Chapter 24: Chapter TWENTY FOUR — DELETE HIS NUMBER, NOW.

Candace

I was a few steps away from the car but I stopped in my tracks. The voice sounded familiar. I never thought I would hear it again after my world turned upside down three years ago.

I glanced to my right, and my jaw dropped as my eyes landed on a familiar pair of cerulean blue eyes and that impish grin. I would know that face anywhere. There was only one person in the world who carried that grin. Jayden Carter.

"Jayden?!" I set Cookie gently on the ground, lips parted in disbelief.

"Holy smokes, it’s you!" he crowed.

He was already closing the distance between us, and I — I don’t know what happened. A flutter of happiness stirred in my chest. Maybe because this was the first time in three years that anyone had looked so genuinely happy to see me.

A loud giggle broke from my lips and I closed the gap between us, throwing myself into his arms.

Jayden caught me and spun me in a wide circle, my head thrown back, laughter spilling out of me before I could stop it.

Goddess, I had forgotten what this felt like. I had forgotten what it felt like to be happy. When he finally set me down, I caught Ragnor frozen a few paces behind us, his steel grey eyes wide and burning, his hand clenched into a fist at his side.

I closed my eyes and held Jayden tighter. Ragnor could go suck a lemon.

"It’s really you," Jayden breathed, cupping my face, his eyes moving over me with warm disbelief.

His gaze softened as he brushed his thumb across my cheek. My eyelids fluttered, tears threatening at the edges. In three years, no one had held me like this.

Jayden Carter. The Pendragon brothers and I had gone to the same high school as him. He was the son of Alpha Carter of the Terryville pack, and while we hadn’t been particularly close, we had been study partners for a stretch of time.

"It’s been ages. I’ve been trying your number for years."

"Oh." My voice came out softly. "It’s a long story."

A painfully long one. I could feel the triplets’ gazes scorching into my back, the anger bleeding through the mate bond and prickling along my skin.

Why were they angry? If anyone had the right to be angry, it was me.

Jayden, however, seemed entirely unbothered by whatever was unfolding behind me. He stepped back, lifted my hand, and spun me slowly. Warmth bloomed in my chest, and a happy laugh slipped out before I could catch it.

"Goddess, you’re still as beautiful as ever," he said, tossing me a wink.

I smiled, ignoring the piercing eyes of the triplets.

Ryker’s face had twisted with barely contained fury, his whole body rigid beside Deidre. Reign’s hazel eyes blazed, and his body moved before he seemed to have decided anything, eating the distance between us in long, deliberate strides.

"Thanks, Jayden. It’s so good to see you," I said, and I meant every word. Of course he hadn’t been able to reach me these past three years. I had been living worse than a prisoner, with no access to the outside world whatsoever.

"We need to catch up, seriously." His eyes swept over me once more and he leaned slightly closer, his woody cologne drifting into my space. "Have mercy on us poor mortals, goddess."

"Carter." Reign’s voice was smooth as silk despite the vein threatening to surface at his temple.

His arm came down across my shoulders, his grip firm as he drew me against his side. "What brings you here, buddy?"

Heat flooded my cheeks as his scent wrapped around me. A shudder moved through me when his fingers grazed my shoulder, trailing along the curve of it. I caught my bottom lip between my teeth, fighting the pull of pleasure that came with my mate’s touch.

"Hey, Alpha Reign," Jayden greeted, his eyes widening as he registered Ragnor and Ryker closing in from behind us. "The whole gang’s here?"

"Need us to get you your glasses?" Reign smirked, while still worrying my bottom lip, I tried to ease away from him. His fingers tightened on my shoulder, holding me firmly against him.

Jayden laughed, completely unruffled. "Some things never change. Always hovering around her, just like in high school. Remember that time we were supposed to study in your room and they all planted themselves in the doorway like bodyguards —"

"Move along, Carter," Ryker cut in, his voice low and sharp, steering Deidre forward as he and Ragnor converged on us.

"Come on, Ry, relax." Jayden shook his head, still smiling. "Good to see you all. I’ll catch you at the coronation, yeah? Daisy, we have a lot to talk about."

I held my phone out to him. "We do."

Jayden typed his number in while I held my breath, certain I would come apart at the seams from the weight of three pairs of eyes drilling into me. Why were they waiting?

"Dialed my number too, so I have yours. See you around, Daisy." He handed the phone back with a grin. "Alpha Reign, Ragnor, Ryker, have a good one."

Ryker stormed off past me, Deidre scrambling after him trying to keep pace as they climbed into the Porsche.

"Can you get your arm off me?" I looked up at Reign.

He arched a brow but lifted his arm. His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and without a word he turned and walked ahead of me to the car.

I scooped Cookie off the ground, pressing my nose into her fur, when a hand closed around my wrist. The scent of oud and white musk reached me before I even looked up.

My head tipped back to meet a pair of furious grey eyes. His grip on my wrist was firm, but I felt the faint tremor running through his fingers.

Ragnor’s hand was shaking.

"Delete his number. Now."