Chapter 252: Chapter 251

Chapter 251 Lanie Quinn stared at me without speaking, but her eyebrows went up so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline. She took a slow slip of coffee, still staring at me over the rim of her mug. Her wide eyes made me want to giggle, but | couldn’t be sure if she was mad at me or not.

She put the cup down. “I can’t even be shocked that your name isn’t Katie. | knew there was something mysterious about you!

This is like, so romantic and wild. You have a secret identity!”

“No, not like that.” | quickly shook my head. “I wasn’t keeping it a secret on purpose, anyway. Goddess, I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Probably at the beginning.” Quinn offered and put her chin in her hands to blink her eyes at me. “I’m ready.”

| laughed, shaking my head. “So...1 guess | can go all the way back to Xander and Zane. My mates.”

Quinn gasped aloud and sat back so hard she rocked her chair on two legs. | waved at her to be quiet, not wanting the entire coffee shop to hear our conversation. She nodded and scooted her chair closer to me.

“What about Mason?”

| bit the inside of my cheek and braced myself. “He’s also my mate”

Her jaw dropped. Her eyes flashed as her wolf rose from the surprise. She quickly soothed her wolf into being quiet, but her voice held a touch of a growl when she whispered to me.

“What the actual f uck, Katie? Or not Katie, what is your name, anyway?”

“It's Lanie. Lanie Constantine.” | had to shake my head at that. | never really thought of myself that way. “I’m the Luna of Constantine Pack”

“lam going to pass out from this,” Quinn said. “I can’t even.”

| was glad she was able to keep a good sense of humor about all of this. It really was a lot to take in.

“It's been a wild ride,” | admitted. “First, | was given to Xander and Zane to be their mate. But they were in love with someone else...”

She held up her hands. “Hold on. Let me digest this. That’s not supposed to work.”

“It didn’t at first. But it turns out the woman they wanted to take as their mate, Alice, was also with...” | hesitated, not sure | could even say it out loud without it all sounding ridiculous. “Well, she was with Mason.

And although they took her as their mate, she never could hear the mind link with Xander and Zane, which meant-”

“That the mate bond didn’t work,” Quinn finished for me. “But it did with you?”

| nodded. If | wanted to tell her everything, the entire truth, | would have to reveal that | was a hybrid and 1/2 vampire side go away, but at the expense of my memories. It was the reason I’d ended up in Stillwood with the name Katie, not knowing where I'd come from, who | really was, or who'd fathered my baby.

Quinn must've been able to see my reluctance on my face, even if she couldn’t possibly know the reason why | didn’t want to say what was on my mind.

“That’s a little messed up,” she offered.

“Yeah. It was. But we were destined to be mates” | quickly came up with a small lie. “Because of the confusion about everything, though, | ended up umm...well, it's all confusing, but basically, | ended up in Stillwood because of that mess.”

“So...Xander is Stella’s father?” Quinn asked, shaking her head and looking amazed.

“Yes.”

She thumped one fist into her other palm. “I knew it! | knew that baby looked too much like Mason not to be related to him! By the Moon, Katie...| mean Lanie.. I’m surprised Xander didn’t kill Mason for touching you! And now you're all mates? And they're friends?”

“Well, Friendly” | corrected her. “They've managed to find a way to get around their differences.

| didn’t mention their father had been killed by the ancient vampire, Malachi-who happened to be my grandfather. | hated lying to my friend, but there was only so much | could reveal without putting her in danger.

Quinn blew out a breath. “Phew. | think | need something a lot stronger than coffee after hearing all of that. | can’t even begin to imagine how you must feel. So..you went back to be with Xander and his Beta?”

“Mason asked me to go with him to Constantine to figure out the family umm...dynamics,” | said. Tm really sorry we didn’t give you a heads-up or anything. It was all so crazy and sudden. | really should have been in touch, though.”

“Water under the bridge,” Quinn said. “I can’t say | blame you. Sounds like you had a ton going on.”

Asense of doom hit me suddenly, and | sat straight up.

“I need to go home. Now.”