Page 45 of Bullied Mate

“Mom, please.”

“It’s no secret that some of us are not lucky enough to find our true mate. You’ve already transitioned, and if your mate was here, you’d know it.”

“You don’t know that,” Poppy said. “What if he’s young, and I’m the cougar in the relationship.”

Anna chuckled.

“Mom, I’m being serious. I don’t want to spend time with someone who isn’t my mate. I’ll go and hang out with Greg, but that’s all. I’m not going to pick him.”

“Mates are rare, Poppy. Trust me. I know this firsthand. I’ve had my mate and I’ve lost him.”

“I know that, Mom. Don’t you think I don’t know that? It’s why I refuse to … take second-best. I know finding my mate is a long shot, but don’t you think I have a right to at least try?” She hated that she was lying to her mother.

Anna never got the chance to answer as the bell above the door rang as the door opened.

Poppy saw Greg standing there, smiling. If Klaus found out, there was going to be trouble.

Just thinking about her mate, made her feel … warm. No, not warm, hot and aroused.

“Is everything okay?” Greg asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Anna said.

Poppy placed the online orders on the counter, forced a smile to her lips, and then got to her feet. “It would seem you and I are spending the afternoon together.”

The sun was still shining, and there was no rain. She couldn’t think of a single excuse not to be polite.

Poppy refused to look at her mother. Her mother knew what having a true mate meant, and yet, here she was, pushing another male on to her. She was so angry with her, but she didn’t say anything.

Nope, she left the shop with Greg at her heels.

The moment she got to the town square, she had no idea where she was supposed to go.

A quick glance around, and the pack nodded at her. Inside, she panicked.

She couldn’t let them see. All she wanted to do was run to Klaus.

What the hell was that all about?

“Thank you, Poppy, for taking the time to hang out with me,” he said.

She sensed he was about to touch her, and she quickly stepped out of the way. “No problem at all. So, what do you feel like doing today?”

“I’d like to get to know you.”

“Oh.” She shoved her hands into her pockets.

“How about breakfast? I didn’t see you today.”

No, she had no choice but to run to her mother’s store, dressed in Klaus’s old sweats. She couldn’t recall seeing him wearing them, and so she hoped the pack wouldn’t put two and two together.

It was why her hair was still down.

She felt all out of sorts. Running from Klaus’s backyard was an experience she cared not to repeat. “So, er, yeah, breakfast. That sounds good.”

They had a diner and a breakfast café. When the café first opened, the owner of the diner had been pissed and tried to do everything within her power to stop the café from opening. George had settled all disagreements, and they’d been able to live and work side by side without any trouble.

Poppy loved to eat at both places, but the café had the better menu when it came to options for breakfast, and she was starving.

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