Page 25 of Twisted Mates

I drop the phone on the counter and glance up at her. “He... I think he just rejected me.”

“What? Did he say those exact words?” She grabs my phone, and her fingers frantically move over the screen. After hitting send, she holds it between us so we can both watch as she sends a text that says:

What do you mean, Malakai?

Seconds pass, the message sitting in limbo with noDeliverednotification.

Carrington presses the button to call him, but it goes straight to voicemail.

“What the fuck?” she growls, and if I didn’t know better, I’d swear her wolf nearly makes an appearance for a second. “He blocked your number.”

“He’s really gone,” I whisper, sliding down onto the floor against the cabinet behind me. “He rejected me, Care.”

She doesn’t answer. She just looks at me for a moment, tilting her head as if she’s seeing me for the first time. Then she goes to the couch and sits down, staring out the window in silence. She’s frozen, shocked. And I can’t blame her. This is her twin, and he left her behind too.

Because he doesn’t wantme.

Humiliation washes over me in a tidal wave as I draw my knees to my chest and rest my head on top, wishing I could disappear into the center of the earth. This is the worst kind of rejection I can imagine. The one person in the world that the goddess intended to be mine would rather leave his entire home and family behind than be with me. I can’t remember the last wolf that was rejected in our pack. I don’t even know what comes next. What is going to happen to Kai? I know there’s some kind of “official” statement you have to make to reject your mate, and Kai didn’t say those words, but... this is not good.

The back door opens followed by steady steps. They stop on the other side of the counter. “What the hell is going on?”

I know it’s Xander, but there is no way inhellI can face him right now. Scrambling to my feet, I try to get past him and run toward the stairs, but he grabs my wrist and spins me around.

I keep my eyes on the floor. “Please, Xander,” I beg, not even knowing what I’m asking for.

“Carrington!” Xander barks, but when his sister doesn’t answer, he tries again with me, his voice gentler. “Alexia, please, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

Telling him Kai rejected me feels impossible. I can’t. “Leave me alone, Xander,” I say instead, yanking my wrist out of his grip and fleeing up the stairs to the last place I want to be but the only place I have to go—Kai’s room.

I slam the door, the impulse too tempting to ignore, before laying down on my stomach. I bury my head in the pillows before I can notice how empty the room is. The tears flow freely now, soaking the soft material under my cheeks. Goddess help me, I can even smell him on the sheets.

How did everything get so messed up? I may not have known exactly how I feel about Kai, but for him to just give up and leave? What do I do with that? And I know Carrington blamesme. She practically said it before he texted me, and I could see it in her eyes when we realized he’d cut off communication with us.

And then a terrible question enters my mind. What is Clayton going to do?

He terrifies me. What he wanted Kai to do... he didn’t have to outright say it. I knew. He wanted him to just...take me. Whether I wanted it or not. Thank the goddess Kai is better than that, but Clayton still scares me.

The only person I feel is on my side is Xander. And I just pushed him away. Because I was too embarrassed to talk to him.

“Fuck!” I scream into the pillow, the noise thankfully muffled by the stuffing.

My door swings open and I freeze, praying it’s not Clayton.

“Alexia, I know you don’t want to talk about?—”

I turn my head to the side and peer at Xander through the curtain of my hair. “It’s okay. Please come in.”

Without hesitation, he walks to the side of the bed and looks down at me. “Where is Kai?”

“Gone,” I say, my voice cracking on the single word.

“What do you mean gone? For the day?”

I shake my head, unable to say anymore. The best I can do is show him. I unlock my phone and hand it to him, the message front and center.

“He can’t do that. He can’t just leave you,” he says disbelievingly.

I turn over on my side and look up at him, fully aware that I look as pathetic as I feel and not bringing myself to care. “He can. And he did.” Xander starts to respond but I wave my hand around the room. “Look around, Xan. He took everything that he really cares about—that stupid basketball card he’s had since we were six, his ratty Hokies hat, and the keepsake box that had a lock of your mom’s hair in it. And he blocked my phone number after he sent this text. I bet if you or Care tried to texthim, the same thing would happen. I don’t think he wants to talk to any of us. Or he would have let y’all know where he was going.”

---