. He came to stand closer to Violet. "Can we talk?"

Violet looked awkwardly around the dinner table. "Not right now," she told him. "Why don't you join us though?"

Adam took a seat. He looked down the table. "Looks like a nice dinner," he murmured. He looked at Violet. "You didn't want me here?" His voice was filled with hurt. Kane could tell that he was trying to hide how upset he really was.

"It's not that," Violet said, "Kane organised it. I wanted to talk to you at home tonight like I told you."

"I saw your car and just-" he realised something and looked at Kane, "You didn't want me here?"

Kane looked into Adam's eyes and felt the anger rise up in him again. He was looking at his best friend, and all he could feel was hurt and anger. He wasn't prepared for how hurt he would feel to see him, sitting there, looking at him innocently, like he hadn't done anything wrong. Kane wondered how Adam slept at night knowing that he was hiding a secret like that. He wondered what thoughts ran through his mind as he drank at night, in the dark of his home. Did he ever consider telling him the truth? Did he ever think of not following his father's orders blindly?

Adam was a rule follower to a degree, but he was also an Alpha. He did what was right. He followed his guts. Kane knew that. Kane had watched Adam disobey orders from his father before. He had been right beside him when they ran into the rogue infested town in the hope of saving their packmates. Adam didn't always follow the rules, so why did he keep this secret? Did he really think that little of their lifelong friendship?

Kane tried to calm down, but the longer he looked into Adam's eyes, the worse he felt. He stood from the dinner table. "I'm not dealing with this," he muttered. Kane stormed off into the other room. He stood next to the couch and tried to control himself. He was so upset with Adam that it felt like the breath was being pulled from his lungs.

"What's going on with you?" He heard Adam say. Kane turned to see Adam standing in the door way, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Don't pretend that you care now," Kane told him. He couldn't handle Adam's lies anymore.

"Woah," Adam's jaw dropped. There was still a hint of a joke in his expression, as if he almost wondered if Kane was going to follow that with an I'm just kidding. When Kane didn't say anything, Adam spoke, "Kane, what are you-"

"Stop," Kane put his hand up. "I don't want to listen to it."

Adam crossed the distance between them. The glimmer of hope that this was a joke was now gone from his eyes and was replaced with cold, dread. "Kane, take a second and calm down, there's nothing to be this angry about. Is this about last night? I'm sorry you had to drive me home, I acted like a dick to Mason, I know that." He was saying those words, but his eyes told a different story. He was hoping this was the issue, that Kane didn't know the truth. This distraction wasn't going to work.

Kane wanted his voice to come out strong but it ended up being shaky. "You knew."

"I knew what?" Adam asked, still feigning ignorance.

"This whole time, you knew."

Adam paused. His eyes widened. There was no mistake in Kane's words now. "Knew what?" he asked, but there was a worry to his tone that let Kane know exactly what he had realised.

Kane shook his head. He wasn't going to talk to Adam if he was going to just stand there and lie to him. He walked quickly into the next room. "Mason, is it alright if we leave now?"

Mason nodded slowly. His eyes jumped between Kane and the rest of the people at the table. "Yeah, uh." He neatly placed his fork on the plate. "Thank you for dinner, Tyler."

"I'll talk to you guys later," Kane said quickly, in a way of apology. He couldn't say much else without his voice breaking. He didn't wait around to see their response. Instead, he grabbed Mason's hand and they walked back down the hallway and through the front door. Kane went to open the car door when he heard Adam's voice from behind him.

"Please stop, just talk to me," Adam called out.

Kane turned away from the car. "Stop lying then."

"No lies," Adam told him. There was a sincerity to his words that Kane hadn't expected. "I promise."

Kane looked into the car window, at Mason sitting inside. He motioned for him to stay there.

Kane took a few steps towards the porch and Adam moved towards him. "You knew that Nora and I weren't mates and you said nothing."

Adam shook his head. "It wasn't my choice, you have to believe me."

Heath's words popped up in his mind and they were as true then as they are now. "You always have a choice, Adam. If it's one thing that I've learned, we always have a choice and you chose to keep this from me."

"My father made me promise that the things we discuss wouldn't leave his office," Adam tried to explain. "I didn't want to keep it from you, you have to know that."

"You were more than happy to keep Mason away from me," Kane said. "I bet your father didn't tell you to do that."

"I just thought Mason was a distraction," Adam explained. "He was another reason for you not to focus on Nora."

"Mason is my real mate!" he revealed.

Adam gasped. He shook his head hard. "He can't be? How?"

"Your choices almost let my real mate slip away. If I had listened to you, we wouldn't have even discovered it."

Adam stepped towards him. He glanced between Mason, who was still in the car, and back at Kane. "I didn't know! You have to believe me, I didn't think Mason was your mate. I thought you didn't have the original mate, just Nora."

Kane wanted to believe him, but he couldn't. Even if the possibility existed that he could, it wasn't an excuse. He still went behind his back. Adam still lied to his face every day for weeks. "I don't believe anything that comes out of your mouth. I'm supposed to be able to trust you with my life, Adam. How can I ever be your second in command if I can't even trust your word?"

"Please don't hate me for this," Adam asked. His eyes became glassy. "Keeping this secret from you was eating me up on the inside. It was destroying my relationship with Violet. I couldn't sleep. I kept drinking. My father was dumping all of this pack stuff on me and to top it off I had to keep a life changing secret from my best friend. It was killing me! You have to believe me!"

"I believe you," Kane admitted. He had seen the mess Adam had become. There was no doubt about it. He believed him, but he didn't feel sorry for him. "However, you made the choice. You don't get to blame all your problems on me," Kane told him. He sighed. "Make things right with Violet. I don't want to hear from you until I get back."

"Back from where?" Adam asked desperately. "Kane, don't go. We need to work this out!"

Kane ignored him. Instead he opened the car door as Adam spoke. Before he got in he turned back and said, "Look after yourself, Adam."