Page 10 of Same Difference
God, she’d missed her friend.
She crossed her arms over her chest as she walked, not because she was cold, but because it felt like her aching heart needed a shield from the world. The snow crunched under her shoes with every step, behind her, she heard Nate’s door open and close, and she kicked up to a jog to meet Nory.
Nory caught her up and asked it. “Oh my gosh, Delta. Are you okay?”
That was like an I-love-you to someone like her. Someone caring about her well-being felt so nice. Nate hadn’t asked her that even once. Not ever.
“No,” she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her human friend, careful not to crush her. “I’m not okay.” She buried her face against Nory’s neck and squeezed her eyes tightly closed, like that would help keep her breaking pieces together.
“What’s happened?” Liam asked in a worried tone.
“Dude, what’s wrong?” Vic asked.
Nory shoved her back at arms’ length and studied her face, then looked to Nate, who hung back. “What did you do?”
“He didn’t do anything,” Delta said, not ready to throw him under the bus. “I’m choosing to dissolve our pairing. It’s me. It’s my choice.”
“You can’t just do that,” Bridger pointed out.
“You can if you never consummated the Arrangement,” she uttered raggedly. She shrugged and faced Nate. “You’ll tell them anyway. It’s what you do. You can’t shame me if I shame me first.”
Nate’s eyes were downcast at the snow, and his fists were clenched at his sides.
“So, you’ll be up for more Arrangements soon?” Dodger asked.
“Dodger,” Nate warned.
“Too soon? Hey, I’m probably not asking for me,” he said, raising his hands in surrender. “She can just date again is all I’m saying. Wow, how did you fuck that up, bro?”
“Change!” Nate snarled.
“No, no, no,” Liam murmured, pushing him gently backward. “He’s just trying to get to you. You already smell like blood.”
“Ask her out and I’ll fucking kill you,” Nate promised around Liam, and Delta could see his eyes were the brightest gold she’d ever seen.
This didn’t make sense. He didn’t care about her, so why did he care if Dodger mentioned her dating someone else?
The guys were yelling at each other now, but there was a roaring in Delta’s ears, and Nory was dragging her toward the dilapidated cabin. She was asking Delta something, but she couldn’t understand her words. Her attention was glued to the fury on Nate’s face as he yelled at Dodger. Liam was giving him an Alpha’s order not to Change, and Vic and Bridger were standing between them, trying to pull Dodger’s attention off Nate.
“I shouldn’t have come back here with him,” she uttered as Nory dragged her around the back of the cabin.
“What the hell happened?” Nory asked as she pulled Delta into the back door of the little cabin.
This room was standing still just fine. It had a little wood-burning stove in the corner, and all the walls of the small room seemed to be sturdy enough. The roof wasn’t even sagging overhead.
Outside the small window over the woodburning stove, it was snowing steadily. She could still hear the boys yelling. Nate’s voice in particular was booming.
She didn’t understand. He’d tried to leave her with Decker, so why did he care? All men were the same. If he couldn’t have her, no one could.
“Girl, what is going on?” Nory demanded, shaking her shoulders gently. “We just talked to you guys eight hours ago, and you were fine. You were happy. I could tell!”
Disgusted, Delta blurted it out. “He was taking me back to my old Pack. He wanted to drop me off with my ex. I didn’t know eight hours ago that he was trying to dump me off.”
“Holy crap,” Nory drawled out. “No. No, he wouldn’t do that.”
Delta’s stupid lip was trembling. “I was falling for him, and he was planning ways to get rid of me.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to control the tic, but she couldn’t help it. She pulled her fists up and shook them in front of her face, and when it ended, huffed a sign of relief as her muscles released.
“You’re so upset,” Nory whispered, holding her hand. “I can’t believe he did that. Did he say why?”
