Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3) (21 page)

BOOK: Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3)
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They spent the rest of the night at her small house, talking through the night. They kept contact with one another, holding hands, Kelton running his fingers through her rich auburn hair, but they didn’t take it any further than that. As much as she wanted to, Kayleigh couldn’t surrender to what her body wanted like that. They had too much to clear up before she could even think of getting close to him like that again.

In the early hours of the morning, Kelton helped her to load up the few belongings that she had with her into the car. He wanted to grin from ear to ear, jubilant in the fact that she was finally coming home to him where she belonged, but he was being careful. They were taking things one step at a time and he didn’t want to do anything to derail what progress they’d made.

It felt right to both of them. They both knew that was where she belonged.

Chapter Eighteen

 

It was more nerve wracking than she thought it would be, going back to the academy, going back to her life. Even though it was scary, it felt right to be back. This was where she belonged.

Over the course of a few hours, she and Kelton had managed to talk through everything that worried them about the past and about the future. It wasn’t easy to listen to what had happened to him, but they needed to get it all said. There was too much that had remained unspoken between them and in the end that was what they nearly broke them.  It was just what they both needed. They needed to get everything out in the open in order to start afresh.

They still had a very long way to go and a lot to think about, but at least they were together now. They would never have been able to work this through while they were apart. Although the time that they had spent apart had been agonising for both of them, they’d needed the distance. It put everything into perspective and made them realise that being together was what they needed out of life. Being together was the only thing that made any sense. Being apart had been killing them both. It was something that they couldn’t fight. They had to be together, it was as simple as that. Kayleigh had missed Kelton more than she realised. In the time she’d been with Michelle, she’d tried to focus on the hard stuff, ignoring how much she wanted to be with him. He was her soul mate and when they’d been apart, it had truly felt like a piece of her was missing.

Packing up hadn’t taken her too long. After all, she’d left most of her belongings back at the academy. It had been a special moment when Kelton had seen her packing up the few baby items she had picked up. It had been one of the hardest things in her life, to go out there and buy those little baby outfits. At the time, she’d still thought she’d be raising this baby alone. Now that they were back on track, she relished showing Kelton the things she’d got. And he had promised to be there for her every step of the way, including buying the things that they’d need for their child.

The drive back was quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. Kayleigh knew that Kelton was walking on egg shells around her, not wanting to do or say anything that might make her want to run from him. It was a delicate situation and with the pregnancy, her hormones were in overdrive. Every feeling and every emotion was heightened and she appreciated his every attempt to care for her wellbeing. It felt strange, though. After all those months of being on her own and looking out for herself, now she had Kelton to look out for her again. It made her feel loved and looked after. That was something she’d desperately needed lately.

In all honesty, she didn’t want to run from him again. They’d get through this. They’d work on it together to make things right. It was a lot for both of them to deal with. Kayleigh had been hurt by his betrayal, but Kelton had also been cut up over the events, events that had been beyond his control. Not only that, though. They were both full of thoughts of their first child that Kayleigh was carrying, and they had the twins to contend with.

Kayleigh wasn’t looking forward to seeing them again. Kelton had told her every little thing that had happened, from the initial meeting with Cassandra, right up to the DNA test and how the girls had reacted. In turn, she’d explained to Kelton how hard it was going to be for her. From all he had said, Cala was going to be a lot easier to deal with than Rhian, but she wasn’t relishing having to see either of them. It didn’t sound like he was having an easy time of it and for that, she felt sorry for him. Sure, the revelation had hit her hard, but while she’d been away gathering her thoughts, Kelton had been at the academy dealing with the reality of the situation. Alone.

That was something that was weighing heavily on Kayleigh’s conscience. He’d had to shoulder the burden alone, when she should have been there for him. She’d run off without letting him explain first. Again, she was blaming that on her hormones and there was no use going over and over it again and punishing herself for it. What was done was done. All they could do now was move forward. Move forward together as one, united.

It was going to be hard for her to see the twins again. There were so many similarities between Kelton and the twins that it was going to be a shock to her system every time she set eyes on them. How she was ever going to get used to it, Kayleigh didn’t know. But, she was going to have to get used to the fact and work with it. There would be no way for her to effectively avoid them at the academy so she was going to have to man up and push through it.

As the winding driveway gave way to the first view of the mansion, Kayleigh gasped. She’d forgotten just how beautiful this place was. The snow covered landscape looked magical, making the mansion look like something out of a fairy-tale.

If only their relationship was like a fairy-tale. They both would have known that after the struggle and strife that they’d have a happy ending.

“Are you ready for this?” Kelton asked in a gentle tone.

“Are you?”

“Not really.” Kelton smiled at her. “This is all a bit scary, isn’t it?”

Kayleigh nodded, knotting her hands in her lap. “We’ve got a lot to deal with, haven’t we?”

“But, together we can do it, right?” Kelton was scared to death that he was pushing things too far too fast and was scared that Kayleigh was going to bolt again. He wanted to make things right between them and they both knew that the only way to do that was together, but he was worried that he was bringing her back here too fast.

“We’ll try.”

They pulled up to the front door, but before Kayleigh could take off her seat belt, Kelton started the car up again with a shake of his head. He looked over at her, “Would you rather go in the back way? Would that be easier for you?”

Kayleigh thought about it for a moment. She didn’t want to sneak around, but she didn’t want to come face to face with the twins as soon as she walked in the door. That would be too much for her to handle tonight. Nodding slightly, she glanced over at Kelton. “I think that would be the best idea.”

Kelton pulled the car around to one of the back entrances to the mansion and stopped the car. Getting out, he quickly walked around to open the car door for her, holding out a hand to help her out. Kayleigh smiled at his gentlemanly actions. Holding her hand tightly, he wanted to make sure that she missed any patches of ice, worrying greatly over her pregnant state. Grabbing her few bags with his spare hand, Kelton hesitantly moved them forward into the house.

Relief flooded through him when she tentatively squeezed his hand back. He’d been worried that he was presuming too much when he took her hand, but that touch was what they needed. They both needed the physical contact to ground them. It was going to take them a long time to get back to something that resembled ‘normal’ for them, but now that they were together, they had a much stronger chance of getting there.

A burst of nervous giggles rose up in Kayleigh’s throat. Kelton looked over at her questioningly when she snorted out a laugh before clapping a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I know that this isn’t funny, but I feel like we’re a couple of teenagers sneaking around, making sure we don’t get caught by our parents.”

Kelton grinned. He knew exactly what she meant by that. He was feeling it, too. Kelton grinned wider because it was the perfect way to break the ice that was forming between them. They’d both been so tense and that brief moment of humour had let a little of their old lives trickle into the moment.

As they got up to their suite of rooms, Kelton took in a deep breath. It hadn’t felt right when Kayleigh had left him. He’d felt empty and had avoided spending time in their suite as much as he possibly could. The silence of the rooms echoed in his heart. Now that she was back with him, it felt like coming home. He opened the doors for them and watched as she walked in.

“You haven’t changed anything.” Kayleigh said, looking around with tears in her eyes.

“Why would I? Everything reminded me of you. I needed that.”

Kayleigh moved slowly over the threshold. She had missed this place. She had missed everything about it. Most of all, she’d missed being with Kelton. Tears swam in her eyes as she looked around at all the familiar things that were still in the places where she’d left them.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

That was all it took for the dam to break. It was all too much for her to take and it all came crashing down around her.

Kelton tentatively put an arm around her shoulder, unsure what to do and how far to take his loving. He didn’t want to overstep that invisible mark.

Kayleigh turned and flung herself into his arms, holding on to him as if he were her only lifeline. So much had happened between then, but right in that moment, it felt right to be in his arms. It was where she was supposed to be. In Kelton’s arms is where she would be healed.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Kelton murmured into her hair as she sobbed into his chest, soaking his tee-shirt with her tears. “What can I do? Tell me what I can do to make this better. I’ll do anything for you, Kayleigh.”

They were both distraught, unsure how to proceed when things felt so alien yet so familiar. He held her as tightly as she hugged him, lightly stroking her back until her tears dried up.

“I’m better now.” She hiccupped before laughing. She was far from okay, but she was better now that she was back with him again. They could fight this together and that was all that matter to her.

“What do you want me to do? What can I do for you?” Kelton felt lost.

“Talk to me.” Kayleigh couldn’t sleep, even though she felt physically and emotionally exhausted. She needed to hear his voice.

“What do you want me to talk about?”

“Anything. Everything.”

 

Kelton and Kayleigh sat in silence on the end of the bed. After their earlier conversations at Michelle’s house and now talking about everything else that had been happening in Kelton’s life while she’d been away had brought them even closer together. It was emotionally draining and Kayleigh could feel herself getting tired.

Curled up in his arms, she yawned.

“You need to get some sleep.”

“I will soon.”

“You need to look after yourself.” He tentatively stroked her extended stomach, staring in wonder, knowing his child was growing in here. “You need to let me look after you both.”

Kayleigh smiled up at him, feeling perfectly content for a moment. So much had happened, but they were going to get through it. They were going to be a family and that was what she had to concentrate on.

“Come on. Get some sleep, Leigh. I’ve arranged for some time off so we don’t have to cram everything into one night. We’ve got time.”

Kayleigh tentatively reached across the bed to take his hand again. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

Chapter Nineteen

 

Aisline walked down to the breakfast hall in a bit of a daze. Now that she’d had the time to think about it, she was kicking herself. She’d acted hastily and had wasted her day off without Jackson. Well, it was never really a wasted day when she was surrounded by books, but she still regretted not spending that precious time off with him.

She’d been stupid. She knew that now. She’d let Rhian get to her, which was exactly what the girl had wanted. Why had she done that? Ash trusted Jackson. It was as simple as that.

As soon as she walked in and joined the food line, Jackson caught up with her.

“What happened to you yesterday? I looked all over for you. I thought we were meant to spend the day together.” Jackson looked gutted.

Ash felt awful.

Jackson had been looking forward to spending some quality time together and had searched high and low for her, wanting to get their plans into actions. It wasn’t really like he had planned anything too extravagant, but he knew that she would have enjoyed the quiet and romantic picnic that he had planned for them in the snow that covered the grounds around the mansion. It would have been special and they would have finally been able to spend some time together, alone. As it was, he’d eaten alone in his room before he’d gone to find some of the other boys to play on the Xbox. It wasn’t the kind of day he’d expected to have at all.

Knowing that she had been the one that was in the wrong, Ash felt even worse after seeing the expression on his face. She’d ruined their day by jumping to conclusions. What a fool she’d been.

Not wanting to admit what she’d seen and what she’d thought, Ash feigned ignorance. “I came looking for you, but I couldn’t find you. I thought you might have changed your mind.” Even though she knew in her heart that there was nothing going on between Jackson and Rhian, there was still that niggling doubt in the back of her mind and by saying it this way, she was giving him the opportunity to own up in case there was something she was missing.

“But I looked everywhere for you! I couldn’t find you.”

“I was in the library.” At least that wasn’t a lie.

“No, you weren’t.”

“Believe me, I was.”

“I looked in there.” Jackson looked puzzled.

“Well, I can tell you I was in there.” Ash turned to get some food when the line moved on. She hoped that he’d drop the subject soon as she was feeling bad enough as it was.

Luckily, as they moved towards their table, Jackson didn’t say anything else about it. Balancing her breakfast on the tray, she squeezed in between Trey and Caleb. The rest of the guys were talking about what they’d been up to on their day off, leaving Aisline to eat in silence.

“Did you enjoy your day off?”

Ash jerked her head up to see Rhian and Cala standing next to the table. Cala looked rather uncomfortable, but Rhian had a look in her eye that Ash didn’t like.

“We had a lot of fun, didn’t we, Jax?” She said lowering her voice to a flirty tone and fluttering her eyelashes at Jackson.

Ash couldn’t help it. No matter how much she clenched her jaw, the words spurred forward and she took the bait. “What did you do?” Ash bit out. She hated herself for lowering herself to Rhian’s level, which was exactly what Rhian had wanted her to do, but she couldn’t help herself.

“Rhian, don’t.” Cala warned in a low voice. Rhian glared at her briefly before turning her flirtatious eyes back on Jackson.

Rhian giggled. “Jackson was trying to teach me how to play video games.  I’m afraid that I’m not very good at it.”

Aisline bristled. “I would have thought that you were very good at playing games, Rhian.” She said through gritted teeth. What Rhian was trying to achieve by doing this, she didn’t know, but if she was trying to piss her off, she was going the right way about it.

“Only because I had a very good teacher.” Rhian leant over to run a finger down Jackson’s cheek. He grinned up at her dumbly.

Aisline could feel her blood starting to boil. Couldn’t he see what Rhian was doing?

“Maybe we can play again a bit later, Jackson. What do you think?”

“Sure. Why not?”

Ash had had enough of sitting there and listening to them fawning over each other. Sure, she knew she was reading more into the situation than there was, which was just what Rhian intended, of that she was sure. Shoving her chair back noisily, Rhian had to skip out of the way to avoid being hit by it. Grabbing her tray with her barely eaten breakfast, Ash quickly strode away from the table.

“Cala? You want to get out of here?” Ash asked, trying to keep her tone even. She could tell that Cala was uncomfortable being put in this situation and wanted to give her a way out.

“She’d not going anywhere.” Rhian snapped.

“I don’t think it’s up to you. She’s her own person.”

“I say what Cala does.” Rhian narrowed her eyes threateningly, but Ash refused to back down.

“Where are you going? You haven’t finished your breakfast yet.” Jackson called as the entire table looked at her in confusion.

“I’ve just lost my appetite.” She snapped.

As she walked away to get rid of the left-over food on her plate, she heard Rhian say, “Well, if this seat’s free, do you mind if I join you?” Ash didn’t wait around to see what Jackson’s reply was. She was too angry. It was clear that Rhian was upping her game to get her claws into Jackson. Whether it was because she actually wanted him or if it was simply to make Aisline’s life a misery, she didn’t care. She just wanted to get the hell out of there. If Jackson was going to fall for her lies and games, then that was his fault. Aisline wanted no part of it.

As she got to the doorway, Ash turned back. Cala was still hovering uncertainly over near the table, looking like she wanted to follow Aisline, but not quite daring to defy Rhian. Ash felt ridiculously sorry for, but at the moment, she was in no fit state of mind to think about it.

 

In the training room, Ash tried to keep herself to herself. When it came down to pairing up, Ash turned to look straight at Trey. They quietly worked side by side, not speaking a single word until the entire morning session was over.

“What’s going on with you, Ash?”

“Nothing. Why?” She really didn’t want to talk about it with anyone. It was hard enough getting through the session with Rhian’s eyes constantly on Jackson, her flirty smile lighting up the room.

Usually, Ash could train no matter what was going on in her life. Pounding the hell out of the pads and exercising until she felt the burn usually helped to calm any problems she had. Not this time. She’d been distracted and had trouble keeping up with everyone, which only infuriated her more.

“Is it about Rhian? And Jackson?”

“Why? What do you know?”

“I know that nothing’s going on. Jackson’s just being a friend to her. That’s all.”

“For him, maybe.” Ash muttered, but it wasn’t quite enough to get past Trey.

“Even if Rhian is into him, Jackson’s not interested. He likes you. You know that.”

Ash shook her head slightly. She didn’t know anything anymore. But, one thing she did know was that she didn’t want to talk about it. Changing the subject quickly, she asked, “So, where did you disappear off to again the other day?”

“Nowhere.” He shrugged, bending to quickly pick up his sports bag and walking out of the gym.

“Come on. You’ve got something going on. Tell me about it.”

“Nope. Nothing’s going on with me.”

“Fine. Be like that.” She grinned at him to show she felt no hard feelings. Obviously, he didn’t want to talk, either. That was fine by her. Everyone seemed to have secrets at the moment.

She wanted some time alone to process her thoughts.  She needed some time to think about the developments between Jackson and Rhian. Was it truly one-sided? Rhian was very attractive. It wasn’t impossible to think that Jackson wouldn’t be attracted to her.

Running up to her room for a shower, Ash knew that she was going to have to stop over thinking this. She knew Jackson and knew that he wouldn’t mess her around like that. She needed to give herself a good talking to. Nothing was going to happen between Rhian and Jackson.

Was it?

 

She was finally starting to feel better about things. Ash had purposely kept to herself for the last few days, getting her head clear. It hadn’t really helped. The more she went over and over it in her mind, the more confused she got by the whole thing.

Ash had come to the conclusion that no matter what was going on with Jackson and Rhian, it didn’t have to negatively affect her. She was there at the academy to train to be a warrior, which was a position of great importance. That was what she was going to have to focus on. If there was nothing going on between Jackson and Rhian, then that was fine. The two of them would be able to get on with things and forget all about that little witch. If there was something growing between them, then she was going to let them get on with it. If Jackson wanted to throw away what they had, then that was his problem.

Honestly, she thought more of him than to believe that he would fall for someone like Rhian, but it wasn’t impossible.

But, no matter how much she tried to tell herself that she’d be alright if it happened, she knew that it would break her. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, they hadn’t really had the time to get their relationship fully off the ground, but what she felt for Jackson was much deeper than anything she’d ever felt before. If he threw away what they had, and what they could have, for something like Rhian, her heart would shatter.

It was a no win situation.

You know what people say? About if you love someone enough, you’d let them go? What a crock of shit.

“Aisline!”

She spun around to see one of the Master Warriors jogging to catch up with her as she made her way down to the sparring room. She’d been grabbing a bite to eat in her room for the last few days, effectively avoiding everyone and everything as best as she could. Unfortunately, she had to see everyone during training, but made it very clear that she didn’t want to talk. Ash attended training, worked her heart out and then hid in her room.

Pausing to straighten her ponytail while he caught up with her, she looked over at Master Warrior Dixon. He had been taking their training class for the last week or so and she expected him to be there already, not running late. That wasn’t his style.

“Yes, sir?”

“You’re wanted in Master Warrior Kelton’s office.”

“Is anything wrong?” Her immediate thought was that something had happened with her family.

“Not that I know of. I’ve just been asked to come and find you.”

Ash couldn’t think for the life of her what she’d done wrong. It wasn’t often that the trainees were summoned to his office, but it usually wasn’t for any pleasant reason.

“Go down now and come straight back when you’re through.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ash turned and jogged down the corridor, moving through the groups of trainees that were making their way to their classes. If Kelton wanted her, it wasn’t the best idea to stroll and leave him waiting. If she’d done something wrong, making him wait around for her was only going to make things worse.

Taking a deep breath of courage, she knocked on the door. Aisline had been very lucky when she’d first come to the academy. She’d seen a much softer side to Kelton than most of the other trainees, but that didn’t mean that she feared him any less. He was a formidable character, the most respected warrior of all time.

“Come in.”

Ash pushed open the door and tentatively walked into the office. “I was told you wanted to see me.”

“Yes. Come in, Aisline.”

Pausing at the door, she hesitated. “Is something wrong?”

Kelton smiled at her, “Just come in, will you?”

She moved in further and her jaw dropped to the floor. “Kayleigh?” she said, dumbstruck, unable to believe what she was seeing.

“I wanted to let you know that I was back. I wanted to tell you first.” Kayleigh smiled through the tears in her eyes. It was a lot more emotional than she thought it was going to be, seeing Aisline again. But, Kayleigh had felt terrible when she’d left the girl at a time when she knew she still needed her. After all that the girl had been through, including the horrific attack that she had been subjected to and was still recovering from, Kayleigh felt awful for leaving her.

“You’re back? I can’t believe it.” Ash was speechless.

Kayleigh couldn’t hold it back a second longer. She crossed the room and took the girl into her arms. She had missed Aisline. As her mentor, she was supposed to be there for her. Well, she was back now and she would whole-heartedly take that responsibility back on, if the girl would allow her to.

“Come here” She took the young girl in her arms, soothing her.

Feeling the girls shoulder start to jerk, she realised that Aisline was crying. “Shhh. Don’t cry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m back now. I’m here now. Don’t cry.”

It took a couple of minutes for Aisline to get herself back under control. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just missed you so much.” And she had. More than she realised. Now that Kayleigh was back in front of her, she realised just how alone she’d been feeling all this time.

BOOK: Changing Fates: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 3)
8.61Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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