He glanced at his parents and gave a short nod. “My sister and I have the good fortune of calling Tess and Dante our godparents.”
The other couple smiled warmly at him. Then Dante smirked. “Growing up, you and Carys probably should’ve had a pair and a spare considering how wild and headstrong you both were.”
“Were?” Chase quipped drolly. “I’ve been cursed with children who proved to me time and again that they were as hard-headed as I am. They still do, more often than not.”
“And we wouldn’t have either of you any other way,” Tavia added, reaching out to squeeze the hands of both Aric and Carys, who had now joined the gathering along with her hulking mate, Rune.
Kaya looked over at Rafe. “I suppose your godparents are no mystery, seeing what close friends you and Aric are. Chase and Tavia, right?”
“No,” he replied, exchanging a look with his parents. Dante and Tess seemed a bit uncomfortable now too. “My godparents are Gideon and Savannah. And I’m damned lucky they are. They’ve been my rock more times than I can count.”
Aric’s quiet had deepened as well. A sudden awkwardness fell over the group. Kaya glanced at Chase and saw a regret in his blue gaze that made her wish for the floor to open up and swallow her. “I’m sorry if I said something wrong. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“You didn’t. And you aren’t,” Chase said. “What no one here wants to say is that I was supposed to be godparent to Rafe, but I lost the privilege. Deservedly so. I had some . . . issues many years ago. I thought I could hide a big problem from my brethren and it cost me their trust. If I hadn’t found a reason to turn it all around, I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
“Probably none of us would be,” Dante said soberly, nothing but respect and affection for his fellow comrade and friend.
“What happened?” Kaya blurted before she could curb her question. “I mean, if you don’t mind me asking, that is.”
Aric was the one who answered. “He had to come clean about the thing that was destroying him and everything he cared about.”
“That’s right,” his father confirmed. “I had a problem that was bigger than I could handle on my own. For me, it was blood addiction. But the solution is the same for anything that seems impossible to repair. The only way past a problem is through it.” He turned an adoring glance on Tavia. “So much the better if you have the right person to help you to the other side.”
He lifted his mate’s face and kissed her in front of everyone, neither of them ashamed of their devotion--or the palpable heat of their bond.
As for Kaya, she couldn’t help but see the parallel between her own troubles and Sterling Chase’s near forfeit of his place among the Order and the family he’d made there. And when she thought of family, it was impossible not to think of her twin.
As children, she and Leah had never known this kind of kinship and security with the people who bore them and raised them.
Nor this kind of love.
As much as she owed the truth to Aric and Mira and all the other people gathered in the sanctuary along with her, she couldn’t turn her back on her sister.
Although Leah claimed not to want her help, Kaya had to give her another chance at a better life.
“Speaking of problems and finding our way through them,” Dante said, his black brows knit over whiskey-colored eyes that narrowed on his warrior son. “How’s Siobhan holding up? With everything that’s happened since you and Aric picked her up, it’s easy to forget the trauma she survived.”
Rafe nodded. “She’s doing her best to put the attack behind her, but it’s not easy. Witnessing her roommate’s brutal murder and being beaten unconscious by the Opus thugs who broke in that night has taken a toll. Siobhan’s sensitive. She’s . . . delicate. She’s also the most captivating woman I’ve ever known.”
Aric shot a wry smirk at his friend. “You never could resist a pretty damsel in distress.”
“You trying to tell me I’ve got a type?” Rafe volleyed back, grinning. “Hard to recall even looking at anyone else now that I’ve met Siobhan.”
His father grunted, clearly surprised by the news. “Anyone with eyes can see how much you care for her. But I’ve gotta say, I never thought you’d find a woman to live up to your impossible standards. Did you, Tess?”
She gave the faintest shake of her blonde head, eyes the same arresting aquamarine color as Rafe’s studying her son in a curious silence.
Kaya felt a stare holding on her too.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about that private conversation you asked about,” Nikolai told her. “Anytime you want to talk, my door is open for you.”
She had to swallow past the knot of guilt that sat in her throat as she offered the commander a nod and murmured thanks. She felt the weight of Aric’s silence beside her. With dread and regret crushing down on her, it was all she could do not to bolt from the room and scream out in self-directed anger and frustration.
She had to put her past to bed and either leave her sister behind for good or find some way to bring her into the light.
All she knew was she couldn’t bear another day of holding the truth inside.
CHAPTER 25
Aric sat in the war room with Rafe, the Order elders, and all the rest of the Breed males on site at the command center, trying like hell to pay attention while they reviewed the events of the past few days and the resulting intel that Gideon had sent from D.C.
It wasn’t that he had no interest. He was as determined as anyone to chase every trail that might lead the Order to Opus Nostrum--or to the
