Not-So-Fated Mates

Chapter 25: Sappy

Drake POV

“Alright, Eros, let me know if anything comes up,” Drake said before ending the phone call with his warrior commander. He sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. He’d called to see if Eros had any idea why they were sighting so many rogues. Eros had informed him they’d seen two more rogues who, like those before them, had carefully avoided his borders, but it still bothered him that there seemed to be so many by his borders. It just wasn’t normal. Yes, there were occasions where rogues seemed to pass by his territory more than others, but usually he had vampire or witch activity to help explain that. Since rogues weren’t famous for coming in numbers, too much nearby activity by the other species tended to send rogues running in numbers they didn’t normally keep to. It was just safer that way, both getting away from the source and coming together.

If this kept going, he’d have to interrupt his trip here to go back home until things were figured out. Which, if he was honest, he wasn’t ready to do. Yeah, he and Layla were just, essentially, friends with benefits, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much fun with a female. Ever since Jess, he’d never spent any more time on a woman than it took to get her in bed, and he was gone immediately after they were finished f*****g. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am summed it up perfectly. And since the females in his pack knew that was how it worked, he usually didn’t have to worry about fallout. Once upon a time, they’d all seemed to think they might be on the path to being his luna, but his actions cleared that one up real fast.

Yet, now, he’d like to at least have some more time with this particular female. He shuddered as the thought that he might have feelings for her entered his head. No, no, they were just becoming friends, and she was great in bed. That was the only difference between her and the other girls. She was simply more likeable, and it had been too long since he had a friend other than Jackson. And she happened to be female, so between that and how well they got along, it made the perfect friends-with-benefits relationship, and he honestly didn’t want to end that just yet.

Speaking of which, he wondered when she’d be finished checking up on that boy. He still had no idea how she could just blindly put her trust in that rogue kid, but it seemed this whole pack were a lot more…soft-hearted than most. He also kind of found it sweet that she was so caring and able to believe in people; he missed the days when he was more like that. But he, unfortunately, knew how that ended, and he just hoped that he would be wrong about this so it wouldn’t end up breaking her heart.

With a sigh, he rose to his feet before heading out of his door to hers, directly opposite. He knocked quietly and, when he didn’t get an answer, slowly turned the knob and looked inside to find no one was there. Weird, maybe she’s in the bathroom, he thought. Or she’s still talking to the kid. Shaking his head, he knocked on the bathroom door, also to no response. He didn’t hear the rush of water, so he could safely assume she wasn’t in the shower. Yep, she was with the kid.

Deciding to wait for her in her room, he settled himself on her bed, which still held their combined scents. He breathed hers in, enjoying the apple and pine smell of her scent, especially mixed with his. It made him weirdly happy to smell their scents entwined with the scent of s*x. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he put it down to the fact that her friendship, and the benefits that came from it, made him feel freer than he had felt in quite a while. Like his life wasn’t just the pure misery and rage and brokenness that Jess had made it since she’d left with the traitor.

He vaguely wondered where the two had gotten off to, surprising himself. He hadn’t let himself go there, ever, because of how he feared it would make him feel. And while the rage and depression came roaring to the surface, what truly surprised him was the fact that it didn’t feel as bad as he thought it would. He thought it would be like swallowing jagged glass, nothing but tearing, stabbing pain, shredding his insides until they hung in ribbons, like her leaving and betraying him had been.

He laid back, pulling his feet up onto the bed and laying his head on his entwined hands on top of the pillow as he stared at the poster on her ceiling. He hadn’t noticed it any of the times he’d been in her room, but at least one of those times he was a little more focused on the person in the bed than what hung over top, so he could excuse himself on that one. It was an artist’s rendition of a vixen being chased by tom, the vixen looking back at the tom with a playful look in her eyes, the tom staring at her like she was his everything. They were surrounded by a peaceful forest, the moon and stars lighting their surroundings in a way that made them look almost mystical.

He marveled at the artwork, the feelings it evoked. The love between the two enveloped the viewer, entrancing them until they felt that same, wondrous love. A love that wasn’t painful, but fulfilling. A love that couldn’t betray nor be betrayed. A love he’d once thought he’d felt, but now that he stared at it head on, he realized he’d never known that love. It made him sad, yet it bolstered something inside him.

He shook his head, chuckling. He was being a total sap. Must have been the alcohol he’d had at the bar. He was never this sappy.

At that moment, he heard the knob turn, and watched as it opened to reveal one hell of a sexy wolf.