Rejected Mate's Redemption (Freda and James) novel Chapter 104

Chapter 104
FREIDA WHITLOCK
Cole seemed determined to attend Cisco’s function. If it were a year ago when I wasn’t back here, I would have appreciated the zeal but now, when I was so close to Kaiden and basically under his leadership, I couldn’t help but feel hunted by dread.
This was a bad idea, I knew it. I felt it.
But I didn’t know what to do.
I didn’t want to fail Cisco’s hopes. What if Kaiden failed to attend? My mind wandered to Safiya for a split second and I shrugged. Over the past weeks, she had proven to be on an agenda that involved ruining my and Cisco’s life. If she found out whose son he was, I was afraid things would go from bad to
worse.
My thoughts were a mess. Thinking a lot these past few days has caused my head to ache badly. Now, it seemed to have gotten worse.
I heaved as I took a pain-relieving pill. I dropped it back in the kitchen cabinet and turned only to see Lyra standing by the door, watching me.
I hadn’t sensed her around so it startled me a bit. “Jeez!”
“I’m sorry I startled you” She apologized, staring at me with a concerned look. She knew I should feel her presence around considering how sensitive my wolf always was. Gia had
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suddenly shut me out the moment Cole offered to attend Cisco’s function.
Sometimes I wonder why she was always so dramatic. I didn’t even agree to his offer yet and she was sulking, gosh!
‘You are considering the offer!’ She snapped out of nowhere and I rolled my eyes
‘I thought we were no longer speaking with each other?’
‘I wish, it’s unfortunate that I’m stuck with you’ I felt her roll her eyes in my head and scoff.
‘I don’t think you should be saying that to me right now’
‘Well, you’re being insensitive so…
‘I’m only thinking about what would be best for Cisco, you know it, can’t you be supportive at least?”
‘I am being supportive and I know that our mate will attend the function because he is Cisco’s father’
‘Will he?’ I argued but the thought left a h**k on my chest, Can he?
“Freda, are you listening to me?” Lyra’s voice was loud bringing me back to earth. I blinked, staring at her in a daze. How serious had I looked when arguing with Gia?
“Honestly, no” I shook my head
“Figured. Come,” She said leading the way out of the kitchen. Gina and Elle had gone to bed earlier so no one was present in the living room. I had a hunch that Cole, however, was still
CLOS
awake.
When we got to Lyra’s room, she closed the door behind her and turned to give me an apprehensive look
“You should seriously control the way you zone out these days, especially with those people out there around” She scolded, “You should see the way you looked stuck in your head”
I sighed and sat on her bed, “Gia and I were having a small argument”
Her eyes
narrowed at me and she moved forward then sat down beside me. “Is this something to do with Cisco’s school function?”
I nodded, “Yes, and Cole offered to attend in place of Kaiden”
might have imagined it but I thought I saw hurt flash through her face for a second. Blinking, I realized that she was staring back at me with intent. I definitely imagined that.
“Okay, so what is the problem?” She asked, shrugging. My eyes dropped to her hands which clutched the bed tightly and I squinted
“Lyra, are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m mad but not at you, I’m mad at Kaiden for putting you in this position. I just want to blow something off” She heaved and looked away from me, “His head especially”
A chuckle slipped out of my lips and she looked back in my direction.
“I think you should let him-” She swallowed, “Um, Cole attend
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the function, Kaiden is no good anyway”
“I’m considering…”
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‘I knew you were!’ Gia huffed, pacing about in my head causing my headache to become worse than before.
“Gia isn’t happy” Lyra stated with a knowing look and I nodded, “I also feel it’s not a good idea even though letting Cole come is promising” A beat passed, “He even knows about mine and Kaiden’s past”
“How?” Lyra’s voice was almost above an octave, her eyes were widened. Her overall expression was mortified and an unmistakable hint of anger. I didn’t even know what to think about her reactions anymore. Before, I could read her from her afar without second guessing myself but she had been off and on lately that I didn’t even know what exactly to attribute to her reaction now.
“I think he still remembers when I made mention of my love getting married to my sister” Ignoring the thought to just leave her, I explained.
She appeared to relax a bit, “Oh. I thought he went out and did some snooping”
Oh, was that why she was mad?
Lyra had always been protective of me, I should have known.
“Despite knowing that he still offered to be there for Cisco” I explained. Our eyes met for a while and I was left conflicted. Something was surely going on in Lyra’s head and it was messing up with her emotions pretty bad. Her eyes had a lot to
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say but she wasn’t letting me pick one out.
“And you said you’d think about it?” She broke the eye contact.
“Yes”
“What have you decided? Because I think you should let him be there. Cisco will be happy, you know that”
“But he’s not Cisco’s father”
“Does that matter? Kaiden is worse even though he is the father in question. What has he ever done for you both other than being a jerk and a coward?” She spat, her voice laced with spite.
Thad always felt this way about Kaiden but for some reason, hearing her say it made my heart clench painfully. It hurt to know that my mate was that terrible. He had never been on my side and now, I felt he would never be.
A shaky breath escaped my lips and I gulped down a painful. lump that had formed in my throat.
“I’m not concerned about anything but Cisco’s feelings and Cole’s safety. If Kaiden learns that Cole took his place, I’m afraid he might do something out of hand” I explained, “This is Kaiden’s pack after all, Lyra and I don’t want to endanger Cole’s life”
Chapter 105