The Alpha's Broken Mate

Chapter 13: Unbelievable

Chapter 13 

-Elijah-

I couldn’t believe the words she said. It was like pins in my chest. I was burning with rage and wanted her to regret those words ever coming off her lips. I blinked and suddenly she wasn’t in front of me. I stood there in disbelief and confusion as I was trying to think back to what she could possibly be talking about. And then I remember…

In an instant, the moment hit me like a freight train and I realized who she meant. Lauren came over yesterday after she heard of my return. Lauren and I have been friends since high school. She and I have what people call a “friends with benefits” type friendship. I didn’t want to be tied down to anyone, and she hadn’t found her mate yet. We made one single rule at the beginning of it all, and that was if we ever found our mates, the whole thing was off.

We wouldn’t see each other anymore, no more sleeping with each other, etc. Before I left for Lacey’s pack, Lauren came to me and said that she had found her mate. He was from a pack a few miles away. She didn’t mention a name, but we both knew what that meant. So we called it off just like we said we would. She left and then I met Lacey. 

She came back the night I returned to tell me that she had rejected her mate. She had feelings for me and she wanted to work things out. Of course, I became very angry. I hadn’t even had the chance to mention that Lacey came home with me. That I had also met my mate. In a spur of the moment rage, I grabbed her by the throat and got very close to her face. She unfortunately likes that sort of thing, so of course she reacted.

I leaned in real close to tell her that she had broken our one rule. That she needed to go back or leave. Maybe if she begged hard enough, her mate would take her back. I will admit Lauren is very pretty. Easy on the eyes. Someone you notice right as you walk into the room. She wears the most revealing outfits, so that gets a lot of attention. She was on the taller side and had dark brown hair that seemed almost black. Honey brown eyes and skinny. She didn’t have any build to her. Though with the surgeries she went through for her b**bs and her a**, you don’t really notice.

Right as I went to take my hand away, I heard Lacey push the door open, and I realized what she saw. Before I can say anything, Lacey is already gone and Lauren is looking at me like I’m her next meal. I push Lauren away but she takes my waist and pulls me close to her. “Eli, please. I’ve been a good girl.” She tries to unbutton my jeans and I stop her in her tracks. “Lauren stop! I have also found my mate. So this is over. Go back to the man that you rejected and maybe if you beg long enough he will take you back.” 

She is furious.

I get out of the kitchen and Tristan has Lacey in his arms. I went to grab her from him, and he stopped me. My arm brushes hers, and I feel the tingles from the bond. “I promise I’m not trying to whisk her away from you. She was just tired and ran out and slipped on the floor. She hit her head, so I was just gonna take her to her room.” I couldn’t see her face as it was tucked into Tristan’s chest. Seeing her like that made my skin crawl. I knew he didn’t have any interest, but seeing his hands on her is enough for me to want to rip his face off.

I don’t think Hailey would forgive me though. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. “Thank you for taking her to her room. Wanna play some pool after you're done?” I didn’t know what else to say. This girl has been here less than 24 hours and is already softening me in ways that took me years to harden. I figure a game of pool could take my mind off it. That and playing with Tristan is also an interesting game.“No thanks bud. I’m gonna go see Hailey, it feels like years since I’ve seen her. Rain check?” I nodded and he headed to the stairs to take her to her room. I headed to my own room and began undressing.

I take a quick shower and brush a comb through my hair. Throw on some underwear and climb into bed. For as long as I can remember, I have always fallen asleep to the sound of the TV. Something about it makes it seem like it’s not so empty. I turn on whatever I last had the channel turned too and before I know it I’ve dozed off and fell asleep. 

I realized I needed to talk to Lacey. Tell her what really happened. If she would even talk to me, that is. I can’t even begin to imagine what she’s thinking. She came here because I told her to at the same time I was going to reject her. Now she’s here and not even 24 hours in and she catches me with another woman. I feel guilty about what happened. It’s an unusual feeling, because I never feel guilty. I need to talk to her soon. Before it’s too late.

The next morning, I woke up at 5:30 am. I put on a muscle shirt and some basketball shorts, threw in my headphones, turned on my workout playlist and went down to the kitchen. As I entered the kitchen last night, it popped into my head. What Lacey said is still in the back of my head. Is that really what she thought of me? Did I damage our relationship before it could even begin? I was worried about her. Also a new feeling. I have never wanted to build a foundation with anyone. Why all of a sudden?

I shook it from my mind and pulled down my pre-work out from one of the cabinets in the kitchen. I take a dry shot of the powder and swallow before I even have the chance to taste it. If I didn’t, I would have a hard time keeping it down. I get to the work out room and Crimson Skies by Black Veil Brides comes on. This is one of my favorite songs right now. Before I know it, I’m done working out and ready to shower. It’s 7:00 am. Not too bad for today. 

As I have already gotten dressed for the day, I go into my office to begin the endless mountain of work that comes along with being Alpha. Usually, when I enter my office, I don’t come out until later hours. I sigh as I begin to take a piece of paper out of the endless abyss that is paperwork and begin to work. I work for 3 hours before I decide to take a break. See something other than the 4 walls of my office. Alpha work can become such a mind-numbing process. I wander around the empty halls of my packhouse and decide that I’m going to wander outside into the garden.

The endless paths of flowers and beautiful scenery are enough to make me forget my stresses and enjoy what I see. Lilies are my favorite flower. They can be simple or complex, striking or subtle. So many variations, yet you’ll always know it's a lily. I enter the center of the garden and instantly her scent fills my nose. I looked around yet I didn’t see her. I follow it, letting my nose take bigger whiffs, so intoxicating that it's like huffing the sweetest of drugs. I followed behind a bush of white lilies and there she was. 

She is on the ground, tending to the flowers. Almost as if no time had passed, she shot her head up at me. At the same moment, she takes the flowers that she has collected and rises to her feet. She turns away from me and tries to walk the long way around so as not to come near me. Here’s a hint… She tried. I grabbed her hand and swung her around so that her back was against my front. I held her close against me so that I could smell her scent that seemed to leak from every part of her body. It was driving me mad. I just wanted to take her right there. Make her mine for the world to see. But I knew that would just make her hate me more.

She begins to struggle against me. “Let me go, Elijah! Right now!” Her words hurt me as if they were daggers. She didn’t want to be around me. Though I completely understood why. I wouldn’t want to be around me if she treated me that way. If she saw what she did. I need to explain to her. Right now. I couldn’t stand her being mad at me anymore. It was eating me up from the inside and making me sick to my stomach. “Calm down. Stop struggling and I might just let you go. But if I do, you have to promise to let me explain to you.” I didn’t want to take an angry tone with her so I just spoke plainly. Honestly, I didn’t know if she was going to listen to me.

She relaxed a bit but was still sorta tense. I take a deep breath and hope for the best. I let her go slowly. I released my arms around her and I set up in my mind that she was going to run. That way, if she did, I wouldn’t be disappointed in the outcome. However, to my surprise, she stayed. She didn’t turn around, but she didn’t run. She stood right there in front of me. I grabbed her by the shoulders and grabbed to turn her around. Slowly as I was afraid any faster and she would second guess staying here. I got her fully turned around and she darted her eyes to the ground.

“Will you look at me? Please.” I mumbled the word please at the end, but I spoke softly. She shakes her head no and I figure if all I’m going to get is her right here in front of me, then that's good enough for me. “I need to explain to you what you say in the kitchen. I know what it looked like and that is the last thing that I wanted. That girl you saw, her name is Lauren. Lauren Chase. She and I are friends. Now as for the closeness that you saw, she rejected her mate. I got angry at her. That’s all.” I left out the part about us having had friends with benefits-type relationship. Figured I might as well not give her something else to get mad at me about. One thing at a time. She relaxed a bit more. A small sigh escaped her and I assumed she was hoping I hadn't heard it. 

“If this changes nothing, then at least I can say I told you.” I figured I'd let her have a minute. I need to go back to work anyway. Her eyes were still focused on the ground and she hadn’t moved a muscle. “I’ll be in my office.” With that I turned and walked back into the packhouse. Go back into my office and begin work again. I would be lying if I didn’t say a small part of me hoped that she would come in here. That she would forgive me. But I couldn’t let myself have a false sense of hope. I need to be realistic. There is a very high chance that I won't see her again today. I just needed to be okay with that. 

I settle back into my mind-numbing work and haven’t even realized that an hour and a half has passed already. I became aware of a knock at my door and was still shuffling through papers. “Who is it?” I asked, expecting it to be Tristan or Hailey. More likely Lauren as she is here now. Though she would just walk in. So it wasn’t her. A voice makes everything in sight vanish with a few simple, shaky words. ‘It’s me.” And I realize who it is. Lacey. She is standing right behind that door. I gathered my composure and took a deep breath. Not loud enough to hear.

“Come in.” My tone was rougher than I wanted it to be, but it was too late. She slowly opens the door and makes her away across the floor, shutting the door behind her. I can tell she is uneasy, and so badly I wanted to take those insecure feelings away. “What can I do for you?” I make myself seem busy by skimming papers and putting them in a pile. I wasn’t actually reading them. I couldn’t. She clears her throat to prepare herself for what she is about to say. “I want to go on a date.” The words fly out of her mouth and stun me with surprise. Did she say what I actually think she said?

My eyes widen and I know that she can see it. I’m taken back by her words, yet slightly filled with excitement. But my words convey the opposite. “When am I going to have time for that? As you can see, I’m very busy. Take Hailey with you and do whatever it is that girls do.” I was mad at myself for letting such words out. She is instantly disappointed. But she doesn’t let it linger for long.

“I wasn’t meaning with you. I was meaning with Hailey. I need to go buy some things for my room. So I was just letting you know. Not that you care.” And she left. The door closed behind her. Just like that. Again I pushed her away. I was so angry that, in one swift motion, everything went flying off my desk. I was seeing red. I couldn’t believe that I had done that. I explained to her what had happened so that maybe, we could start getting to know each other. But I went and ruined it. As soon as she opened the door to try to get to know me, I slammed it in her face. I tore books off the bookshelf and threw the two chairs that were in front of my desk. I’m unbelievable.

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