Page 67 of Sold Rejected Mate
“So, I should just think of him as Lachlan of yesterday?”
“Maybe it’s not a good idea to get over it that quick,” Phina says. “But, yes, essentially. If the good things are worth it—and I imagine they are, since you’re carrying his baby—then you allow him space to grow.”
I chew on my lip, take another sip of the tea. “How do I know he’s not going to hurt me again?”
“Oh, he is.” Phina sets her hand on her stomach. “And you’re going to hurt him. The scary part is trusting that you’ll always be able to get through it together.”
“For what it’s worth,” a deeper voice says, appearing in the doorway, “he’s not going to run off on you again.”
I startle, turning to look at Xeran, my eyes automatically dropping.
“You don’t have to do that,” he says, and some of the pressure leaves, but not all of it. The omega in me cannot conceive of a world in which I’m looking the supreme in his eye.
“Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“Sor—”
“Gods’ sake, Xeran,” Phina says, waving her hand in ahurry-upmotion. “Just tell her what you were going to say.”
“He’s not going to run again,” Xeran says simply, like it’s a fact of the universe.
“How can you possibly know that?” I ask, jerking my eyes back up to his for a moment.
“I just know,” he says. “Can’t give you much more than that. When it comes to the pack, to my packmates, I just have a sense for these things.”
He’s quiet for a moment, and their kitchen is filled with nothing but the sound of the ticking clock.
“Besides,” he adds a moment later, “Lachlan is one of my best friends. And I know how he feels about you. How he hasalwaysfelt about you. We always knew there was something behind his whole thing—the women, the bike, even.” Xeran laughing. “And when he started fighting so hard over you, when Phina told me who you really were, it started to make sense.”
“I’m starting to think our little groups were more interconnected than we may have thought,” Phina says, to which Xeran hums his agreement.
“So, what do I do?” I ask after a moment, hating how small my voice is.
“Easy,” Phina says. “You wait for Lachlan to prove to you that he’s worth a second chance.”
Chapter 34 - Lachlan
The last time I was this nervous was while waiting for Valerie to show up at detention as I sat in the back of the classroom, then standing up and moving to sit next to her when she took her seat, not looking at me.
Now, I clear my throat and turn to Xeran. “Everything ready?”
He nods, eyes finding mine. “Phina has her. She should be here right on time.”
“Perfect.”
“You need to take a deep breath, man,” Xeran says, knocking his fist lightly against my shoulder. “Not going to help matters if you’re throwing up.”
“Yeah,” Felix says, walking past me with a wooden crate, holding the thing as far as he can from himself. “Now tell me where to put this beforeIthrow up.”
“Oh, please,” Soren says, rolling his eyes. “It’s just some chickens.”
“Well, they reek. I think I’m allergic.”
“Can people be allergic to chickens?”
“Guys,” Xeran warns, glancing at me, correctly clocking that this nonsense is only increasing my levels of anxiety.
