“Did you have a pack member named Lyle that recently passed away in the last few months?” I ask, looking over at Ezra.
He stiffens, his lips pressing in a line, and he swallows, his eyes darting to Mateo, making me look over at him. Mateo rubs a hand down his face and sighs, while looking back at Ezra who looks gutted, making me wonder if they were close.
“Sorry, bro, I didn’t realize you were close with him,” I apologize, passing him the chopping board of cut-up onions. He scrapes them on the burner before handing them back to me.
“I wasn’t close to him. I barely knew him, he was new to the pack,” Ezra explains while flipping the steaks. “Is there a reason you are asking about Lyle Wesson?” Ezra asks.
“Yes, actually, he was Sage’s first mate. I wanted to take her to visit his grave if he was buried here,” I explain, and Ezra flinches and grips the barbecue, not realizing where he was grabbing and put his palm half on the hot plate. He drops the tongs in his hands before burning himself again as he goes to retrieve them from the hot plate.
Nudging him aside, I look at him worriedly, wondering why he is behaving so oddly. “Are you alright? Let me take over,” I insist, taking the tongs from his grip. My father gets up, moving, so Ezra can sit down, and Mateo leans over to look at his hand.
“It’s fine,” Ezra snaps at him, but Mateo growls at him and grabs his hand, jerking it towards him for a better look. “Seriously, it is already healing, just fucking leave it,” Ezra snarls, his eyes flickering to Maddox.
Mateo ignores him, leaning down and running his tongue over his palm, and Ezra grumbles at him but lets him, knowing Mateo wouldn’t back down from him. I always find witnessing their relationship interesting. Ezra is the Alpha male over them, but Kat has softened him.
But Mateo, despite being his Beta, also influences him, Mateo never backs down from him, and I think sometimes Ezra likes having someone to order him around and scold him. Though, I am sure Kat gives them both hell, Mateo is the balm to Ezra’s stressors, someone to take control when he doesn’t feel like it, even if it is just simple things most of the time.
“I didn’t know Lyle had a mate. Maddox didn’t mean it,” Ezra sighs.
“Yeah, Sage said something along those lines,” I agree, and he looks over at me.
“Huh, what happened with Sage?” he asked, and I could see the confusion on his face, like he is trying to figure out some hard math question.
“When she stumbled across him, he told her his Alpha attacked him, but he didn’t mean it.”
“Maddox only attacked him once, and that was when Maddox killed him.”
“Killed him? No, he was still alive. Sage tried to heal him, the rogues killed him in front of her,” I clarify, wondering now if we are talking about the same person.
“Maddox seems pretty sure he killed him. That was the night I marked Kat and absorbed the darkness from her, making Maddox blind with rage. When did Sage meet him?”
“A few months back, they stumbled across him just over the border and brought him back to camp. She said he was nearly dead, and she healed him or tried to, but then the rogues realized they were mates when he tried to free her, they ripped him apart, then tossed him back where they found him just on your borders,” I explain.
Ezra seems to think for a second before walking off inside, and Mateo mindlinks someone, his eyes glazing over.
“Is he alright?” I ask Mateo, who shakes his head.
“No, he locked his wolf up after that night and rarely shifts now because he is afraid of killing his pack members,” Mateo answers, when Kat and Sage step outside.
Sage still has Eziah, and Mateo reaches behind him with his arms out. Sage places Eziah in his arms, but Marabella isn’t with Kat.
“She is asleep. I put her down for a bit,” Kat says, answering my thoughts. Ezra returns with a dark expression on his face and a photo in his hand. “Oi, what’s wrong?” Kat asks him, but he shakes his head approaching Sage, who steps back from him, confusing his expression for anger, but I can see killing Lyle is eating at him.
“He won’t hurt you, Sage,” Mateo assures her, touching her arm. She swallows, and Ezra hands a photo to her before sitting next to Mateo and reaching for his son.
Sage stares down at the photo before swallowing, her eyes turning glassy. “Lyle,” she breathes, biting her bottom lip.
“You know him?” Mateo asks her. She nods, staring down at the picture in her hands, which is some Pack ID photo.
“Yes, he was my mate. The rogues killed him,” she confesses softly, and Ezra lets out a breath, Kat runs her fingers through the back of his hair.
Ezra leans into her touch like she would make him feel better. “I didn’t kill him,” he breathes out.
“No, the rogues did. They tore him to pieces,” she whimpers, offering the photo to him. He shakes his head, pushing her hand back toward her.
“Keep it,” he says, and her eyes dart to me.
I can see the question in her eyes, wanting to know if she is allowed to or if I will be offended if she did. I suddenly feel guilty about my overreaction to her looking at Ezra earlier. Now she is worried about me getting angry over her dead mate. I realize how foolish I was.
“Keep it,” I echo, but she shakes her head.
“No, it’s ok,” she protests, still trying to give it back, but I can tell she doesn’t want to.
I reach over, taking it from her and study the man in the picture. He would be her age, with dark hair and soft features. Looking back up, I find everyone staring at me, but Sage is focused on the picture in my hands like she is scared I will do something to it and is fighting the urge to snatch it from me.
I place it in my pocket. “We can put it in a frame when we get home,” I promise her, and she lets out a breath.