Page 2 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

April nodded her head, fury willing her face. "Yep! I came home last night, and the bastard had another woman with him in our bedroom! Our bedroom! Jesus fuck! I almost fucking murdered him."

I was stunned and just stared at her. Suddenly, last night felt like it was gone. My problems weren't as terrible as April's.

"Wow," I said, not having more words. “I…wow…I don't know what to say."

"I'm going to murder him with my two hands," she snapped back, her lips curled up slightly as she bared her teeth. "It was Catherine! Of all the people, he was fucking her! I mean, like fuck! She is the biggest whore in the pack."

April paused, and then her face went white. "Oh my god, I need to get an STD test."

I waved my hands and walked towards her. "Okay, hold on a second. Are you…and forgive me for asking this, but you're sure? Like…. you've seen him…you caught him in the act. You witness this?"

April looked hurt, and she slowly nodded. "I know the sounds he makes when he's having a good time. I thought he was just jerking one out when I got home. So, I figured I'd go join him."

I frowned. "I'm sorry, April."

April took a sip of her coffee and shook her head. April then looked at her, and her eyebrows scrunched together. "Not to be rude, but you look like shit. What the hell happened to you?"

I swallowed, wishing just to forget last night. I wanted to chalk it up to Brad just having a bad night, but it seemed there were many more of those days than good days.

"I'm…." I didn't know what to do or say, but April, of all people, knew me. She knew all my secrets. She knew all my fears. She knew everything.

"I'm unhappy," I said, reaching out and taking the extra coffee. I took a deep sip of it. I smiled, enjoying the taste of the creamer that April knew I liked.

She was silent for a moment before she looked around the apartment—the space I'd lived in with Brad for over a year now—the space that should have felt like home but didn't. It wasn't my home. It was his. Everything was his taste. Everything was what he wanted.

"We need a vacation," she said, breaking the silence. "Away from all of this. Away from the pack."

I couldn't help but laugh. That wouldn't happen. April couldn't afford to leave work for a vacation, and Brad would throw a fit if I disappeared. His daily agenda would be out of sync.

"That's a thought," I said, looking outside the window. I took in the view. We lived on the fourth floor of an Upper East Side apartment. The view of the pack was breathtaking, or at least I used to think it was. I always thought it made me feel safe, but now, it feels more like a cage. I could see all the way to our borders, knowing I would never get past them.

"I'm serious, Riley. When was the last time we did that?"

We were fresh out of high school when we took a trip the summer before college. We wanted to do it each summer, but life got in the way. April found her husband, and I found Brad.

"April, we can't. You have work, and I…"

"Am unhappy," she said, repeating my words back to me. "Brad can survive without you, and I can just take time off. I need this. You need this."

"And where would we even go?" I asked, tilting my head. "Did you even think that far?"

"We could go see Cayden."

I frowned. Cayden was her older brother. I hadn't seen him since we were in high school, and I didn't know when April last saw him. Cayden left the pack eight years ago, and she knew April hadn't forgiven him for it. Yet, she wanted to visit him.

"Have…you spoken with your brother lately?"

April shrugged. "We speak on occasion, but not for a while."

"And you want to visit him?"

She shrugged again. "I'm hurt…and maybe my brother can help."

I remembered how close they used to me. And how protective Cayden was about her. About us both, actually. But was he the same person he was before? It had been eight years, and he'd never returned once. Never tried. If he had, April would have told me about it.

"And you need this," April said, scanning her face. "I don't know what's going on or why you look like this, but I know you need this break as badly as I do."

I felt tears build up, and April frowned at me; an expression of hurt filled her face. "Riley, what happened?"

---