Page 49 of That's the Way Rejection Goes

“Do you think it could be innocent?” I offered with a hopeful foolishness. “Like maybe it was an accident or a misunderstanding?”

“I don’t know how you canaccidentallyend up with your lips on someone else’s. Maybe if they had fallen on the floor or something and bumped heads, itmightbe plausible. But they were just standing there! That guy had his hands on Sam’s face and… and…” Erick let out a frustrated cry, grabbing one of the pillows and chucking it across the room. “Fuck! I just want to punch that guy in his stupid fucking face! Nobody should touch Sam except us!”

I felt the same possessive urge in my gut as well, but I was too sad to act out on it like Erick had. Still, I squeezed his hand again, letting him know I was at his side.

“Sorry,” Erick muttered again, his voice trembling. “I’m just really angry.”

“I… I think we should have a plan,” I said at last, hating the words on my lips. “Because if Sam comes back and says we’re through–”

“Hecan’tdo that!” Erick cried. “He can’t! Not after we just mated with him!”

“But what if he does?”

Erick’s expression went from fury to crushing sadness in a matter of seconds. His brows furrowed and his chin wobbled. Tears were already forming at the corners of his eyes as he looked away.

“Then we pack,” he said at last. “And we get the hell out of here.”

“You want to leave?”

He spun back toward me, his eyes red. “No, I don’t want to leave! I want Sam! I want him here in our bed, kissingusand not some fucking stranger downstairs!”

Tears streamed down his face as he spoke, his emotions overwhelming him all at once. I reached out, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck and pulling him tight against me. He resisted for a moment before he gave in with a sob, his body trembling against my own.

“We’re gonna be okay,” I said, trying to calm him down.

It was moments like these when Erick needed me the most. Erick was typically the stable one. But when it came to matters of the heart, his emotions were quick to consume him. He felt things so keenly. I did too of course, but I was better at bottling them up until he was feeling better. Then I’d lose my shit. It probably wasn’t healthy, but it was the coping mechanism I’d developed after a lifetime of keeping my true self secret. At least it came in handy now and then.

“Maybe we should start now,” I offered once Erick had calmed down a bit. “I want to be hopeful and say everything we just saw wasn’t real. That it didn’t mean anything to Sam.” I felt a lump rising in my throat as I tried not to cry. “But the way that man was touching him… it seemed…familiar.” I paused, a terrifying thought racing through my brain like wildfire. “You don’t think that guy could be his old mate, do you?”

Erick choked, gripping me tighter. He buried his face in my chest, the tears flowing once more.

“Yeah,” I muttered, running my fingers through his hair. “I wish I hadn’t thought of it either.”

It was a horrible thought, but it lent some light to the situation. The wolf in the lobby definitely knew Sam on a personal level. Random strangers don’t just kiss people like that. I tried to convince myself that Sam was resisting him. After all, when Sam spoke about his past, it was never in a good light. But then again, stranger things had happened. Old flames could be reignited. And Sam even mentioned that he’d been mated before. If that was his original mate downstairs, I had a feeling that he wouldn’t be coming back to us. Why would he? The love of your life only came around once, right? That’s what all werewolves believed. Fated mates was a once in a lifetime chance.

So how could he ever want us when he already had a mate?

I wished and wished with all my heart that it wasn’t true, that I was just spinning a story that couldn’t possibly exist. However, the more I tried to wish it away, the more I found it sticking to the inside of my skull, unwilling to leave my brain for even a moment.

Maybe itwasbetter that we started packing. The more I thought about it, the more likely it was that Erick and I would need to be on our way. I didn’t think Sam would kick us out, but living in Shifter Grove and having to see his face every day after all this was a torture no one deserved. It was best that we just left.

“Come on,” I said, coaxing Erick up off my chest. “I’ll grab our bags.”

“Where will we go?” Erick asked, his cheeks stained with tears. He wiped them clean angrily with his hoodie sleeve. “We can’t go anywhere near home.”

“I don’t know, baby,” I said honestly, the words choking me up. “I just don’t know…”

Chapter Twenty-Four: Sam

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I spat, pointing a threatening finger at Roger.

“I… I thought you’d be happy to see me,” Roger replied, his brows furrowed in confusion. “Or at least, I hoped you would.”

“It’s been over ten fucking years, Roger,” I growled, punctuating each word. “Or did that little detail just slip your mind?”

“No, I… I know it’s been a while. But we’re mates, right? You and me against the world, just like the old days.”

“The old days,” I said through clenched teeth. “Died the moment you decided you wanted to be Alpha instead of my mate.”

---