All Chapters of Mated in the Shadow of Betrayal: Chapter 91 - Chapter 100

(Piper POV)After our marathon-shopping trip, we grabbed a quick dinner at a restaurant downtown. Dinner itself was great, but I noticed that we got a fair number of looks from other diners. Of course, by “we” I really mean “me.” I suppose that wasn’t all that surprising given that I was a newbie in town. I did hear a few whispers speculating about who “the blond was” that was eating with Luna and Grandma Luna, but thankfully, none of the guesses were mean.We ultimately did not make it back to the packhouse until close to 8 pm.Once we got back, two of the guards carried in the shopping bags for me, and I began unpacking and sorting through all of the day’s purchases. My room had both a large dresser and a large walk-in closet, and it took me a while to get everything sorted. As I unpacked, I kept wondering if Leo was going to stop by and ask me how the shopping trip went, or if he would check-in on me. I desperately wanted to talk to him about Ingrid, and find out why his fam

(Xander POV)After last night’s dance lesson with Candice, I felt re-energized. I woke up early, showered, ate breakfast, and made my way to my father’s office.My plan was to get some work done, and then invite the pack’s interior decorator to come and help me brainstorm how we would re-design the office to fit my style. Even though I was not formally taking over for a few months, furnishings can take a while to come in once ordered, so I figured it was best to get a head start on things.Unfortunately, when I walked into the dark office and turned on the light, I found Leo Bloodstone sitting behind the desk waiting for me. His feet were propped up, and it looked like he had been waiting for a while.“Leo.”He said nothing, choosing to instead glare at me.“What do you want?” I asked in an annoyed voice.Again, he said nothing.Frustrated, I closed the door and walked behind the desk. I left some space between him and I, but not much.“Get out of my chair, A&&hole. If you are no

(Leo Bloodstone POV)After spending several hours reassigning my men —I was pulling them from inside Blue Ridge but not away from it— I walked into a tavern and sat down at the bar. The place was mostly empty. Despite the hour —it was just after noon— it was dark and dingy inside. It was on human territory about ten minutes outside Blue Ridge borders. They did not cater to werewolves specifically, but I had gotten to know the bartenders there pretty well in the past couple of years. They knew not to ask too many questions. I ordered two beers and waited.Not even five minutes after I arrived, Ellis walked in and took a seat, leaving a barstool in between us.“Get your men sorted?” he asked.I ignored his question and continued to stare ahead, not bothering to even glance at him. “I ordered you a beer.”Ellis looked at the glass in front of him. “Did you poison it?”“Not yet,” I replied coldly. “Probably should have.”Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pick up the beer and

(Piper POV)Was I flirting with Leo on the phone? Yes.Did I enjoy it? Yes.Was there a part of me that really did hope that he would take me into the woods on our date and take advantage of me while we laid on top of a picnic blanket? Goddess, yes.Would I regret the flirting? Eventually, yes. I would regret it all. In fact, I would come to intensely hate myself for even thinking some of the thoughts that I was thinking that day, and I would hate myself that much more for expressing them. The dirty thoughts; the happy thoughts; the could-this-be-real thoughts.But on that day, in that moment? Based on the information that I had at the time? No. I had no regrets. I was simply following my heart, listening to the simplicity and beauty of my current circumstances. I was letting myself dream and be happy. The doubts.. the guilt… the voices of Xander, Aiden, Asher… all of that I too-easily pushed to the back of my mind.Part of that was because I really did want to be happy. A

(Piper POV)The follow up appointment with the doctor is at 10:45. After another couple of rounds of really intense pain that started around midnight last night, I am more eager to see the doctor than I am to see Leo. Hell, I am more eager to see the doctor today than I was to see Xander all those months that I waited for him at Moon Shadow.Maybe that sounds awful, but I don’t know if I have it in me to go through any more rounds of that pain. I wish I could describe it to you better, but suffice it to say, it is soul-crushingly awful. And what kills me is that Penelope feels it too. She has always been my strength, and I want to fix this for her even more than for me.After wracking my brain for answers, I am sure that it is just withdrawal symptoms from the herbs. Which is good and bad all at the same time. Hopefully the doctor has some sort of pill or treatment that can help.****Leo picks me up from my room around 10:25. That is a little later than I expected him, but the