Page 7 of True for You

I pull open the door and my entire body locks up. I suck in a sharp breath, assaulted with that scent of well-loved books.Oh.

“Hi.”

I blink slowly, trying to get my body tomove. I feel like I’ve been encased in amber, stuck and frozen in time. No matter how much I beg myself to do something, to doanything, I keep completely still.

My mate.

He’shere.

I come back into my body, feeling my limbs come back to life. I thought this moment would bring me such joy, that our reunion would be something heartfelt and adorable. A proper apology with the whole running towards each other slow-mo style like in the movies. I look up at my mate and the first thing that flies out of my mouth is, “what thefuckis wrong with you?”

His mouth opens and closes a few times, his face dropping. “What?”

“Youleftme!” I say, putting my hands on my hips, my brows wrinkled. “What the fuck, man?”

In response, the man in front of me puts his own hands on his own hips, mirroring my posture exactly. Without my permission, a small smile slides across my lips. “I have a very compelling argument as to why I left,” he says slowly, “but it’s not really worth getting into. You look like you’re in pain and my inner alpha is very upset with me right now, more than you probably ever could be. Would it be okay if I came inside?”

Already I’m feeling night and day better. Before I was debating how I was gonna make it to bedtime. Now, a newfound energy fills my veins. My joints felt like they were filled with molasses and now they’re loosening. I feel stronger.

“Part of me really wants to say no just to be a brat,” I tell him seriously, debating the merits of closing the door and enduring more pining sickness. The rational part of my brain wins out thank god, and I take a step back, letting the alpha in. “But I’m tired of being sick, so come on.”

I lead this alpha into my home, gesturing for him to sit down on the couch. His scent radiates from him and I breathe it in greedily. With every breath I feel better and better. I feel like I’m coming back to myself as my chest lightens, my body temperature goes back to normal, and my limbs all feel stronger. I kinda hate that my body is relying on this man whom I’ve never even met before. My inner omega on the other hand is practically drooling, content to be in this alpha’s presence.

Fucking traitor.

“Okay,” I murmur, sitting in the armchair, staring down this alpha who’s looking adorably sheepish. I kinda hate that I find him adorable. He’s got straight, dark hair that falls over his forehead. Very emo. His dark eyes stare right back. He’s handsome, but I ignore that for the sake of staying mad at him. Who would I be if I just let him off without at least a little bit of groveling? “I wanna hear your story.”

At that, his cheeks turn a pretty pink color that stands out against his pale skin. “There seems to have been a slight misunderstanding,” he says softly, looking hopelessly lost. A tiny part of me wonders if I’m being too hard on him, but then again, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to hear why he ran. There’s gotta be a hell of a reason and I deserve to know.

“Care to elaborate a bit there, Mr. Alpha?”

“I scented you in the grocery store and I weaved my way through the aisles to find you. And when I spotted you?” He pauses, getting this wistful look in his brown eyes. He shakes his head before going on. “You’re so beautiful. My breath stuck in my throat and I didn’t even know that was a realthing. I assumed it was just something authors wrote in books.”

“And then?”

“Then you turned sideways and I saw your belly. And then the guy you were with put his arm around you. For a moment I saw everything my future could be and in the next moment it was all stripped away. It hurt like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I panicked and ran.” There’s a long pause as I process this. When I look back up, he’s watching me, gauging my reaction. “I’m sorry.”

I might have been the one experiencing physical symptoms of our separation but it would seem my alpha has been tearing himself apart inside. He didn’t reject me. It was the opposite really, he thought I’d rejected him in a way. God, this beginning has been such a fucking mess but I’m ready to put this behind us. “What’s your name?” I ask him.

He sits up a little straighter. “Parker. You?”

“Christopher,” I say, pieces starting to fall into place. Curse Ben for leaving out the fact that this is the only person at Studio C Ihaven’tmet yet. My roommate willneverhear the end of this, that asshole. “Wait a second. You’re not liketheParker, are you?”

“Oh god, you’retheChristopher? The one who does our phone line at Studio C?”

I tap my nose. “Bingo. Holy shit. We could have metagesago and instead meet in the most fanfiction misunderstanding way possible. What the actual fuck?”

Parker chuckles warmly and the sound is like a snug, weighted blanket wrapped around me. A shiver goes through me. Parker’s eyes narrow as he notices.

“How’re you feeling? Ben mentioned you were experiencing some sickness.”

“It’s not a big deal,” I say right away, trying to push off his worry.

“It is,” he says, shaking his head. “I wanna do whatever I can to help you feel better.”

I let out a dramatic groan before standing up and walking over to the couch, flopping down right next to him, side to side. I nuzzle his side until he gets with the picture and puts his arm around me. I breathe him in, his cozy library scent washing over me. Our scents mixed together reminds me of mornings spent in the library with a beloved book, waiting for breakfast to be served. It’s calming in the most wonderful way.

He runs his fingers over my shoulder and down my arm. I shiver again but for a completely different reason this time. I turn my face towards him, burying my nose in Parker’s shirt and in response, I feel his nose against the top of my head. Warmth spreads through my body, the shaking from before a distant memory. As much as I would love to be mad at this man, I can’t be, not when he’shereand letting me breathe him in. God, he’s so lucky he smells so nice.

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