Page 15 of Confusing Hearts

“Yeah, sure, well, have a good weekend then.”

The disappointment was bad, but as I started to walk away, the crushing blow from his next words was so much worse.

“Tessa, wait. How about lunch?”

Tessa? He really did think I was my sister? The pain that realization caused was almost crippling.

“I-I can’t,” I said turning to flee.

“Tessa?” I heard Chase yell behind me, but I couldn’t turn around. The piercing pain going through my heart was too much to bear. If he wasn’t my true mate, why did it hurt so much? Tears stung my eyes and burned from the cold wind against my face as I ran across campus to the safety of my room.

Locking the door, I collapsed on my bed and sobbed. Chase calling me Tessa felt like such a betrayal. The logical part of my brain reminded me I couldn’t have him anyway, no matter what he was or wasn’t to me. The emotional side was taking over though, and I wanted to scream out in frustration.

My phoned dinged with a new text. On auto-pilot I picked it up and looked.

CHASE: I’m sorry. Whatever I did or said to upset you. I’m so sorry.

Chase

Chapter 7

My mate was hurting. I had seen it in her body language as she turned and ran from me. I felt it in my soul and somehow knew she was crying. I wracked my brain for hours replaying every second of the conversation leading up to her fleeing in tears. Nothing stood out or seemed odd. I couldn’t understand it.

I wasn’t a man used to chasing a girl. Girls had always come and gone easily for me. I had rules, they either abided or I didn’t waste my time. I didn’t date. I didn’t see the point. I always knew someday I’d meet my one true mate, so why waste time getting attached to anyone else? I had needs though, and I wasn’t always proud of it, but I had acquired a bit of a playboy image while at the ARC.

That thought was a harsh reminder that I hadn’t had sex since before the Christmas holiday. It had been almost two months in reality. That was a record for me, and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to just run out and hook up with the first girl I saw. Sure, I’d done that in the past, but I couldn’t now, not after meeting my mate.

In truth, I was little more than an easygoing nerd. I was super smart, so school always came easy to me. Actually, everything came easy. My wolf spirit helped me excel in most sports. I was strong and agile, and could have gotten a full scholarship in several different areas had I chosen athletics in college. I hadn’t; I didn’t want to be the jock in college. I played that game enough in high school, but I learned quickly that nerds didn’t get laid. So, I hid the fact that I was on a full academic scholarship. I lied about my majors to the point even my closest friends still didn’t know what I was majoring in, and I downplayed my love of video games, except with my fraternity brothers.

My natural good looks got me out of more trouble than I could remember. I didn’t have my brother Liam’s charm and I didn’t have my brother Kyle’s commanding alpha presence, but I had the dimples and was more laid back than either of them, and that brought on its own charismatic charm. I had mastered the untouchable, untamable persona that had girls fighting for their chance to try.

Since the first moment I smelled Tessa, none of that mattered. I had told her more truths about myself than I’d admitted to anyone at Archibald Reynolds. She knew I was a nerd. She didn’t seem to care. Maybe it was our bond, maybe not. I didn’t really care. I could be myself with her and I loved how she made me feel. It was becoming addictive and my mood took an instant sour turn the moment she had fled from me.

All my other rules regarding dating were null and void when it came to her. So, I didn’t hesitate when I grabbed my cell phone and texted her. Any other girl I wouldn’t dare text first. It set up too high of an expectation and gave them hope that I wanted more than a quick booty call. In fact, I waited a minimum of four hours before ever returning a girl’s text. But with Tessa, none of that mattered. The rules simply didn’t apply to her.

The fact that she was a feline should have bothered me. If I stopped to think about it, it made my head spin. My entire life I had been told I had one true mate, and if I was lucky enough to find her, then that was all that mattered. God didn’t make mistakes. How many times had my mother told me that? If God didn’t make mistakes, and Tessa was my true mate, then that was that. I was ready to accept it.

The only hesitation about us I still had was the few times when things had felt so off, like at lunch when I ran into her at Jacks. It had confused me when my wolf had tried to growl at her, but it hadn’t happened again since. I had spent quite a bit of time with Tessa that week and each moment I was with her only solidified what my heart was telling me. She was my one true mate.

I stared back at my phone. Thirty minutes had passed since I had texted her and she hadn’t responded. Impatient, I picked up the phone and dialed her number. It rang through to voicemail.

“Tessa, this is Chase. Just wanted to make sure you were okay. Please call me back.”

I didn’t care that I sounded needy. God, I had always hated women like that. If I didn’t answer the phone it was because I didn’t want to talk to them, but the thought of her not wanting to talk to me was unacceptable. It angered my wolf and made me restless.

Deciding I needed a run, I changed into shorts and a T-shirt and headed out for the forest. It was already February, but my wolf was too worked up for the cold air to affect me in any way. I was numb, emotionally and physically.

When I reached the edge of the woods, I stripped without even caring who was around to see and shifted. A shrill female laugh sounded from the trees above me.

“Chase Westin, I’m getting to see far too much of you as it is,” purred a voice that made me smile.

I looked up to see my friend Anita. She was flirty and fun, but harmless. My wolf was completely indifferent to her, and as long as she kept her paws to herself, he was okay. I suspected if she ever tried to make an advance on me, it would become a different story.

I hadn’t even been able to look at another woman without my wolf stirring in aggravation. We had our mate. The rest were irrelevant. Anita, for some reason, had landed quickly in the friend zone. My wolf responded the same to my good friend, Kaitlyn—happy to see her and tolerant, as long as she didn’t touch me.

I had growled at Kaitlyn once already this week when she had tried to hug me. It was perfectly innocent and not out of the norm, but my wolf didn’t want any other scent on us besides Tessa’s. Kaitlyn had laughed it off and teased me about it. She even suspected that Tessa was the cause, but Tessa and I hadn’t even discussed it yet, not once; it remained the big, fat, white elephant in the corner, so I wasn’t comfortable talking to Kaitlyn about it. A mating bond was too sacred to share with anyone but my mate, and my family if I had any questions or concerns.

I didn’t know how long I had been running. Deep in thought, I had lost myself to my wolf, so I wasn’t surprised when I looked up and saw the panther house just ahead. Catching the scent of our mate, my wolf veered off to the left and headed back into the woods. He sniffed the ground and gave chase, stopping abruptly at the base of tree, and howled into the sky.