Chapter 50

Standing beside Rayne, Kelsey looked up at the rock face. “Now I know why it looked familiar, Blair used to bring me here.”

Rayne raised both eyebrows. “For what?”

Kelsey grinned. “To climb.”

Shaking her head, Rayne looked up to the top. “I guess when you don’t have a mall to hang out in; you might as well climb a cliff.”

“I think he did it to get me out of Gage’s way.” Kelsey moved closer, trying to figure out where the best place to start would be.

“Oh?”

She shrugged. “When I was seventeen, I decided Gage was the one my hormonal body wanted.”

Rayne Chuckled. “I guess that fantasy has been realized.”

Kelsey felt her cheeks heat. “It has now.” Finding a good handhold, she searched for solid footing. “Gage knew I was his mate, but refused to go near me until I was older.” She watched Rayne follow her up. “Or so I’ve been told.” She paused to let Rayne catch up.

“Ten points for Gage,” Rayne grunted as she pulled her body up further, “for not being a jerk and claiming a child.”

Turning, Kelsey looked at the rough surface a few inches from her face. “Yeah.” Reaching up, she felt around for another good hold. Now wasn’t the time to think, she needed to focus on not falling off the face of these rocks.

“Kelsey?”

Finding it, she brought her foot up and pulled herself up higher. “Yeah?”

“Are we…” Rayne huffed out a breath, “climbing to the top?”

Pausing, Kelsey looked down at her. “No. There’s a nice dry, safe shelf about…” looking up, she tried to guess how far, “another thirty or so feet. We can stay there.” She went up a few more feet before Rayne commented.

“Will they think to look here?”

Resting her forehead against the rough stone, Kelsey closed her eyes. “I think Blair will.” She opened them and felt around for another good finger-hold. “I used to take off and end up here when I was upset or moping, and Blair always found me.” She lifted her leg and winced as her knee scraped along a jagged edge.

“So, you and Blair were close when you were younger?”

Kelsey knew Rayne talking to keep their minds off the reality and she didn’t blame her, but it still sent pain through her heart. “Yeah, I guess.” She hissed out a breath as her forearm rubbed over another jagged stone. “Apparently, Blair ran interference a lot to keep me out of Gage’s path…”

Rayne snorted. “Oh, I don’t think the pretty Blair minded one bit, having to spend so much time with you.”

Kelsey grinned, hearing Rayne call him pretty, Blair would pout if he’d heard it. “No, I guess he didn’t” She scowled at the rocks. “I just found that out too in this last week.”

Rayne made an aggravated sound. “I’m going to be one big scab tomorrow.”

Kelsey looked down to see her shake it off and reach up, following closely. “Only one? You’re doing better than me.”

“You didn’t know, about Blair? He never tried anything in all those years?”

Kelsey sighed and looked up for the ledge. It was going to be dark soon. “No. I saw him as a brother, but I guess its taboo or something.”

Rayne chuckled. “To mess with someone’s mate? Yes, taboo would be the mild way of putting it.”

Kelsey didn’t reply. There really wasn’t anything more to say. Her options were to pick Gage or pine for Gage. Rayne was quiet too, for the last part of the climb.

When they were both lying on the ledge, all Kelsey wanted to do was close her eyes and sleep. Turning her head, she looked over at Rayne. She had her eyes closed as she fought to catch her breath. Sitting up, Kelsey moved back until she was leaning against a smooth area on the wall. She’d spent a lot of time here before she went away to school, pondering her future. She grinned. It hadn’t exactly worked out the way she’d pictured. There hadn’t been any shifters, mates or furry tails, in any of the scenarios she’d imagined.

Biting her lip, she looked over to where she’d scratched her initials into the pale stone. Underneath those were Gage’s. The plus sign wasn’t very visible, but she knew it was there.

“I’m so tired,” Rayne whispered.

Kelsey looked back over at her. “Me too.”

Rayne turned on her side and opened her eyes to look over at her. “We wouldn’t have made it this far if we hadn’t…”

Wincing, Kelsey covered her ears. “Don’t talk about that. Ever.” She dropped her hands and held them over her stomach. “My stomach is still churning.”

Smiling, Rayne studied her for a moment. “We could talk about boys.” She wiggled her eyebrows at her.

Snorting, Kelsey rested her head back against the wall. “I’ve had enough talk about men to last a lifetime.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “It’s been all mate this, mate that, and then that heat…” she stopped and sat up. “It hasn’t come back.”

Rayne pushed up until she was sitting facing her. “Maybe your body decided you’d been through enough for the first time around.”

Kelsey hissed out a breath. “That’s for sure.” Looking down at her palms, she cringed when she saw how dirty she was. “I’m not going to mourn it going away.”

“I don’t think I’d miss it either.” She grinned. “My sex life with Devin is quite full enough, I don’t know how we’d fit in anymore…”

Kelsey waved her hands, feeling her cheeks heat. “Don’t talk about it.”

Rayne laughed. “Afraid I’ll jinx it?”

That, and hearing about sex was something Kelsey didn’t think she’d ever be completely comfortable with. “Something like that.”

“It’s a good thing.” Rayne said as she examined her scraped legs.

“What is?” Kelsey straightened a leg and tried to see how badly cut it was.

“That the heat’s gone.” Rayne tried to run her fingers through her tangled hair, then shook her head and gave up. “Now when you’re horny for Gage you’ll know it isn’t driven by your cycle to breed.”

Kelsey bit her lip, she hadn’t thought of it that way. “So, the draw to your mate isn’t as intense?”

Rayne leaned back on her hands and studied her. “The sex is intense, and there is a draw to be with your mate, or when they’re near, but it’s not uncontrollable.” She grinned. “Well, unless you don’t want to control it.”

Kelsey nodded, like she understood when she really didn’t. She’d always wanted Gage, but she’d never wanted to devour him like she had with the heat burning through her. “I guess it will get easier for me to figure things out.”

Rayne moved over to the edge of the shelf and sat back down. “You’re still not sure what you want to do?”