The creak of the basement door sounded, stirring me from my slumber. This room was always dark unless the fluorescent lights were on, so I never knew what time of day it was. I just knew it was nighttime when Danny flipped the switch. Matt let out a low growl as my gaze crawled the sound of descending footsteps in the dark. My nostrils tested the air for a scent.
Tandan.
"You're still here," I croaked sleepily. His presence incurred an array of feelings within me: comfort, anger, shame. Sometimes in that order. Sometimes not.
"Yep," he replied. "Lights on?"
Matt humphed and rolled over onto his other side with a beastly sigh. I gave him permission to bring light.
As soon as the fluorescent bulbs overhead flashed on, I buried my face into the cot I'd now spent many nights on. Tandan came down the last few steps.
"Can't believe you stay down here with that thing alone in the dark," he said.
I shrugged but didn't lift my face. The lights were too much. Somehow, I didn't hear him draw closer until I felt a warm hand on my back. I jolted upright and whacked the top of my head on his jaw.
"Ow!" he hissed.
"What the hell?" I demanded.
"What was that for? I hardly touched you."
Baring my teeth, I propped my back up against the wall. "You don't get to touch me."
Tandan's face softened. He didn't seem able to speak his thoughts though and instead scratched his head. "Uh, listen, Rylee. Why don't you come upstairs and have breakfast with all of us?" he asked. "You should get some social interaction."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're pale and you look too skinny."
I accidentally rolled my eyes. Like he cared if I was fat or not. Besides, I couldn't be skinny if I starved myself for a whole month. My body was very efficient at storing fat. Lorrie, on the other hand, was skinny—a fit skinny, maybe—but clearly that was his preference. Maybe I should eat enough to stay plump just to spite him.
"It's this lighting," I responded instead with a bored voice.
Before he could say something lame to try to convince me, I heard my mother's voice.
"Rylee," she called from the top of the stairs where I couldn't see. "You really need to come up here. Please, darling."
I honestly believed she cared even less than my rejected mate. She'd let her son shoot me and then tie me down. There was no way in hell I trusted anyone here except Matt. And he wasn't exactly himself these days.
"You can still be mad," added my mother. "Please, just come up here."
Sighing, I glanced at Tandan, who was staring expectantly at me, and then at Matt, whose back was facing me. Guess Matt hated me now too. I slid off the cot, hobbled forward a few steps, and then paused to look back at Matt again.
"I'll be back, Mattie," I said. "Or Basileus. Whoever you are."
Tandan extended a hand toward me when I reached the staircase. Of course, I ignored it and limped up the wooden steps. My feet felt heavy and my legs felt weak. Not a good combination. I was already winded by the top of the stairs.
My mother no longer stood at the top but had returned to her post in the kitchen along with Danny, Kiara, my father, Braden, and Anna. Tandan followed closely behind me. All the eyes swiveled towards me in speculation.
"How're you feeling, Rylee?" Kiara asked with a polite smile.
I could only sigh and send her an apologetic look. "Been better."
"Well, you might feel better if you actually got some sunlight," sputtered my mother.
Stunned by her attack, I gasped and blinked in silence. A warm hand on my back sent tingles through my body, reminding me of Tandan's presence.
"She's doing her best to buy you all time with Basileus until we find someone," he told them.
I was yet again surprised, though more pleasantly now. Did Tandan just defend me? No way.
His hand slid further around my side until it rested comfortably around my waist. Although it felt nice—so damn nice—I remembered how cruel he had been to me yesterday. Grimacing, I pulled away from him. My cheeks warmed in shame but I couldn't do that again with him. My heart was already far too fragile.
"Why don't we sit down to eat?" Danny spoke up.
Everyone turned away and started for the dining room. A glass rectangular table that sat twelve took up the majority of the room. I took a seat on the end by Kiara and Tandan took the seat on my other side. As much as I hated him, I currently hated my family even more. They'd never treated me like this before. And they still didn't know about the whole mate rejection.
Platters of scrambled eggs, sausage, and fruit were opened and passed around the table. I was starving and focused almost solely on my food. In honesty, it wasn't that hard to block out the conversations after spending so much time alone. Almost alone.
Tandan glanced over at me throughout the meal, but I ignored him as often as I could. Sometimes I would forget to and would make eye contact with him. The biggest shocker of the evening was that neither of my parents had interrogated me about Tandan. Either they already knew who he was or they were waiting to get me alone. Kiara surprised us with some kind of soufflé for dessert, which really astonished me. Ever since I met her, she'd gone above and beyond. I hardly knew her but I could tell she must have made for an excellent Alpha Female.
After we finished eating, Kiara and Danny excused themselves to the kitchen to clean up. I volunteered to help but they were both quick to tell me to stay. My suspicion was tickled. And then I realized the nice conversation I'd been blocking during the meal had been a guise.
"Rylee, honey, we need to talk," said my dad.
That's when I knew this wasn't going to be good.
"About what?" I answered. "Because there's quite the list to choose from. There's the monster in the basement, there's Braden shooting me with a tranq gun and then inviting a stranger into all of this, and we can't forget the mystery of why I'm here to even begin with."
I was now panting from how much effort all of that anger required. Offering an empathetic look, Tandan reached over to take my hand. This time I left it.
"We want to talk about Tandan," my mother told me, clearly unimpressed with my tantrum. "We know he's your mate."
Well, that answered my suspicion.
My gaze flickered to Tandan's. He remained silent but empathetic.
"Yes, he's my mate." I sighed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" demanded my mother.
Using my free hand, I gestured to the air and let my sarcasm fly. "Maybe because our lives have all been a little hectic lately?"
"Watch your tone," Braden warned.
I actually laughed. "You don't get to tell me what to do."
"Do not push me, Rylee. I'm not in the mood."
Oh my God. I was about to lose it. Pressure on my hand pulled me back down from my volcano of fury and I noticed Tandan's massive hand around mine. He was trying to be supportive.
"Okay," I said calmly. "Tandan is my mate. I didn't tell you because we were having problems. I came home because I was leaving him." At their startled looks, I added, "I just needed time to figure things out. But then Matt had to show up and rip our house apart."
"You we're leaving him?" asked my father. "As in, you rejected him?"
"Yes. Now, I really don't think this is at the top of our concerns right now."
"Considering it's what made you come home and what brought Basileus here," Braden snapped, "I think it is one of our concerns."
That was it. I'd really tried so hard to keep it together. My chair flew back as I stood up. Braden jumped up just as quickly and soon our growls were filling the room. A pair of arms scooped me up, securing me against my thrashing, and hauled me outside.
"Put me down, damn it!" I yelled.
"Chill out!" Tandan growled back. He placed me on my feet but gripped me steady by my shoulders. "Jesus, Lee. Chill the fuck out. Are you trying to start a fight?"
"Last time I checked, he was the one trying to start a fight!"
His hands slid up to my face to cradle my cheeks. My anger melted away, liquifying into tears. I collapsed into his arms.
"I don't know what's happening," I sobbed. "I don't know what's happening anymore."
"Shhh. It's okay. It's alright." Tandan soothed while rubbing my back.
We were quiet until my crying finally stopped. Then I pulled away to sniffle and wipe up my face. Tandan kept a hold on my hips, either unwilling or afraid to release me. His beautiful dark eyes met mine.
"I've missed you," he whispered to me. "So much. So, so much."
I sucked down a ragged breath and tried not to cry again. "What do you want, Tandan?"
"You. I want you, dammit."
Pain lanced through my chest. But he loved her. He would always love her.
"I haven't seen Lorrie since before you left," he told me. "I'm not lying, Rylee. I hurt you badly, I know. We've been messed up from the start. But I want to make this right with you. I do love you. It's not just the mate bond. I know it's not."
I wanted to believe him. It felt like we'd been here before so many times. My heart couldn't take any more deception from him, but it also couldn't stand to be apart from him any longer.
Pretending to brush the hair from my face, Tandan tenderly took my face into his hands. He lowered his face slowly to give me time to decide. I didn't meet his lips halfway but I didn't push him off either. Our mouths met in a soft rub. The familiar flames of desire sparked inside my loins. I was reminded of the times we'd mated before in passionate, sweaty sex. I was reminded of how good it made me feel. The world was almost always a better place after we were together. I wanted that again.
"Well, well," an unfamiliar man's voice interrupted us. "Look at what we have here."