Page 22 of Broken Trust

“I promise you I didn’t see or hear him coming,” Colt said under his breath.

“I’m dying to hear you finish what you were going to say,” Atlas said with fire in his voice.

“His ex cheated on him and now he just heard you say that,” Colt whispered. “You couldn’t pay me enough to be in your shoes right now.”

Kellen turned and looked at his mate, who stood just inside the entrance to the kitchen. Anger and betrayal warred in his gorgeous eyes.

“And if his best friend was the last man on the planet, I still wouldn’t hit it because you don’t play a grimy game like that,” Kellen finished. It was exactly what he was about to say, but he knew that Atlas wasn’t going to believe him. Not after the shit Glen and Braylon had just put him through.

Atlas jabbed a finger at him. “Fuck you, Kellen. Even if that was what you were going to say, those words should have never left your lips. You’re just like everyone else.”

His mate turned and stormed out.

When the microwave dinged, Colt took the bowl out, grabbed a fork from the drawer, and walked out of the kitchen, stealing Kellen’s food.

Kellen whacked his head several times against the counter. It was less painful than learning how to navigate this shit. He felt as if he couldn’t win for losing. Every time he turned around, Atlas was pissed at him for something. Kellen might as well build a doghouse behind the garage because it was obvious that he was going to spend most of his time in it.

With a deep sigh, he pulled his phone out, sat on the stool at the island, and dialed. Clearly, he had no idea what he was doing as far as this mating thing went, so he needed to talk to someone who did.

“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Deputy Morgan Savani said when he answered. “Just throwing that out there as a blanket to cover whatever reason you called.”

Kellen shoved a hand through his hair. “I called because I’m completely wrecking shit with my mate.”

Morgan was silent for a moment. “You have a mate?” He cleared his throat. “Well, I think, for starters, don’t flirt with twinks at the ice cream hut, buddy.”

Kellen growled. “I just met Atlas two days ago.”

“Oh,” Morgan said. “Then lay it on me and I’ll try my best to rescue your mating.”

“Hi, Kellen,” Sam said in the background.

Kellen smiled. “Hey, Sam.”

He’d taken an instant liking to the human when they’d met, which was very rare since Kellen trusted no one and kept everyone at arm’s length.

“So how are you wrecking things?” Morgan asked.

It didn’t bother Kellen to talk while Sam was listening. He’d made the guy family, and Sam and Morgan were mates. The bear shifter would tell Sam anyway, and maybe Sam could give Kellen a human’s perspective on this.

“Settle in,” he said. “I’ll start from the moment I ran from the demon realm.”

By the time Kellen was done talking, Morgan and Sam were dead silent.

“I can’t wait to get back and meet him, Kellen. He sounds like a kindred soul,” Sam said. “I just wanted to slap the taste out of that twink’s mouth. Yours tried to fight a wolf shifter for you. Mad props.”

“That isn’t helping me with my current problem,” Kellen growled.

“Oh, that,” Sam said. “You’re totally screwed. His best friend had just stuck a proverbial knife in his heart, and then Atlas caught you talking about hitting that?” Sam whistled.

“That’s not what I said,” Kellen argued.

“You didn’t say it, but that’s all Atlas heard,” Sam replied. “He already doesn’t trust that men are faithful after what his ex-boyfriend did.”

“I’m faithful,” Morgan said to Sam.

Kellen rolled his eyes. He recalled sitting at the ice cream hut with them, secretly envying what Morgan and Sam shared. Kellen might have played the field most of his life, but deep down, all any shifter wanted was to find their other half. Now that he’d found his, it was clear that he had no idea what he was doing.

“Please let Sam continue,” Kellen said to Morgan.

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