His Unidentified & Untouchable Mate

Venting

Zahraa POV

At the revelation of the article, the girls and I sat in a circle on Ingrid’s floor. “Okay, Zahraa, I respect your emotions, and I’d love for you to take your time processing, but also I need to know what this is about,” Alanis started. Ingrid was to my right, her leg touching mine, her arm laced around my back. Alanis was on my left, but practically halfway in Tanis’s lap.

“You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to,” Tanis emphasized for what had to be the fifth time since I’d arrived. “Ignore them if you want.”

Ingrid remained silent, but I could see the curiosity eating her from within.

And, well, maybe venting would help.

“I caught Jacob making out with his ex. She was topless,” I blurted. A sob rose through my throat and choked me, and I added, “And her boobs are nicer than mine,” as a soft whine.

“Oh, honey, your boobs are great,” Alanis said, patting my thigh. “Aren’t they Tanis?”

Tanis rolled her eyes, but nodded.

“He. Did. What?!” Ingrid snarled. “I knew he was trash – I just knew it! Goddess, I’m going to rip him bit for bit when Rowan’s done chewing him up and spitting him out.”

“Wait,” Tanis looked like she was doing some extreme mental gymnastics when she asked, “So how did Rowan get involved?”

And that was the part I didn’t want to get into.

Because Jacob had come into my life with several warnings and red flags attached. Maybe the betrayal stung, sure, but did it surprise me? Not as much as it should have.

But Rowan… Rowan was my knight in shining armor. He’d rescued me time and time again since the moment we met. And maybe I did want him to kiss me – maybe that gesture would’ve been magical and romantic in any other context, but I’d come to him crying. I’d wanted comfort, not… that.

“Uh-oh,” Tanis was the first to notice the look of drowning in my face. “I think we found the root of the problem.”

Ingrid set her rage aside long enough to put a hand on my thigh. “Honey, what happened?”

“I didn’t…” I swallowed the lump in my throat, “I didn’t want to go to Ingrid right away. I don’t think I could’ve handled an I told you so or an I knew it at that time. So I went to Rowan.” I paused to take some deep breaths before I divulged information I’d kept quiet this whole time. “Rowan… Rowan was the one who pulled me out of that slaver’s caravan. The gammas were getting riled up, and they were getting violent. Rowan was the only one that saw I was hurt and scared, not some threat to be put down. And throughout the years, he’s been the one redirecting my bullies, comforting me when I couldn’t take it anymore.”

Realization dawned on Ingrid’s face. “You’ve mentioned a boy before – someone that you leaned on when I wasn’t around. That was Rowan?”

I nodded. “He was always so nice… but he didn’t want me damaging his reputation-” all three of my friends flinched at that – “so we met in secret, and I never told anyone about him. By name, at least.”

Alanis was already stewing. “Okay, so first of all-”

Tanis wrapped a loving arm around Alanis’s shoulders and put a silencing hand over her mouth. “Sorry, Z. Continue.”

“So, when I saw Jacob with his ex, the first person I thought to go to was Rowan. I opened a Door to his office – it must have been subconsciously, because I just wanted to go anywhere else. He found me, and just like he always has, took me home and cared for me.”

Everyone had sour expressions at that.

“I slept in his bed, because I had a mirror incident in his spare room-” the sour expressions tightened, as if everyone was simultaneously sucking on lemons. “-and when I woke up…” I hiccupped.

Alanis and Tanis shifted uncomfortably, as if they knew where this was going.

“…I’d wandered to the balcony. He followed me… he…” I swallowed. “He kissed me. Told me if it didn’t work out with Jacob, I’d always have a home with him.”

“Oh f**k that,” Alanis snapped, tugging Tanis’s arm away so she could speak freely. “Can you believe that s**t?! Waiting until you’re vulnerable to spring that on you – what trash!”

“I concur,” Ingrid said with a scowl.

“I told him now wasn’t the time and he backed off,” I spoke quickly, as if that might soften the blow. From the expressions on my friends’ faces, I knew it hadn’t. “I opened a Door home – that’s when I texted you, Ingrid, to let you know I was coming over. But when I got there…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Jacob was there.”

“Are you f*****g kidding me?!” Alanis shouted. “These trash-ass alpha bastards can’t respect boundaries to save their f*****g-”

Tanis squeezed her girlfriend’s shoulder. “Let her speak,” she whispered softly into her ear.

I could see the way Alanis melted to her, sinking deeper in her embrace and sighing when she grew comfortable.

I wanted that. Was that too much to ask for?

“We fought,” I said, simply, mind flashing back to the way he’d manhandled me, the way he’d excused his own behavior as if it were the most natural thing in the world to expect of a man. “I started to reject him. All his excuses were so weak. ‘I was pent up!’ ‘I’m a man!’ Like, seriously TV drama with bad acting excuses.” My hand raised to the place on my arm where he’d grabbed me. I was always well-covered, so it wasn’t like I had to worry about them seeing anything, but the memory ached alongside the flesh. In a small voice, I added, “He scared me.”

They were on me in a heartbeat, everyone finding some territory to hug. I’d never felt so warm, secure and loved.

The embrace lasted for several minutes before Tanis pulled away first, followed by Alanis. Ingrid continued to sit close, her arm rubbing circles into my back. I was suddenly less fond of the gesture, since Rowan had done the same.

After a long, chilly silence, Tanis was the first to speak. “I don’t know who to cheer on. Rowan the Asshat or Jacob the Cheater.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll shred each other out of existence,” Alanis joked.

I sighed, “Doubtful.”

“So, what now?” Ingrid asked. “You can stay with me as long as you like…” she tapered off, as if realizing the position I was in.

Alpha Rowan, our alpha, wouldn’t approve anything that put me out of reach. There would be no new housing, no pack transfer.

Jacob worked at the office of the High Alpha. He could see or block any requests he didn’t like involving me.

Within this pack, I was trapped.

“Stay here,” Tanis remarked with a shrug, as if that were the easiest solution. “Mom has already said if we need to take you in, she’s game.” There was a pause, “We understand being kind of isolated and different, so she wants to help in any way she can.”

I smiled, but it was forced and taut. “Thank you, but I think I’ll be fine.”

Ingrid looked at me doubtfully. “Alright. Just promise me you won’t find a way to get in between these two. They’re both idiots, and if one of them gets their ass handed to them, they deserve it.”

“Sure,” I replied, as Alanis and Tanis went to check on Tanis’s mother in the other room. “I won’t.”