Rogue. Beta

3. MASON

There was only one person I wanted and it made my stomach churn. I knew I couldn’t have her. I knew I shouldn’t want her anymore but I didn’t have an emotions switch. She was mated to my best friend. They had kids together. Kids that were my godchildren but when I looked at their mother, all I could think of was how sweet the bow of her lips must taste. I hated myself for it. 

Her hips were a little wider from childbearing, her breasts fuller. She was still the most perfect person I had ever laid my eyes on. 

“Mason!” She barrelled into my arms and I held her tight. She smelt like babies and my best friend. But there was still her natural scent and it made me ache. 

“Did you miss me?” I teased. 

“You know I did.” She poked me playfully. “Dylan is insufferable without you.” She hugged me again and I couldn’t help burying my nose in her neck. Her eyes were uncomfortable when she stepped back. 

Fuck, she knew. 

It had been six years. She had been mated for three out of the six years. I hadn’t spoken to her in the last year. I hadn’t expected my feelings for her to vanish but they weren’t supposed to be so strong still. She knew I had purposely locked her out for the full year I had been away. I could tell she was surprised I still hadn’t gotten over her. 

She smiled at me in an unsure manner. I knew it was sick but I couldn’t help the way I hardened in my jeans. She had really nice lips. And her eyes... Bailey’s green could not compare to hers. 

There was only one person that could simply breathe and make everything I found compelling about Remi Vaughn look ordinary. Only my mate could kill these unwanted things I felt for my best friend's mate and since she hadn’t come to me, I had gone looking for her.

I didn’t find her. 

I must have been a terrible person in my last incarnation. Why else didn’t I have a mate? The dilemma was fixing whatever it was that made me mateless. I had to find my soulmate!

“It’s good to have you back, Mase,” She patted me awkwardly. 

It was good to be back home. My lust for my best friend’s mate aside. It sucked that my balls drew uptight, wanting to pump my best friend’s girl full of my seed, but I was happy to be home. The grounds under my feet were mine. I was happy. 

Speaking of seeds, her mate approached with their seed shrieking in his hands. 

“I think he’s hungry,” He held the squirming bundle out to her. 

“Did you feed him?”

“No.”

“Then of course he’s hungry! “ She exclaimed, already rocking the child in her arms. “Where’s Rena?” 

“Clara has her,” Dylan replied. She made to leave but he blocked off her part. Then he pulled her into a kiss. It was more for my benefit than his. She walked away with flushed cheeks and I ached even more. 

We stood staring at each other for a while before he cracked a grin.

“A year away and you’re still hard for my mate.” There was humour in his tone but his eyes told a different story. 

“f**k you. “

“Nah. I have a mate.” He smirked 

We were silent for a while. Then he spoke again. 

“I’m not trying to be an asshole,” He said

“I know.”

His arms immediately wrapped around me in a tight bear hug. “It’s good to have you back, bro,” He said, pounding my back. 

“You’re a crazy mofo and you’ll start trying to pass your workload to me now. I haven’t the faintest clue why I’m happy to see you,” I relied in lieu of a heartfelt greeting. 

“Still a smartass,” He chuckled, roughing me up. 

“Still awesome,” I grinned, temporarily forgetting the sting of my loneliness. “Now can I enter my party or are you jealous she loves me enough to throw me a party?” I blinked innocently at him. 

“It has nothing to do with love, dumbass. She has a fascination with surprise parties. Since she can’t surprise me, she chooses to surprise everyone else. Walk with me, asshole.”

The Alpha started to take long strides through familiar routes. We were heading into the woods. My woods. For a year, I had only the option of running in other pack’s woods. The air was never quite fresh. The trees had not been beautiful enough. The grounds had not been level enough. 

Sure, I had spent a while in the pack division in Canada but I had grown up here. Canada was a home away from home. My first shift had been in these very woods. It was in this woods I used to run with my best friends – Dylan and Jake. This was my home. 

Dried leaves crunched beneath our boots as we moved into the woods. I could hear the incessant call for mating of crickets. The air was clean. A light breeze rustled the trees and my shirt. I couldn’t remember a time in the last year when I had been so relaxed.

We came to our spot and he took a seat on a dead log. It was the exact clearing we had had our first shifts. A significant part of our friendship. 

“I’m sorry you didn’t find her.”

“Yeah. It sucks but I’ll be alright.” I took a seat beside him. “If she’s still alive then I expect to find her at some point.”I shrugged. There was a piece of stump poking me as I sat on the log with Dylan. 

“You can still go searching for her. I’d let you. You’re my best friend. I don’t mind bending the rule for you.”

“No, thanks. I don’t want the Grim Reaper knocking my teeth out for overworking Kelly.”

Kelly was my co– beta. The beta in Canada that made sure things ran smoothly with or without the presence of the Alphas. She was also mated to the Grim Reaper and he was a scary fucker. 

“Mason,” Dylan said like my father. I needed to inform him I was back. Him and my mum. 

“You’re just afraid now that I’m back, Remi will see she can do so much better than you.” I winked at him. 

“To be truthful, my wolf is itching to cover her in my c*m so you know who she belongs to but you’re not stupid. I would slit your throat before I let you touch her. Best friend or not.” His voice was grave. I didn’t doubt his words for a second. 

Five years ago, I was begging him to cut her some slack. To stop bullying her. But now she’s all his and I’m all alone. Life sucked balls.

“Uh huh. Possessive much?” I stood up. “Bet she would look better with my c*m on her face, though!” Then I took off. His growl started the birds around, making me laugh. Man, it was so easy to get under his skin!

It was definitely good to be home.

°°

The first people I noticed when I stepped into the dimly lit packhouse basement were my other best friend and his mate. 

“Jake Augustus White. Sit down!” His mate exclaimed, red in the face. 

“But –“

“Sit!”

“Baaaabee –“

“Sit, Jake. It isn’t every time you try to settle things with your fist!”

“He bumped into you and he did not apologise,” My best friend cried. 

“Forgive him, Clara. Whites are wired weird.” I cut into their conversation. 

“Holy f**k. It’s the man of the f*****g hour!” He shouted when he caught sight of me. 

“Still cussing like a sailor. Clara, wash this fuckers mouth with some acid before you kiss him again,” I hugged him back, pounded his back till he coughed.

“It’s nice to see you, Mason.” Clara hugged me briefly. I caught a delectable smell on her before she drew back. What the f**k was that and why did it make my wolf happy?

“Dudddee! You look like f*****g terrible. Like you haven’t slept in weeks.” His mate elbowed him discreetly while he grinned. 

I grinned too because I knew his game. It was mine too.

**

Very soon, I got tired of the welcome back greetings. I got tired of the sympathy for not finding my mate. I got tired of the girls who assumed I was now free game since I didn’t have a mate. My friends were now too preoccupied with their mates to pay me any mind. I was exhausted but I couldn’t leave my party while it was in full swing. 

I went off to the makeshift bar where a delta was serving out fruity punch and even some alcohol. 

“Hey, Max. How you doing?” I asked with a big grin.

“I’m good, man. It’s great to have you back.” 

We chatted for a while over my cup of punch – I already tried a bottle of vodka but it didn’t even make my blood warm. A while later, he also abandoned me to dance with his mate. 

It seemed I was being smacked left, right and centre by the happiness of those around me. 

I didn’t mean to stiffen up when she slid into the seat beside me. 

“Where’s your boyfriend?” I asked as I turned. 

“He’s checking on the kids. We put them in the Alpha Suite.” She poured herself a drink. ”And he isn’t my boyfriend. We’re mated.”

Silence. 

“Kelly said you didn’t look good in Canada.” She voiced in a rush.

I sighed, tinkering with my punch. I had stopped at our pack division in Canada a couple of times – three or four. The last time I had been there, it had been for three days. The days Kelly left to see Remi’s babies. It was hard to feel good when the love of my life was procreating while I tried to get over her.

I like to think the vodka had something to do with the next words that came out of my mouth.

“Did I imagine things? Was there any.... Did I ever stand a chance with you?” 

Her eyes snapped up to mine in shock. We had never ever discussed this. The feelings were there. The tension was there but never the words. I had to know. Maybe not knowing was the reason I still held on. 

“Mason, don’t do this to yourself,” She whispered with pink cheeks. 

I should have dropped it. I really should have. But I was turning out to be a masochist. Happens when you repeatedly cling to someone you can’t have. 

“I have to know. Please.”

“I love Dylan. It seems like there has never been another except him. I know – it’ll be like that for you too when you find her. I promise, when you find the one for you, no one else will matter and it’s the most beautiful feeling in the world.” She poured herself another drink and avoided me for the rest of the night. 

She wouldn’t say it but before Dylan, there had been me. 

I registered the bitter taste of regret on my tongue. It made me shake my head. 

When at eighteen I didn’t find my mate, I told myself it was because she was sixteen at the time. It was the only thing that gave me hope. She was sixteen and in two years, she would be by my side, my mate. 

I laughed bitterly. 

I had been so sure. The feelings were so strong and the shy glances she gave me in school hallways? I knew they weren’t one sided. 

I was the one who dragged her brother to the high school on her birthday. I had been that sure. So f*****g sure she was mine to keep forever. But she wasn’t. 

The goddess was cruel to me. So f*****g cruel. And then he had rejected her. He got the person I dreamed of every night and he rejected her. I have been friends with Dylan since all we could say was guga gaga but I hated him in that moment.

Then the day at his house when she stepped out clad only in his shirt. Their scents had been interwoven in a way that meant s*x. I had seen it coming but looking at it made me lose my mind. In a split second, I had been growling at my Alpha in a way that meant CHALLENGE. Challenge for his mate.

For two years, I watched them fall deeper in love. It was a bittersweet feeling. I was happy she was happy but I hated it wasn’t with me. So I left. 

Scoffing at my pathetic behaviour, I downed the rest of my drink in a gulp. I had to hit the hay. I officially began my duties in forty eight hours.