Destined for Greatness ✔️

Chapter 33

Paige was standing in front of Corbin. He had linked her the moment they got back home, telling her he wanted to speak to her in private – without Ryleigh and Parker present. So there she was, standing in what must have once been a study. The space no longer deserved the term, especially since the desk had been half-eaten by woodworms and was sagging a little to the right. The chairs in the room were gone too, apart from a few pieces in a heap on the floor. There was no door either, so she could walk right in.

Corbin was standing at the window, his back turned towards her, his hands linked behind him. He didn't look around as she entered, but she knew he knew she was there. She halted and waited in silence for him to start talking.

Corbin was most dangerous when he was quiet. At least when he was yelling, she knew what to expect. It was when he said nothing at all that everything was possible. He might even kill her for what she had done. Alder had been right: she had defied Corbin twice in a very short time. Fifteen years of loyalty, and now she was spiralling. Still, she didn't think he would hurt her, especially since she did truly believe that he wanted Jade alive. He could hardly punish her for what he had secretly wanted her to do in the first place, could he?

"I cannot tell you how tired I am of having to have the same conversation over and over again," Corbin said. He still didn't move, and she was glad for it. She didn't think she could bear the intensity of his gaze.

"I understand." She stepped further into the room. "Ostracise me if you want, but I think we both you know you wanted me to do this. If denying that you love Jade is the way you cope with her betrayal, then I will let you grieve the way you desire, but you will not convince me that you wanted her to die."

He did turn around then and looked at her. Jade had inherited the colour of his eyes, but not their hardness. Sometimes, though, when Corbin was in a good mood, or when he'd drunk too much, Paige could almost see the resemblance.

He didn't acknowledge her point, but he didn't deny it either, and that was all the confirmation Paige needed.

"Did you speak to Alder?" he asked.

She inclined her head. "I dare say Parker had half a mind to kill him."

"You did not?"

"I don't know. I could barely stand on my feet, let alone fight. Besides, you know I've never been much of a fighter."

"No," he said. He strayed closer to her. He towered over her, and though the years had not necessarily been kind to him, he was still strong and authoritative. "You were always more of a lover." He reached out and brushed a strand of her hair away from her forehead, tucking it behind her ear.

Yes, she had been his lover. Occasionally she still was. There weren't many women in the pack who hadn't been. She had never bore his children, and she wasn't sure whether that was a blessing or a disappointment, but for her it had never been about strengthening his bloodline. Nor had she slept with him purely because he asked. He hadn't forced her. She had wanted it. Had wanted to feel close to someone again, even if it was just for a moment.

Corbin wasn't a kind man. He wasn't even a good man. Nor was he anything at all like her fated mate. And yet, they had always had a connection. He was hard-headed whereas she was soft-hearted, and he was cold whereas she was warm, and he was rational whereas she was all emotion, and yet after the battle they had found comfort in each other. Different though they were, their grief was the same.

Still, she could no longer deny that she disagreed with him. Much as she didn't want to listen to Alder, he'd not been wrong when he said Corbin was driving them all towards certain death.