Page 67 of Iced Out Mate

He had the steering wheel in a two-hand grip. His fists were tight. “I think I will be. I’m just happy we finally know who’s behind all of this. But I’m also nervous. Scared. I care about her, Dyl. I know that sounds crazy, but I’ve seen her grow up. Maybe she just needs to talk to me, heart-to-heart.”

Miles was convincing, but I wasn’t sure if even he could defuse this situation.

“Should we tell Emmy?” I asked.

“I don’t know…”

“Honestly? I think, him being her brother and him being the alpha of the pack, he should know what’s happening. And he might be able to help.”

Miles chewed on his bottom lip so that the skin went white around his teeth. I expected him to draw blood any second. “Should we tell him about what we’re doing?”

That was a tricky question, and I didn’t quite know the right answer. “I think it does deserve a face-to-face conversation, but I think that also… he might be helpful in getting through to her. Like an intervention?”

Miles slowed down at a stop sign. He closed his eyes. Rubbed the bridge of his nose. I reached up and squeezed his neck. Scratched the back of his head. “It’s going to be okay. This is you closing a chapter. The next one’s going to be great, you’ll see.” I couldn’t necessarily promise him that, but I certainly felt brighter about the future now that we’d gotten to the bottom of the blocked fated mate mystery.

He pulled out his phone. I saw him open a text chain to Emmy. I didn’t read what he said. He didn’t say it out loud, either. Just said, “Done,” and started to drive again.

It was silent the rest of the way to Miles’ house. It was a short drive that felt as if it had taken decades. Like the roads somehow continued to unravel in front of us and created a street to infinity. My heart rammed itself against my ribs, my leg bouncing uncontrollably.

As we got closer to his house, Miles slowed. He turned off his headlights and pointed at a red Toyota parked a couple houses down from him. “That’s her car. I’ve seen it at Emmy’s house.”

“So she must still be in there.”

“Good.” He reached his house but stopped before turning into the driveway. He parked on the street, behind a thick oak tree that gave a little bit of cover behind its large trunk. Before getting out he turned to me. He reached up and put a tight hand around the back of my neck. If the moment weren’t so tense, I would have had to fight back a moan. “I’m going to ask one last time. Will you stay here, in the car? It’s close enough that you can run in if anything.”

The safety was tempting, but… “No. I’m sorry, Miles. I’m not going to let you go in there alone.”

He took a moment to look into my eyes. I thought he was going to be more forceful about his request. I didn’t like to back down, but I wasn’t exactly excited to get into my first fight with Miles tonight.

Instead of arguing or fighting the issue, he pushed in for a kiss, his grip still tight around the back of my neck.

“I love you,” he said when we broke. “My mate.”

“I love you too.” I kissed him back, my hands cupping his face.

I tried not to think about why that felt like a goodbye kiss as I got out of the car, slowly shutting the door so that it didn’t make a sound. My anxiety was starting to rise with every step. There was a light on in his living room, but the curtains were drawn. I didn’t see any windows open, and the door didn’t appear to be open either.

How the hell had she gotten in? Like that last time with the dove.

How often had she been doing this? Without anyone knowing?

The thought sent a handful of spiders tickling their way down my back. I shook it off. No time to turn around or stop now. We’d get our answers in just a few minutes.

We reached his porch. The wood creaked the tiniest amount as Miles and I went up the couple of steps. He put a hand out, signaling for me to stay behind him. He slowly turned the knob on the front door and opened it as if it had never been locked, even though I knew Miles locked his doors religiously.

The porch became washed in light from inside. Macie was still on the couch, her feet propped up on a pillow. At first she didn’t appear to realize we’d just walked in. But her instincts must have kicked in because she peeked over the book and gasped. She launched the book up in the air and rolled backward, falling over the couch arm. She banged into the side table. The lamp fell to the floor with the loud crash of glass and porcelain breaking.

There was only one floor lamp that lit the rest of the space. Macie got to her feet, completely shocked. She looked between Miles and me, taking steps backward. Her shoes crunched on the glass. “I didn’t… Oh my god. Oh no.”

“Macie.” Miles said her name with the heavy weight of disappointment. No fear, no anger. Just… disappointed. “Macie. We know everything. Why? What’s going on?”

She shook her head with wide, saucer-like green eyes. She wore an oversized Rocky Mountains shirt that I’m sure… fuck. That was Miles’ shirt. He’d mentioned it had appeared to be missing a couple of weeks ago.

My stomach turned. It felt like a hawk dove down, sank its claws into my gut, and tried to yank it up out of my throat.

“I don’t even know what to say right now. I had ideas—I always imagined this being different, though. With more control. You know I’m a control freak, Miles. You know me.” She cupped two hands and pressed them against her chest. “I always kind of had a thing for you. But you were always so off-limits. Older, brother’s best friend… You were mysterious and smart and so attractive. And… my relationship, it didn’t end because he was cheating. It was because he found the letters I’d been writing to you. Just never sending them.” She was on the verge of tears. Her focus was pinned on Miles. I wasn’t entirely sure if she remembered I was even here. “He left me. And I was okay with it. I just wanted you.”

She stopped walking backward. She had her arms around her chest like she was trying to keep herself warm even though it wasn’t at all cold.