Page 9 of Sweetheart

Levi sighed. Maybe he did want to talk to someone about earlier after all. “I was at the diner waiting for my lunch when he stopped by my booth and asked to join me.”

“He just walked up and asked if he could join you?”

Keeping his head on Gavin’s shoulder, he nodded.

“Why?”

“That’s what I was wondering. He said that we should be friends. Friends!” That still flabbergasted him. How could they be friends when all Levi wanted to do was touch Mason? To hold him?

“If he doesn’t know the two of you had chatted before—”

“He knows,” Levi interrupted. “He even called me Stone.”

“How?” Gavin demanded.

“The scar.” Levi rubbed his palm over his heart where his shirt hid the mark his father had left on him when Levi had left the clutch. The reminder that he had abandoned his family.

“Fuck!” Gavin spat.

That pretty much summed up how Levi felt. He’d had the scar for so long that he didn’t notice it much. He’d considered tattooing over it, but Levi wasn’t ashamed of the choice he’d made. All his life all he wanted was to find his mate. That would have been impossible if he’d stayed with his birth family.

His parents’ decision to isolate the clutch from both other paranormal and humans before Levi had even been born was stated as a protection for him and his siblings. Levi had disagreed. His parents had been true mates and Levi didn’t understand why they would deny their children the same love. The decision to leave had cost Levi the only family and connections that he’d ever known. If it wasn’t for Axel and the rest of his found family, Levi would have been utterly alone.

“What are you going to do?” Gavin asked, pulling Levi from his thoughts.

“He gave me his phone number,” Levi said.

“Are you going to call him?”

That was what Levi had been sitting up here contemplating. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Levi,” Gavin said quietly.

“I…can’t. I won’t survive him changing his mind again. It’s better to just leave everything as is.”

“Maybe give it some more time.”

No, Levi was sure this was for the best. “I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Three

Mason

Levi hadn’t called. As Mason lay in his cold and lonely bed, he cursed himself and his big mouth. He’d known that Levi was a flight risk, but Mason had stupidly pushed him. To make matters worse, Mason hadn’t caught sight of Levi for another week.

Where did the man spend his time? Mason had spotted almost every other resident of the big house where Levi lived at some point during the week. Levi was nowhere to be found.

He pounded the mattress in frustration.

Damn it! Mason was not going to give up. Not after the connection he’d shared with Levi when Mason had been talking to him as Stone. Something deep had been happening and Mason regretted ever sending that stupid message when he’d been drunk sad. Drunk sad was bad. Very very bad.

He just needed to see Levi again and Mason would figure out what to say to make everything better.

Mason jerked upright in bed at the sudden loud explosion of what had to be a hunting rifle.

“Fuck!” Mason leapt out of bed and grabbed the closest pair of pants. He yanked on whatever clothing he could before quickly getting his boots on. He barely remembered to grab his weapon from the nightstand drawer as he ran from the room.

He raced through the small cabin and out the door.

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