Page 51 of Challenged Mate
He didn’t flinch. “Yes.”
Like a wild animal caught in a cage, I lashed out on instinct.
I shoved Asher back. It lacked the strength to actually move him off me, but he backed away, nonetheless.
I sat up on the bed, disbelief and despair warring within me. Asher stood at the foot of the bed. His face was an apologetic mask as he said, “We can’t act on our feelings, Blair. Not until I—”
“No, s-stop.” I cut him off, not caring how pathetic I sounded. I couldn’t take any more. I couldn’t take this.
Axel was the alpha.
My fated mate was the brother to the male I was supposed to mate—the same male who was upstairs.
And Asher had kept it from me, all this time.
So did Chase.
And Kayla.
Yet another deception.
My heart ached.
“You should go,” I whispered, not wanting the alpha to overhear us. Tears burned my eyes, and I had no hope in stopping them as they rolled down my cheeks.
I was such an idiot.
Asher’s face contorted with pain. “Blair, let me explain. It’s not what you think.”
“It’s exactly what I think,” I spat, anger rearing its head through my despair. But it faded as quickly as it appeared.
“P-please,” I choked out. “Just go.”
At first, I didn’t think he would listen. His jaw clenched and his hands were fisted at his sides. Everyone said the effects of the fated bond was worse for males. His instincts would be screaming at him, demanding he not leave until things were resolved between us.
That’s why I was surprised when he huffed out a quiet, “I’m sorry.”
My vision blurred as I watched him walk away, mourning the end of the only moment we were ever going to have.
Twelve
“Seriously,what is wrong with you, Blair? Did you drink too much last night?” Chase stood over me. We’d been sparring. Once again, he refrained from using magic, but he still managed to lay me flat on my ass with hardly any effort at all.
I stared up at the dark, cloud-covered sky. It was like the Mother sensed my depressed state and decided to make the weather reflect my mood.
“She had three beers over five hours,” Kayla called from the other side of the clearing. I’d started the morning training with her before Chase arrived and insisted on another match.
“There’s no way she’s hungover,” Kayla added.
I refrained from turning to look in her direction. If I did, I’d see the alpha’s home in the background. And it would only remind me of what transpired within it earlier this morning.
“Then what’s wrong with her?” Chase called back. He’d given up on asking me after the fourth time I refused to answer.
“Beats me.” I imagined Kayla shrug.
Tired of being spoken about like I wasn’t there, I got to my feet, brushing the moist grass from my leggings and said, “Again.”
Chase eyed me from the bottom of my shoes to the top of my head, his attention snagged on my red-rimmed eyes. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, Blair. You look like you could use some rest.”
