Broken Mate, Fixed By Fate

02 - Where loyalties lies

“What date?” I ask, dread filling my heart. “I’m his mate, and I just arrived a few minutes ago—” I take out my phone and try to dial Jack’s number but it goes straight to voicemail.

“Oh, uh… y-you’re his mate! He, uh… Jack did say he was going out on a date with you—you know, uh…and we thought you were already with him.”

Even I can tell he’s lying.

Jayden touches my arm and pulls me to the side. “Hey, Maeve, how about you stay here and rest while I look for him? I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. You know how guys play pranks on each other all the time.” He glares at the guys, who suddenly decided to busy themselves with their game of chess.

I nod, grateful for his words even though I’m feeling terribly anxious as I clutch my bags.

“Here, why don’t you wait in his room? I’ll be back soon with Jack.”

I nod, eager to be alone. I can’t bear to see the pity in his eyes so I look away.

Jack’s room is tidy and very masculine, his scent soothing me as soon as I walk inside. I sit on the bed before letting my eyes sweep the place for anything that should not be there.

How can he even afford this place? Maybe he’s sharing the expenses with the two guys outside… but it seems like a waste when there’s a perfectly good place to stay for free inside the training camp. Especially since we are scraping by and we should be doing our best to save up for our future.

Feeling restless, I stand up again and walk around, carefully inspecting the place. I open the closet and find his clothes, well-ironed and carefully folded. I frown. He’s always been a bit messy around the house. Maybe the training camp actually cured him of that.

My eyes drop to the shoes lined neatly beside the closet and my jaw drops as I stare in dismay at the pair of military boots identical to the ones I just purchased yesterday as a gift to him.

He bought them!? Where did he even get the money? According to my calculations, he was supposed to have just enough to last him until the end of this month, before I would need to send him money again.

What is happening here!?

I look around some more. There are shirts and pants I don’t remember seeing him wear, but they carry his scent so I’m sure I’m in the right room.

My frown deepens.

Actually, if it wasn't for his scent, I would not have said these are his things or even his room.

Where are the things I sent him? The picture of us together in a picture frame I made myself… Oh, Jayden better find him soon because I have so many questions and I’m really confused… and getting angrier at the moment. However, we’re fated mates, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

There has to be a good explanation for all this.

Maybe he got promoted.

***********

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Meanwhile, Jayden finds his big brother exactly where the two d*ckheads told him Jack would be, when he threatened to beat their sorry a$$es for upsetting Maeve.

Jayden may be younger but he’s big and he has a lot of adolescent rage just simmering underneath the surface. He has had enough of his brother’s bullsh*t.

Jack is so lucky to have a hardworking and loyal mate in Maeve and he doesn’t appreciate it. In fact, he seems to resent how talented and promising Maeve is. Truly, she deserves better.

Jayden swears when he finds his own mate, he would never treat her like that. He will sacrifice the whole world for his future mate, he vows to the Moon Goddess.

He scoffs as he stands outside an exclusive pub. How Jack can afford to get in, he’ll never know. Why Jack would even want to be there, when he clearly doesn’t belong, Jayden will never understand.

Two huge bouncers stand guard at the entrance, eyeing him suspiciously.

He rolls his eyes. They’re the same as Jack, acting as if they’re better than anyone else. Nevertheless, he needs to find Jack and the only way to get in or get Jack out is through them.

“Hey, man… I was told Jack Marsh is in there, can I just talk to him for a second, I’ll be in and out in a minute—”

The bouncers cross their arms in front of their chest simultaneously, flexing their ballooned up arm muscles, and looking ridiculous in Jayden’s opinion.

“Step away!” One of them says, looking down at him like he was dirt under his nails. “Entrance is for members only. No exception.”

His eyelid is starting to tick, but he tries again. “It’s an emergency, he’s my brother but he’s not answering the phone—you can just call him for me if you want— don’t need to get in, I just have to—”

“I said SCRAM!” The bouncer pushes him away forcefully.

Jayden glares at him with hatred. “Don’t touch me!” he snarls.

“Oh, yeah? What are you gonna do, pup? Cry to Momma?” The other one taunts him, making him see red.

“You’re gonna regret that.”

Jayden causes such a ruckus that the management is forced to intervene and finally calls Jack.

“What the f*ck do you think you’re doing, Jayden!?” Jack forcefully grabs him by the back of the neck and drags him away from the pub.

Jayden smacks his hand away. “Covering for your sorry ass!”

“I will b€at you to a pulp if I lose my membership in that place! I just got in!” Jack looks like he wants to m*rder him already.

Jayden sneers at him. “Oh, I think the membership privileges are the least of your problems at the moment, brother,” he snarls. “Maeve is here.”

The sudden look of panic in Jack’s face gives Jayden a little bit of satisfaction.

“What the hell is she doing here!?”

He shrugs. “She wanted to surprise you. Asked me if I could accompany her, and made me promise not to tell.”

Jack grabs him by his shirt, eyes burning with rage. “And you couldn’t tell me this with a f*cking message from the f*cking new phone I sent you!?”

Jayden sneers and pushes him away hard, forcing Jack to release his hold. “Oh, so that phone was a bribe to cover up for you!? Must have missed the memo! I didn’t realize you were buying my loyalty. I would’ve told you not to bother—you can never afford it. Maeve deserves so much better than this. Than you!”

“You ungrateful son of a—”

“You would know. I learned from the worst.”

Jack grits his teeth. “Where is she!?”

Jayden turns away, unable to look at his brother a second longer. “In your lovely little love nest, where else? They pointed us there when we asked for you at the training camp,” he spits. “Which reminds me… You might want to bribe the warrior at the gate with a new phone too. Maeve very proudly introduced herself there as your mate.”

Jack curses and turns to leave, but remembers something and turns back to grab him by the shirt again.

“You go home now before I seriously consider skinning you alive! Leave Maeve to me, I’ll fix the damage you’ve caused by coming here unannounced. You had one job and you failed it spectacularly! So much for being family!” he spits and bares his teeth in a menacing snarl. “I’ll remember this day when I finally get what I want and I will make sure you never forget that you chose to be loyal to someone else instead of your own brother!”