Chapter 295: Tired Of Running

Rebecca’s POV

​"What?" Kane asked sharply. "She’s your mother?"

​"Yes."

​There was a brief silence on the other end before Kane spoke again. "You mean Alpha Maria?"

​I frowned. "You know her?"

​"Of course I know her. She became Alpha of the Stone Pack about two years ago after her parents died. They had no other children, so the position passed to her." He paused. "Rebecca, are you telling me Alpha Maria is your mother?"

​"It seems so," I replied.

​Kane went completely silent. I could easily imagine the shock on his face.

​"Fuck," he finally muttered. "I definitely wasn’t expecting that."

​"Neither was I."

​"What did she tell you?" Kane asked.

​"A lot." I rubbed my forehead. "Apparently, Alpha Kelvin isn’t even my biological father. Lord Drake is."

​"What?" Kane sounded even more shocked. "The Lord of the Hybrids?"

​"Yes."

​"I know who Lord Drake is, Rebecca. I’m asking what the fuck is happening with your family."

​Despite everything, a small laugh almost escaped me. "I don’t even know anymore."

​Kane was silent again before releasing a long breath. "Then go with her."

​I blinked. "What?"

​"Go with your mother, Rebecca. If Alpha Maria is telling the truth, the Stone Pack is probably one of the safest places you can be right now. You won’t have to keep moving from country to country or hiding under another fake identity. You’ll be under your mother’s protection."

​I looked over at Stephanie. She was still sitting on the bed, quietly listening to my side of the conversation. "But what about Kaden? He’s going to keep looking."

​"Then let him," Kane replied.

​"Kane..."

​"No, Rebecca. Listen to me. You can’t keep living like this. You’ve escaped him. You’re free. If Kaden eventually finds you, then you stand in front of him and tell him you don’t want to be with him."

​My hand slowly moved to my bare neck. "But the choker is off. He’ll feel our mate bond now. I don’t know how long it will take or what will happen when he does, but I can’t hide it anymore."

​Kane was quiet for a moment before answering. "Then you deal with that when it happens."

​"Kaden won’t just walk away when he realizes I’m his mate," I whispered.

​"I know," Kane said quietly. "And that brings me to something else. I’m done, Rebecca."

​My heart skipped. "Done with what?"

​"All of this. The lies. The hiding. Watching my brother tear himself apart while Logan and I keep feeding him more bullshit. I’m exhausted." Kane released a heavy breath. "I’m telling him the truth."

​My blood went cold. "What?"

​"I’m going to tell Kaden everything."

​"No!" I shot to my feet. "Kane, you can’t do that. If he finds out you and Logan helped me escape, he could kill both of you."

​"I know," Kane replied calmly.

​His answer frightened me more than anything else. "Kane!"

​"Then so be it."

​"No. Don’t say that."

​"Rebecca, what do you expect me to do?" Kane demanded. "Keep lying to him forever? Keep watching him search the world for Ruby when Ruby doesn’t even exist? He needs to know who you are. He needs to know why you ran from him. He needs to know what he did to you."

​My throat tightened. "And his memories?"

​"We’re giving them back."

​My eyes flew open. "No. Kane, please."

​"I’ll speak to Logan," Kane continued. "We’ll find the witch and go to Kaden together. We’ll tell him everything, and we’ll give him the chance to accept his memories."

​My heart was pounding so hard that I could hear it. "What if he hurts you? What about Logan?"

​"We both know the risk."

​"I don’t want either of you getting hurt because of me."

​"This isn’t only about you anymore, Rebecca. Kaden is my brother. I helped take his memories away because, at the time, I believed it was necessary, but this has gone too far." His voice softened. "And you shouldn’t have to spend the rest of your life hiding because you’re afraid of what he’ll do when he remembers."

​Tears slowly filled my eyes.

​"You’re a free woman, Rebecca," Kane continued. "You didn’t murder Helen. You were innocent from the beginning. Kaden has no right to imprison you, put another choker around your neck, or force you to stay with him."

​"And if the mate bond comes back?" I whispered.

​"Then you decide what you want," Kane replied. "If you don’t want Kaden, reject him. With your mother beside you and the Stone Pack behind you, Kaden can’t force you to accept a mate bond you don’t want. You’re not his prisoner anymore."

​I wiped a tear from my cheek.

​"You don’t need to be scared anymore, Rebecca," Kane added gently.

​More tears escaped before I could stop them. For so long, fear had controlled every decision I made. Fear that Kaden would discover I was Ruby, fear that he would find out about the baby, fear that he would remember me, and fear that if I escaped, he would find me and drag me back.

​But Kane was right. I couldn’t spend the rest of my life running.

​"Thank you," I whispered.

​"You don’t have to thank me."

​"Yes, I do." I wiped my cheeks. "For everything. You helped me when you didn’t have to. You risked your relationship with your brother for me. You gave me a chance to get away."

​"You deserved that chance," Kane said softly.

​I closed my eyes. "Just promise me you’ll be careful when you tell him."

​"I’ll try."

​"That isn’t a promise."

​Kane gave a quiet laugh. "You know me too well. Call me if anything happens, and let me know when you’re safely with your mother."

​"I will. Take care of yourself, Kane."

​"You too, Rebecca."

​I ended the call and slowly lowered the phone. Stephanie was watching me, and after a few seconds, I took a deep breath.

​"I’m going to the Stone Pack," I told her. "And I’m done hiding. No more fake names. No more moving from one country to another every time Kaden gets close. I’m tired, Stephanie."

​She stood and walked toward me. "I think that’s a good decision."

​"I don’t know if I trust my mother yet."

​"You don’t have to trust her completely today," Stephanie said.

​I nodded, then reached for her hands. "Stephanie, thank you."

​She frowned slightly. "For what?"

​"For being my friend. For staying with me through everything. You could have walked away so many times, but you didn’t." My throat tightened with emotion. "When we get to the Stone Pack, things will be different. You won’t have to spend your life looking after me. I want you to have your own life too. A good one."

​Stephanie smiled and squeezed my hands. "We’ll both have good lives."

​I smiled back at her. For once, I wanted to believe that.

​I released her hands and closed my eyes. I had never tried to mind-link my mother before, and I didn’t even know whether I was doing it correctly, but she had told me our connection was open. I took a deep breath and focused entirely on her.

​Mother?

​Her response came almost instantly.

​Rebecca?

​My eyes opened in surprise. She could hear me.

​I glanced at Stephanie before closing my eyes again.

​Mother, I’ve made my decision.

​There was a brief silence before her voice returned.

​What have you decided?

​I swallowed.

​Come and get me.