Chapter 497 The One Who She Spends Time With

Chapter 497: 497-The One Who She Spends Time With

Theodore:

The dramatic pauses she kept taking between her words made me feel as though someone had reached down my throat, grabbed my heart, and ripped it straight out of my chest.

"So Ragnar has been staying here?" Jaguar asked and she nodded.

"Yes, Your Highness. I’m quite certain it was your brother, Alpha King Ragnar, at her place. But I didn’t mention it to anyone because I didn’t want to start any rumors."

As dramatic as she was being, there was no denying what she’d just told us.

It was the biggest fucking betrayal.

While we’d been going crazy looking for our brother, he’d been staying here with our mate.

And our fucking mate hadn’t even bothered to tell us.

"Why don’t you boys come inside and make yourselves comfortable? I’ll serve you some midnight snacks, and we can talk about everything in detail," Mrs. Baker suggested.

We exchanged a glance.

"She used to keep a spare key hidden somewhere," Jaguar interrupted, already looking around for it.

Of course, he knew about the key.

He had been here countless times, even before I came to her home.

"Oh, she removed that key a while ago. I think Alpha King Ragnar might be the only one who has it now because I saw him coming here this evening. He simply took out a key from his pocket, unlocked the door, and walked right in. Maybe she gave it to him," Mrs. Baker explained.

"Come on, boys. Let’s go inside," she insisted again.

My brother and I exchanged another glance.

"So she’s not home?" I asked and Mrs. Baker shrugged.

"I don’t know. That’s all I saw, and I haven’t seen her since. Maybe she isn’t home. If she hasn’t answered the door, she’s probably gone somewhere."

She smiled warmly, her eyes twinkling.

"Why don’t you come inside? My daughter has made some delicious midnight snacks."

But the storm raging inside us wasn’t something that could settle so easily.

"Actually, we have somewhere to be. And Ragnar..." I hesitated, scrambling for an excuse. "We decided to keep a spare key to her house so we could check on her whenever necessary. I think Ragnar must have taken it with him."

I had to come up with something because I didn’t want rumors spreading and giving everyone another reason to interfere in our lives.

Now that Ragnar and Verity had become so closely involved, people would start insisting they get married to save face.

And the thought that he might actually go through with it was insane.

Because what about us?

What about Gigi?

"What do you think is going on here?" I asked Jaguar, desperate to get away from this woman so we could be alone and discuss everything.

His eyes were growing red, too.

Mrs. Baker struck me as a dangerous woman, the kind who was always on the lookout for gossip and wouldn’t hesitate to spread a rumor.

We quickly left Mrs. Bakers behind and headed toward our car, while she remained standing there, watching us walk away.

As soon as we got inside, I turned to Jaguar.

"Seriously? You’re involved with people like her?" I complained, pointing toward Mrs. Bakers, who was still watching us.

A frown formed on her forehead as she studied our faces, almost as though she were trying to read our lips and figure out what we were saying.

"I was desperate," Jaguar hissed. "Besides, it’s not like the people we trusted turned out to be any better."

His comment was clearly directed at Ragnar, and to be honest, I was just as shocked by everything that had happened.

"Did you see it coming?" I asked and Jaguar merely shrugged.

I started the engine and pulled away, but none of it was making sense anymore.

If Verity wasn’t home, did that mean she’d left with Ragnar somewhere?

The thought alone was bizarre.

"I guess we should’ve noticed the signs," Jaguar spoke up again. "Remember how Gigi kept complaining that Ragnar had become distant? She even mentioned that he hadn’t slept with her in months, especially after her abduction, all the intimacy left from between them."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"Every time she tried to get intimate with him, he’d tell her he didn’t want to trigger her trauma. That he wanted her to heal first and all that bullshit."

Jaguar spoke with brief pauses, his anger becoming more apparent with every word.

And I couldn’t blame him. Nobody could.

Because I felt just as betrayed as he did.

"Somewhere along the way, we were at fault too. We failed to notice that Ragnar, who had always been so aggressive toward our mate bond with Verity, and how he objected to our plan. Not because he was afraid we’d end up fighting, but because he was afraid of being left out," I hissed as the realization finally dawned on me.

"So what the hell are we going to do now?" Jaguar demanded.

"We can’t keep acting like fools anymore. That’s for sure," I declared before clearing my throat. "Since Ragnar has been playing games with us, it’s time we played one of our own."

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel as I continued.

"His biggest plan was to use our rivalry against us and drive Verity away from both of us. So what if we turn the tables on him? One of us could tell Verity he doesn’t want to be with her, leaving her free to accept the other."

I paused briefly, thinking through the rest of my plan.

"Once she accepts one of us, the other can make it clear that he’s willing to be with her too. That way, she’ll accept us both, and afterward, we can tell her she has to reject one of us. At least then we’ll both have been accepted, and she’ll have plenty of time to decide whom she wants to keep."

I’d barely finished explaining when my brother raised his voice.

"Whatever happens, I’m not sharing Verity with anyone! And who gets to decide which one of us she’ll accept first?"

Before I could respond, Jaguar continued, his frustration growing.

"No, because neither you nor I will agree to share her. When the time comes, we’ll corner her and make her choose between us. That’s it. No other way around it."

He finished his argument with his fists clenched so tightly that I could hear his knuckles crack.