Page 26 of A Chance at Love for the Twin Alphas

Don’t go back again,Arlo urges.Think of mate. Think of her. Don’t stress over it. The more you stress, the worse it gets.

I stand in front of the elevator door, still fighting with myself not to return to my fucking car to fucking check it again, when the door opens, and the scent of lilies fills my nostrils. Elodie doesn’t ask any questions, just wraps her arms around me and pulls me down into a hug. I know we must look ridiculous. I, a huge, tall guy, and she, this small woman, clearly comforting me, but I couldn’t care less what someone else might think. Her hug feels so soothing.

“Come,” she says after a while, taking my hand to lead me into the elevator. She presses the button to her floor and snuggles against me again. I completely forget my OCD tendencies and instead focus on her and her scent. “It will be alright,” she soothes me.

Once we are in her hotel suite, and I put the bag on the floor, she jumps into my arms again. I press her against my chest. “I’m sorry,” I mutter. “You probably felt my stress.”

“Your emotions were all over the place for the last two hours,” she admits, looking at me in worry. “And I could feel part of Tony’s emotions, too.” She pauses. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I nod. “I think I should.”

We sit down at the little dining table, where I’m surprised to see that Elodie already ordered a vast variety of food for us. “I didn’t know what you like.” She looks a bit flustered. “I probably should have asked beforehand.”

“No, babe, this is perfect!” I exclaim, starting to feel hungry.

She looks at me in surprise.

“Is something wrong?” I ask in worry.

“No, I just never thought I’d have someone call me babe or any other endearment,” she admits.

“If you don’t like it, I can stop.”

“No,” she hurries to reassure me. “I like it.”

I nod, smiling slightly. I will make sure to shower her with all the love I can give. For a while, we eat in comfortable silence before I decide to get it over with and tell her what happened. From when I felt Tony’s conflicted emotions, to what my wolf said, to my talk with Dad, and I finally end with our fight.

“You really were in a tight position,” she frowns. “Shoot, Henry, I don’t know what I’d do if my lycan couldn’t feel Elise’s anymore. I would be terrified.”

I let out a sigh. “I thought you’d tell me I should have talked to Tony once more before consulting with our father.”

She shrugs. “It’s always easier to say something like this as an outsider. From a personal perspective, I can see why he’d be angry. I would be too if Elise did something like that, but I don’t know… if roles were reversed, and I was in your shoes, worried about Elise… I think I might have consulted Prince Eric, too.”

“Just that Prince Eric is much more of a smooth talker than my father.” I show her a lopsided smile. “Dad and I were a pretty bad combination to try to talk to someone who was hurt.”

“What do you think hurt Tony like that?” Elodie asks carefully. “Do you think he met his mate and had to reject her? Or maybe he was rejected?”

I stare at her, my mouth dropping open. Why in the Goddess’ name did I not think of this!? And Dad didn’t either! Oh, my… I can’t believe it. Dad said he didn’t talk to Mom about it because he didn’t want to unsettle her, but I bet if he did, she would have come up with a similar conclusion.

“Tony would never reject his mate,” I say. He would never reject her, and if he saw no other option, he would have definitely consulted with me, which only means. Anger fills me all of a sudden. “If I find the person who hurt him,” I slam my fist on the table. “I swear…”

This is it. I just know this has to be it. The look on his face when my parents and I keep mentioning he will find his mate too soon. Fuck, I rubbed it right under his nose! I was so hell-bound on solving Tony’s problem that I completely forgot to understand what his problem is.

Arlo is completely spellbound, too.

“We don’t know if that’s what really happened.” Elodie’s voice reaches me.

I take a calming breath, working on the trick Dad once told me to rein in my anger and not act on impulse. “You’re right. I can’t make the same mistake twice and jump to conclusions!”

She raises her brows. “Wow…” She blinks. “Half a year ago, when we met for the first time, you truly were jumping to your anger faster.”

“I’ve been working on it,” I admit. “I noticed my pack members tend to be scared of me. Dad has a temper too, but he is also really fun and laid back, redeeming qualities I completely lack,” I point out.

“You have a lot of redeeming qualities,” Elodie points out, much to my surprise. “You’re very smart, you care for others deeply, and you always try to do the right thing.”

I sigh. “Still, a short temper can overshadow all my good traits, which is why I’m trying to work on it.”

“If it helps, I lack social skills,” she says.

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