Betrayed Forced Mate (Rosecreek Special Ops Wolves #4)

I’m here, Byron says, his voice coming through my head, crystal-clear. Back when I lived in California, nobody in the pack used projection—it was too risky, because Amon could hear all of it. Rosa and I never used it at the cottage, for the same reason.

Here in Rosecreek, the pack uses it all the time, and the special ops team has a special connection that keeps their communication separate from everyone else. As the Alpha, Aris can send to anyone privately, without anyone else hearing.

The only other way to get a private line with someone is if you’re mates. Thinking about it sends a shiver down my back—Byron and I being alone together, with our thoughts.

Me, too, I send back. I’m trying.

Olivia, he sends, and for some reason, I get the feeling he’s not talking about communicating through our mental link. I’m trying, too.

Chapter 21 – Byron

When I was in college, I lived in a dorm building with one, stooped sink in the hallway that we’d all use for everything—to brush our teeth, wash our dishes, rinse out our water bottles. Every few days, I had to take my plates, bowls, and cups out to the hallway and stoop over that sink, back killing as I cleaned each one by hand.

The next year, I moved into an apartment with a dishwasher, and it was like my entire world shifted. Something I dreaded was suddenly simple, easy. No more back pain.

Sending to Olivia is like that. I close my eyes, easing into the feeling of our heads being together like this. It feels so natural, like sinking down into a worn couch, letting your entire body relax.

Olivia feels like home to me. I think back to my conversation with Percy, about his promise that he would never let what happened to me happen to our kids.

I know, Olivia sends back, crystal clear words dancing through my head. I’m going to try and push his face into your head now, okay?

Weirder words never spoken, I return, and I can feel her amusement through the connection. I sit still for a moment, trying to keep my mind as open as possible, trying to receive whatever she’s trying to give me.

“You could also try something familiar to both of you,” Rafael says, and the sound of his voice makes me jump like cold water was thrown over my body. I’d completely forgotten he was in the room with us. “That can help you ease into the projection. But also, some people just can’t—”

“We can do it,” Olivia says, reaching out and grabbing my hands. Something in my stomach warms at her competitiveness, and she never backs down from a fight. “I know we can.”

We could do that day on the beach, I say, and a moment later, the images are flooding back to me, bittersweet and slightly painful, and I have to clench my teeth to keep from gasping.

I see this day through Olivia’s eyes, feeling her admiration, love, and enjoyment. Feeling the haze of regret and sadness that hangs over each moment, applied by her mind in hindsight. I slip one of my hands from her’s, reaching up to rub a fist against my heart.

It hurts. It’s painful to see how much it hurts her.

In this memory, it’s almost like I can feel her in my arms again, holding her above the water. Through her version of the memory, mine rises, and I feel my fear of being so open and liking her so much. That familiar vulnerability rising that if I truly opened myself to someone, they would leave, and I wouldn’t have any part of me left for myself.

And then, it all comes back to me, rushing in, overwhelming memories, layered one on top of the other. The day I found Olivia trying to hack into the interface in the underground compound.

She was crouched in front of an entry-point tablet, her own tablet in her hand, a cord running between the two. I’d stared at her for too long, watched as she pushed the hair away from her face, how it fell over her shoulders.

Maybe I knew at that moment that she was my mate. Maybe that’s why I debated turning on my heel and walking away. Maybe that’s why I was equally relieved and devastated when I opened my mouth and spoke to her.

“You wouldn’t be trying to get into the interface, would you?”

“You could have just asked,” I said, typing in the code slowly so she could see it, grinning and how she tapped her fingers, clearly taking note. Smart.

“Changes every ten minutes,” I said, winking at her.

“I’m Olivia,” she said, and hearing her name for the first time was like being kicked in the stomach. I wanted to fall to my knees, gasp for air.

My heart was squeezing painfully in my chest, and I brought my fist up, rubbing at it, willing it to calm down on its own.

“Yeah,” I said, knowing I was going to go home and learn everything I could about her. I’d tried to seem cool, interesting, as I backed away from her. Suave. “I know.”

The memories keep flooding in: the sandcastle on the beach, me working on the intruder problem at Aris’s house, back before I got my own place, Olivia staying there, too, her room across from mine.

Maybe that’s when I realized we were mates. When I couldn’t sleep because, I knew she was right there, just across the hallway, and all I had to do was get up and go to her.

Sitting in the chemistry lab with Rosa, Olivia was so close to me, constantly pushing me and hacking into the system just to get under my skin.