Page 15 of His Omega Bear

I chuckled, “I never believed him of course.”

Rhys groaned and sighed. “Trust me, it happened. I lived it. Still not a fan of bats.”

I shook my head. “There's no way. It literally only makes sense if you'd been running through the woods buck naked. Literally with no pants on.”

Rhys laughs, but I could see he wouldn’t meet my eyes anymore. “Of course you're right. Why would I be running around the woods with no pants on? That's not normal behavior.”

Yet again, I couldn't put my finger on why it felt that way, but I was definitely missing something. I planned to figure out what.

“Guess we're not strangers then,” I said.

“Guess not,” Rhys replied.

I was definitely looking forward to getting better acquainted with him. Maybe Asheville, Montana, was finally looking up.

Chapter 4

Rhys

As much as I didn’t want to leave Jaxson and Emilia behind, I had to because it would have been weird and bordering on stalkerish to stay. There were really no more excuses to hang around that wouldn’t make me look like a clingy, bordering on creepy, weirdo. And that really wasn’t what I needed my mate to think of me. But still it felt wrong leaving.

And my bear was in agreement. In fact, he had made it clear he was not happy with my decision. What did the big lug know about not being slapped with a restraining order for being a stalker?

I’d stayed at the top of the road of his house for over twenty minutes battling my bear. The moment he’d screamed mate, he hadn’t wanted to leave.

The only good thing about having to leave was going home. I didn’t know how long I’d been waiting to tell my family I’d finally found my mate. And I had a daughter.

A pang of loss hit me on the heels of it was a crap ton of guilt.

How could I be so happy to have found my mate and a new daughter when the reason for it was losing my cousin and his mate? And my mate losing his sister and best friend…

I sighed, leaning my head against the wheel of my car. It felt wrong to be so happy when the reason for it was so sad.

In my mind, I understood that these events were not necessary for my mate to find me. Jaxson and I could have met at any point in time, such as when Jayson brought him home as his new brother-in-law. Or perhaps at Emilia’s first birthday celebration.

Guilt weighed heavy on my mind. Why did it feel like somehow I was responsible for my cousin passing away and my mate losing his sister? I’d prayed and prayed that whatever needed to happen for my mate to find me should. And now here he was.

The door to my car opened, and I only had to draw in a breath to know who was there.

“Hey Kian,” I greeted him, not looking up.

“You know, if you needed best friend time, all you had to do was text. You didn’t have to park outside my house like a stalker,” Kian said, teasing me.

Without lifting my head, I could sense the worry in his tone, and I was certain it would be written all over his face as well.

“I think I’m a horrible person,” I whispered.

Kian snorted. “Come on, give me something better than that. I’ve known you forever. You’re an incredible friend, brother, and uncle.”

“You have to say that. You’re my family.”

“Oh please,” Kian scoffed and I could tell he was rolling his eyes. “We all know family doesn’t mean love. Hell, family doesn’t even mean like.” His tone was firm and filled with conviction. “How about you tell me what’s wrong and I’ll tell you why I think you’re overreacting or being dramatic?”

I snapped my head up and shot a glare at my best friend. “Overreacting?” I

asked, arching an eyebrow in disbelief.

“Well, it got you to quit the pity party,” he stated with a smirk. I let out a long sigh and gave him an annoyed look.

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