Page 47 of Awakened
Seth dipped his chin, turned, and walked out of the room without another word, leaving me frozen in place.
The front door slammed, jarring me from my stupor. I sprinted downstairs, not entirely sure what I was going to do. Was I trying to stop him? Bring him back? To what? Tell him again how we weren’t going to happen?
I opened the front door and scanned the block but didn’t see him. After ten minutes of staring at the dark street, I knew he wouldn’t be coming back. Much like my last night in Kirksville, I dragged my tired ass up to bed and cried myself to sleep. I’d lost yet another person, another possible future.
In my sleepy daze, I answered my phone without looking at the screen.
“Hello?”
“Les.”
Oh shit. Oh shit.
“Aiden?” After a fitful night of sleep, it took my brain longer than it should to snap to.
He snorted. “Yeah. Thanks for finally picking up.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just stayed quiet.
“Les, when were you going to tell me you weren’t coming back? That you were going rogue?”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Um, I didn’t think it mattered? You were going to find out, eventually. Em’s bringing back my paperwork tomorrow. You have another gamma. You’re good to go!” I rambled, hoping that something out of the garbage I was spewing would smooth over Aiden’s anger.
“Actually, no, I don’t. Not anymore. Seth came back last nightafter running all the way from St. Louis. He told me he was leaving and didn’t know when he’d be back. Where’s he going, Les? Is he moving there with you?”
While the agitation in Aiden’s voice would have usually been my main focus, a profound sense of worry settled in my belly as I thought about Seth. Not knowing where he was or where he was going didn’t sit well with me.
“If he is, he didn’t tell me. He took off last night without saying where he was going.” I sighed. “We had a little disagreement.”
Aiden let out a harsh, humorless laugh.
“Did he finally get up the nerve to tell you about his little crush? Guessing that didn’t go so well since you’re not together right now.”
“Fuck you, Aiden. Why do you care?”
Radio silence, folks. A part of me wanted him to confirm his feelings for me, even if they were meaningless and would lead to nothing but pain. Another part wanted him to choke on his fucking tongue and never speak to me again.
“You know why. I’m not ready for you to be with someone else, let alone my best friend.”
“That’s just too fucking bad! I might not be ready for Seth, and it’s killing me to let him go right now, but I will not be alone. Fucking know that.”
Power surged through me as I rambled through all my grievances with Aiden.
“This alpha male bullshit has to stop. You might not be to blame for the mate bond, but you being a dick is completely within your control. I’m not coming back, period. How am I supposed to stay in the pack when I can’t stop thinking about you, even when you’re nowhere in sight? When Seth kissed me—” A low growl came through the phone. “WHEN SETH KISSED ME, all I could do was compare it to the last kisses we shared. It didn’t matter that it was possibly the best kiss of my life because you still slithered your way into that moment. I am poisoned withthese fucking memories, and, unlike you, I don’t have a mate to distract me.”
More static on the line.
“I’m sorry, Les.” I waited for him to say more. Much to my pain and relief, he didn’t.
“I have to go. The rest of the gang leaves in a few hours, and we’re supposed to grab brunch. Please don’t call me again.”
Without waiting for a response, I ended the call.
I sat on my bed, unable to go back to sleep. An hour later, I gave up and left my room. Sarah’s bedroom door was wide open, meaning I had a couple of chumps to interrogate. Using all the natural sneakiness gifted to me through the predatory powers of being a werewolf, I eased down the stairs and peeked into the living room.
What I found was shocking.
