Page 83 of Let It Snow
Z.e.r.o.
Me and Snow…
We’re not True Mates.
I collapse back on the bed and lose consciousness.
???
I open my eyes and find Lake bending over me.
"Summer?"
I can tell right away he feels awkward being here, like he’s not sure if he should talk to me, ask what’s going on with a pile of torn-open packages in the center of the room.
His face is unsure, does he feel guilty?
Lake asks if he can sit. I nod, though my face makes it clear I’m not welcoming him close. He sits carefully and stays quiet for a long while.
Then, out of nowhere, he says,
"For the past year, Snow’s been telling me he’s been asking the universe to send him his perfect mate. He said he’d come in the fall."
No. Not that. I feel a wave of such bitterness rise that it spills out of me, tearing its way through my throat even though it hurts like hell.
"Snow isn’t my True Mate, Lake!"
Silence falls. He studies me, concern and almost fear in his eyes. His lips tremble.
"Are you sure? How do you know?"
I grab the device lying beside me. My fingers are bloody from pricking them over and over; I’ve been testing myself to the point where the skin’s raw.
Saying it out loud would rip me apart, more pain piled onto what I’m already going through. I can’t. So I grab my phone and type fast.
"We kissed, I bit his gland, and now it’s been over a week since we last touched. And nothing. I’m not dying. I miss himlike crazy, but I’m alive! And the device confirmed it. Veradiol level: zero."
Lake stares at the screen, disbelief written all over his face.
He snatches up the device, scrolling through the list of readings. Every single one shows the same cursed number: zero.
"That’s impossible, Summer. Dear Fate, that’s impossible," he whispers.
I type again.
"You know how it is with True Mates. The moment they find each other, the Pull wakes. Once they touch, they can’t stay away. If they try, within a week they pass out. Within two… they die. And me? It's been almost a week and a half. I should be in a coma by now! All I have are the stabbing headaches, the sexual arousal, and I miss him so much, but I’m not dying!"
Lake reads the message a few times, shuts his eyes tight, then nods slowly.
"When I moved into Aiden’s house, I felt the Pull toward him from the very first day, and the moment we touched, it was nearly impossible to stay away. He actually lost consciousness after four or five days, if I remember correctly. So… it should’ve happened by now. And I saw Snow an hour ago, he’s not in a coma. It looks like… you really aren’t. But I don’t get it, Snow said…"
I wince bitterly and type,
"Snow was simply wrong. Probably… wishful thinking?"
I catch the glint of a tear on Lake’s cheek. He wipes it away quickly.
"Because of my other son’s case—Skye’s—I’ve read a lot about delayed Pulls. The only time it happens is between an alpha and a beta, or an omega and a beta. In those cases, separation can last for a few months. But even then, veradiol still spikes, it just doesn’t reach life-threatening levels right away.Eventually, it climbs so high it becomes unbearable. But you… you’re at zero? I just don’t understand!"
