Transition - Delta's Triad

[ 3 ]

[ Wyatt ]

I hadn’t missed the way Rain had frozen by the loud bang and as I moved through the apartment, I realized that it had probably been the front door. No one was around and nothing looked disturbed. I went back down the passage to the room and Rain was still frozen in place. What on earth was she so afraid of?

“Did you shut the door behind you when you came in?” I asked and she stared at me in fear, and I took a step back. Clearly, she didn’t trust me, not that I blamed her even though it hurt. “I think the front door banged closed,” I explained, but even then, she didn’t seem to snap out of it. “Rain?” I asked more firmly in hopes of grabbing her attention. When she did finally actually look at me, she visibly relaxed.

“I don’t think I did close the door,” she signed, and I nodded. That confirmed it then, since there was no other explanation.

“Shall we get back to work?” I posed it as a question only in hopes of easing her down from whatever the hell had happened to her. Rain nodded and I quickly led her out of my apartment and locked the door. As we made our way to the elevator, I couldn’t help but wonder what she thought about my place. Granted, it was rather empty, but neither Kayley nor my mom had come by to help me decorate it. I still had a few boxes at home that I needed to bring over and I did have some things I had shoved inside the cupboard that I could put around the place to make it feel more like home. By the time we got back to the café, Rain was clearly feeling better, and I had to wonder why she had been so spooked. It wasn’t just the bang that had scared her, she had frozen in place before she had even entered the apartment. Of course, I was curious about my mate, and I wanted to know more. There was something oddly comforting to know that she wasn’t a wolf and that she didn’t know we had been mated as soul mates. I kept my distance as I led her back to the office. I sat down and got to work and even though I knew I should have been showing her what to do or what not to do, I chose to ignore her. It wasn’t until I heard Josh’s voice that I realized she wasn’t in the office anymore. I stood up and checked the time on my phone. It was late. Had I really been so into the work that I had missed most of the day? I wasn’t sure why Josh was here so early though. He wasn’t due to start yet, so I couldn’t understand why he was here three hours before his shift.

“Why won’t you talk to me?” I heard him hiss out and I frowned as I left the office. I immediately saw him standing by the lockers, but I couldn’t see who he was talking to. “Answer me, damn it,” the venom in his voice had me stepping closer to him and that allowed me to see that the person he was talking to was Rain. Her hands were moving frantically as she tried to communicate with him, and I growled softly. I didn’t miss the fact that Josh was too close, and she was cowering in the corner.

“She’s mute,” I said as I approached them, and Rain immediately relaxed. Josh, on the other hand, froze as he slowly turned around to face me. His body was full of tension, and he quickly looked me up and down. “Are you alright, Rain?” I asked her and she nodded as she took Josh being distracted by me as an opportunity to step away from him.

“I can’t believe that young i***t,” Josh snapped, and I turned my attention back to him.

“What? Who?”

“Adam,”

“Why?” I asked as I saw Rain slip away and head to the front.

“I mean…when he fired me, I didn’t think he was being serious and then I get introduced to the new manager and Adam is telling me that I can finish up the week,” I had to admit, Josh did look upset, but I couldn’t feel any sympathy for the man. He had been a lousy manager.

“Maybe it is for the best,” I said carefully.

“What do you mean?” he asked, his whole demeanor shifting to the defensive.

“Come on Josh,” I started lightly. “You and I both know how much you hated this job,”

“Yes, but this…I need the money…you know?” panic was starting to creep in, and I knew that it would probably be best for Josh to leave now instead of in a couple of days. Although I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I was thankful when Adam came around the corner.

“Oh! Josh, there you are…would you mind meeting me in the office for a quick chat?” Adam caught my eyes and gave me a nod. As the two of them headed to the office, I relaxed. I immediately went in search of Rain and saw that she was in front with Noah – one of the night shift baristas. He was also early, wasn’t he? Although from what I could see, the place was packed, and he was helping customers which in turn was helping the café. He was currently showing Rain how to make one of our more complicated orders and so I thought it would best that I leave them to it. Just seeing her, had helped to calm me, but I knew it wasn’t enough. I needed to see Luca. I had run away from him. I had literally left the pack in order to put distance between us, but I needed to see him. I needed to find out how the hell Rain was also my mate. Had I missed something? Had he somehow rejected me? Although that thought hurt, I knew that wasn’t the case. I took out my phone and checked the time. There was no way I would be able to leave when my shift ended. I had a feeling Adam was going to let Josh go, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t slip away for an hour or two. Before I could make any arrangements, I called Kayley.

“He lives!” she all but screeched in my ear and I sighed.

“Hey, Kay,” I greeted her.

“Hmm, hello Wyatt,”

“How are you?” I asked as I moved to the back. I couldn’t go to the office, so I hung around by the lockers.

“I’m fine…what’s with all the formalities?”

“Formalities…so, is it wrong of me to want to know how you are doing?” I shot back as I kept my eyes on the closed office door.

“I suppose not…how are you?”

“I am…actually, I am not doing very well. Is Luca around?” I asked as the tension built up.

“He is…are you going to talk to him?” she asked, and I could hear the hope in her voice.

“I don’t…no, I just need to see him,” I admitted. I still wasn’t ready to face him, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever be ready.

“Wyatt…”

“Kay…I don’t know what is going on right now because the new manager is also my mate,” I blurted it out and it somehow made it more real by saying it aloud. “How is this happening?” I asked her, even though I knew she wouldn’t be able to give me any answers.

“Wait…you have two mates?”

“I don’t know…that is why I want, no, that is why I need to see him,” I stressed out as I saw the office door opening. “Listen, I’ll stop by soon, ok?” I didn’t wait for her to answer before I hung up and I watched as Josh left the office. He looked defeated and he made a beeline for the exit.

“Wyatt?” Adam called out and I snapped my attention back to him. “I told him to go home,”

“Good,” I said absent-mindedly. “Actually, do you think I could slip away for an hour or two?”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll stay here until you get back,” I thanked him and then hurriedly left the café. I had wanted to stop by the front and at least let Rain know that I would be going out, but confusion had made me walk right past her. How could this even be possible? Of course, I had heard about wolves having more than one mate or even second-chance mates, but I hadn’t believed it to be true. I headed up the road and crossed the street to get to my car, which was parked under a tree. I didn’t waste any time and soon I was on the road to the pack. The closer I got, I knew that Luca was still my mate. I could pick up on his scent as I passed by his parent's house and as I drove up the newly built road to get to Kayley’s place, I knew that my mate was around close by. What I hadn’t been expecting was to see Luca right outside their door and that immediately complicated everything for me, so I kept driving.

“Come back, Wyatt,” Kayley shouted in my head, and I growled out in frustration. “He was just leaving after coming over to see Decker,”

“Is he gone?” I asked.

“He just left,” she said, and even though I knew that she was telling me the truth, I still took a long way around. I parked my car alongside Decker’s ranger and hopped out. Kayley was standing by the open door. I had only seen her place before she had decorated and furnished the place and although I was curious to see the inside, now wasn’t the time.

“I saw him,” I whispered, and she nodded. “I need to get back,” I then lied.

“Oh, no you don’t,” she said as she reached out and grabbed my arm. “What is this about you having a second mate? A new manager? You can’t just say stuff like that and leave me hanging,” I quickly glanced around but I didn’t see, nor did I sense Luca, so I shrugged off her arm and sighed loudly.

“Adam hired a new manager to replace Josh,” I said.

“Oh! Thank goodness, that guy is such a creep,”

“Yeah, so anyway, Rain came by the café early this morning and…yeah…”

“Your wolfie senses went haywire?” she guessed, and I nodded. “That is strange,” she said more to herself, but I agreed anyway. “So, what now? Why did you need to see Luca?” she then asked.

“I guess…well, I just needed to see him and make sure that he hadn’t somehow rejected me,”

“That would mean he would actually have to know about you,” she pointed out, and I relaxed. Although that was true, I had still needed to see him. I didn’t tell her that though. “So, this new manager…Rain?”

“Yeah, she is mute…although I am not sure why,”

“Oh, she?” I chuckled at that and stepped back. I should probably leave before I ran into Luca. “Does this change anything?” she asked, and I quickly shook my head.

“No, it doesn’t,” I said softly. I threw her a quick smile and headed for my car. Kayley didn’t try to stop me, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t have to deal with her sooner or later. As I drove through the pack, I considered stopping at my parent's place but the thought that I may bump into Luca had me heading straight for the gate. I needed answers though, but I couldn’t find them here. With some sort of plan in mind, I headed back to the café and back to Rain.