Page 50 of Devoted

I hung my head in despair, knowing Micah was right.

“For what it’s worth though, you don’t need to worry about how you’ll feel about your mate. Nox and Ihatedeach other but we made our way together in the end. It might not feel like fate knows what it’s doing, but it does, even if it takes a while for those involved to realise it.”

“If fate knew what it was doing then Sam would be my mate.” I kicked at a rock.

“And he might be,” Micah reminded me. “Look at the demons down in Southampton. Cal and Harlow both lived in the same city as their human mates for years before they met them. Maybe the pull isn’t as strong if one of you is human.”

I dragged a hand down my face. “All this is doing is giving me hope that Sam is my mate.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“If he’s not, yeah.”

“But if heis, you’re wasting all this time fretting over a problem that doesn’t exist.”

I scowled at the ground. “Does you being right all the time ever irritate Nox?”

Micah laughed, the sound so much lighter since his mate had entered his life. “Constantly. Being mates doesn’t mean everything is perfect, Ez. It means you love each other despite the imperfections.”

“That’s good. I have plenty of those.”

“You do, but not as many as you think. With the right man at your side, I think you’ll see the good we all see in you.”

My head snapped up. “What?”

Micah squeezed my shoulder once more before dropping his hand. “You’re one of the bravest beings I’ve ever met, Ez. You ledthe entire unit into Heaven to defend me, knowing all too well that you might not walk back out.”

“I would’ve done that for any of you.”

“Exactly,” he said. “We’re lucky to have you. I know everyone gives you shit to provoke you, but we all love you. You deserve happiness as much as everyone else.”

Warmth pricked at my eyes. I stared at the sky, trying to hold the emotions at bay. “But what if I can’t find that happiness with Sam?”

“You won’t know until you try.”

Vulnerability was slipping through the gaps in my armour. “I’m scared, Micah.”

“I know. Look at it this way, if you do nothing, you’ll gain nothing.”

“But if I do something, I may lose him.”

“Or you could gaineverything.” Micah smiled. “Like I said, you’re the bravest of all of us. You’ve never let anything scare you, so don’t let love be the first.”

Correctly assuming I was going to be useless until this was sorted, Micah dismissed me. Tempting as it was to track down one of my brethren in an attempt to put this off even longer, I knew Micah was right.

I had to know. It wasn’t fair to myself or Sam to keep dragging this out.

The main living room was empty for once. I dropped onto the sofa, typing out text after text before deleting them.

Finally, I settled on a simple opener.

Zeke

Hey baby, how are you feeling today?

I was about to hit send when I spotted the endearment. Sam had been fine with it last night, but what if things were different today?

I swapped it out for his name and hit send. Sam’s response flashed up only seconds later.

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