Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) (5 page)

BOOK: Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3)
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“Kelton?” This was the first time that Marion felt like she was finally getting close to finding out what had caused her friend to run off so abruptly.

Kelton suddenly groaned and put his head in his hands. This was all getting too much for him to handle. He had ruined the best thing that had ever happened to him and he had no way to put it right.

“It’s all my fault.” He moaned.

“What’s your fault?”

Kelton’s shoulders suddenly shook with silent sobs and Marion immediately ran around to the other side of the desk, putting an arm around him. Marion was all for equal rights for men and women and happily told any of the trainees that got injured or who were suffering from homesickness that it was perfectly normal for a man to cry. But, to see Kelton crying like this? It broke her heart.

Through rasping sobs, Kelton choked out, “This was all on me. I’ve ruined everything.”

“What do you mean? Talk to me. Tell me what happened, Kelton. I might be able to help you in some way.”

“I cheated.”

Marion dragged in a breath. That was the last thing she would have ever expected to hear from him. Kelton and Kayleigh had such a strong relationship and Kelton was such a man of worth that she would never imagined he could or would do something like that. It was clear to anyone that saw them together how in love they were, even after all this time together. How could he have done this to her?

Kelton felt Marion’s arms go stiff around him as she pulled back slightly. He couldn’t blame her one little bit. That one admission would change her entire opinion of him.

“I know what you must be thinking of me.” He said as he roughly scrubbed his eyes free of tears.

“But, why Kelton? Why would you do that to Kayleigh?” Marion crouched down next to him. “What happened to make Kayleigh run off like that? Did you tell her what happened? Did she catch you with another woman?” That was the only explanation that Marion could come up with. Kayleigh’s hormones and emotions were sure to be all over the place at the start of her pregnancy, seeing Kelton with another woman would have been more than enough to send her over the edge.

“No. It wasn’t like that.”

Marion got up to walk back around the desk. She knew that Kelton needed a bit of space to compose himself. Sitting back down in the chair, she crossed her legs elegantly. “Well, tell me what it was like, then.”

“It wasn’t like it was something I planned on.”

“It usually isn’t.”

“Please, let me explain before you judge me.” Kelton looked at her with pain in his eyes.

“You’ve just told me that you cheated on my friend.”

“Well, listen to my side before you write me off.” He snapped, understanding the accusation in her eyes, but no one could hate him any more than he hated himself in that moment.

“I’ll try and keep an open mind. Kayleigh is a good friend and I want her safe and sound and if talking through this mess can help us to find her, then that’s what we need to do.”

Kelton ran a hand wearily over his face, ridding himself of those last few lingering tears. “She didn’t catch me doing anything. It was something that happened a very long time ago.”

“How did she find out? What happened?”

“It was when the twins walked into the academy and their mother announced that they were my daughters.”

Marion gasped. “You have got to be joking!”

“I wish I was. That was the biggest mistake of my life.”

“And it’s seriously come back to bite you on the ass.”

Kelton nodded. He went on to explain what had happened, how he had been part of a rescue mission to save Cassandra from the Mortuorum and that he had escorted her home safely. He tried to explain it all as clearly as he could manage, how that it was something he would never dream of doing in his right mind and even thought to say to her that he thought Cassandra had bewitched him, but that sounded lame. It was the truth, but putting that into words didn’t sound plausible. That had been the only explanation that he and Bartholomew, their race leader and father figure to Kelton, had decided at the time.

However, Marion had the same train of thought. “Do you think that she could have used some kind of spell or magic on you?” It sounded unbelievable, but it was a lot more likely than Kelton willingly cheating on Kayleigh. He adored her too much to risk what they had together.

“I told Bartholomew what had happened straight away. I needed to speak to someone about it. The shame I felt was eating me up. He was of the opinion that she had used some kind of enchantment, but there was nothing I could do to prove it. I didn’t want to go to Kayleigh and tell her that story when I had nothing to back it up. How ridiculous does that sound? Sorry, love, but I’ve just had sex with a beautiful woman against my will because she cast a spell on me? Plus, that’s just a lame excuse. I did it. That’s on me.”

“But, if you didn’t know what you were doing…”

“That’s like saying it would have been okay if I was drunk. It’s not okay.”

“Kelton, that’s not the same thing and you know it.” Marion insisted.

“I just wanted to forget it ever happened.”

“And you did. Until she walked back into your life.”

“Yes. And she screwed me royally for a second time.” Kelton scowled.

Marion believed that there had to have been some kind of magical interference. That made more sense than Kelton willingly cheating on Kayleigh. But, either way, it happened and now they have to deal with the aftermath. It wasn’t just Kayleigh and Kelton that were being affected by this situation.

“So, do Rhian and Cala know that you are their father?” she asked.

Kelton hung his head. “I’ve no idea. I don’t think so. I’ve been dodging Cassandra’s calls. I don’t want to have to deal with that woman ever again.”

“I think you need to request a DNA test, just to be sure.” Marion advised, falling into doctor mode again.

Kelton looked up sharply. “That hasn’t even crossed my mind. Do you think she’s lying?”

“I really don’t know. Plus, that is all pretty irrelevant with regards to your relationship with Kayleigh. She knows that something happened between you and Cassandra now and nothing will change that fact. But, you do have more to think about than you and Kayleigh. If this woman lied to get you into bed, then what’s to say that she isn’t lying about the end result?”

“But, what about Kayleigh? That’s all I can think about right now.”

Marion narrowed her eyes. She was fed up of this pity-party that Kelton was hosting and it was time to pull him out of his slump. “Kelton, I’m sorry but this needs to be said. You need to man up and grow a pair! You need to know once and for all if you really are a father to those two girls. You have a lot to make up for if the test comes back positive.”

“I can’t think about that. Can’t you see? All I can think about is Kayleigh!”

Marion slammed her palms down on his desk, “She’s not here! They are! Focus on what you can do to make things right.”

“That’s the whole goddamn point, Marion! It was them turning up that drove her away in the first place!”

“You blame them for this?” she said, trying to keep her tone even.

Kelton sagged in his chair again, apparently beaten. “Not really. No. This isn’t their fault. It’s mine.”

“But, you’re saying that they’re a constant reminder of why Kayleigh’s gone?” Marion was finally getting some sense from him and they were finally getting somewhere. He was single-minded in his pursuit of Kayleigh, focusing only on getting her back that he refused to address any other problems that needed his attention.

“I guess.” He agreed reluctantly.

“It’s not their fault, you know that, right?”

“But every time I see them, it’s a jolt. It reminds me what I did and why Kayleigh isn’t here. If the mark hadn’t chosen them, they wouldn’t be here. Kayleigh would.”

“And you would still be living a lie. Haven’t you thought about telling her what happened? The truth?”

Kelton shook his head. “I couldn’t take that risk. I told you, whatever I would have said to her would have sounded wrong. I couldn’t do it.”

“You have to concentrate on this Kelton. You can’t just leave them hanging like this. I’ve tried my best to help them, but they aren’t responding to me in the way I had hoped. Obviously, the night they first came here, we all assumed that Kayleigh would take on the mentoring role for them, but now that she’s not here, what are you doing about it?” Kelton didn’t say anything so Marion continued lecturing him. It was for his own good. He had to face up to his responsibilities. “You need to remember how hard it was for Aisline when she first came to the academy. It’s a big situation for them to adjust to. And Caleb and Rees. Coming into this life is hard enough, but when you are from another race and thrown into it, I can’t imagine how hard that is. They need you, Kelton.”

“I don’t think I can. I know that sounds terrible, but when I look at them, I see Cassandra staring back at me.” He looked at her imploring, hoping that now he had told her the truth about it all that she would be able to help find a suitable solution.

“You know that you need to get things straight. I know that you want to find Kayleigh, and believe me, so do I. We’re all doing everything we can think of to locate her, but you need to face the situation in hand here. You need to contact their mother and find out all the facts. You can’t just ignore it all and hope it goes away.”

Kelton closed his eyes and nodded solemnly. He knew that it was the right thing to do, no matter how hard it was going to be. The last thing he wanted to do was to be in the same room with that woman, the woman that had ruined his life and his future, but he knew he had to.

Seeing the look of pain cross his face, Marion offered as if reading his mind, “I can be here with you when you speak to her if you’d like? I can be here in a professional capacity as well as emotional support for you.”

“Would you?” Kelton hated asking for help, but he was drowning. There was no way he wanted to face Cassandra alone. Ideally, he would have had Leigh by his side, but she wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t have been very appropriate anyway.

“Of course I will. I help with the emotional wellbeing of the trainees as well as their physical needs, so that in itself would make sense for me to be present at any meeting.”

“Thank you.” Kelton appreciated it more than she could ever know.

“I think you should speak to the other warriors.”

“And say what? I don’t want anyone knowing about this. Not yet, at least.”

Marion nodded in understanding. “I don’t mean tell them the whole story, but I think that they need to go a little easier on the girls.”

“Rhian isn’t even doing anything.”

“So don’t force her. Cala is trying, which is good and I’d encourage that. But, if they don’t want to do the training, or they want to do a lighter training, then with everything going on, I think that would be fine, don’t you?”

“I guess.” Kelton nodded glumly.

“I can talk to them about it, if that helps.”

Kelton didn’t say another word, but nodded resignedly.

Smiling at him one last time, Marion left his office and left him to his thoughts. She knew that he needed some space to come to terms with what they had discussed. There wasn’t anything more she could do for him at the moment, she’d got the truth from him and had got him thinking, that was all she could ask for.

The warriors out on the street were constantly looking out for signs of Kayleigh, but Marion know that they would have to focus on a more accurate plan to find her. But, first things first, they had to try and sort out the mess at the academy with Kelton and the girls. It wouldn’t be easy, far from it, but they had no choice. She would have tackled the situation earlier if she had realised how deep the problems went. The girls had been at the academy for several weeks now and they’d had this hanging over their heads. Marion couldn’t think how hard this was for them. All the uncertainty and tension in the air wouldn’t do much to help their transition to trainee life.

Marion walked slowly back to her office, wondering what she could do to help. There wasn’t much. She couldn’t dive on in there and speak to the girls. That was Kelton’s job. All she could do was wait for him to make his move and take it from there.

 

“Are you ready for this?” Marion asked Kelton. He looked as nervous as hell, but she couldn’t blame him one little bit. This was a huge thing for him to have to deal with and it was just unfortunate that he was having to deal with Cassandra. From all she’d heard, the woman was a force to be reckoned with, and not in a good way. It was lucky that Kelton was in such a confident position and wouldn’t let himself be played by this woman.

He shook his head, not in the least bit ready. They were due to meet with Cassandra, the mother of the twins. She was due to arrive any minute and Kelton couldn’t stop pacing around his small office.

“She’ll be here soon.”

“I know.” Kelton paused to move some paperwork to the corner of his desk before resuming pacing the available space.

He was dreading this. It had been bad enough when the woman had stepped back into his life and blown everything apart. Kelton hadn’t ever wanted to set eyes on her again, yet here he was, inviting her back in. Was he just asking for more trouble?

BOOK: Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3)
5.02Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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