Torn Mate by Belle Harper
Saint
Fuck…I fucked up today, bad.
“Hey, Saint, man, you home?” Mekhi called out from my front door. Dad was chatting with him as I jumped down the stairs two at a time. He was on gate duty so I was surprised to see him here, unless he needed me to swap shifts with him.
“Yeah, everything okay?” I wasn’t dressed yet… I had taken a shower. A long one that I was sure everyone in my house heard. It was hard when I was around Ada. She set my wolf off and her scent made my cock twitch to be in her, marking her as my mate. I had been having too many showers lately.
“Hey, yeah, but Lexi wants to see you at Galen’s. I don’t know what it’s about, but she kinda scared me a little.” My eyes widened at that. She knew… she had to know. Of course Ada would have told her, they were best friends. Fuck. I didn’t think today through at all.
Dad turned to me, his hands on his hips. They both looked at me like I was guilty of something. Fuck, was I giving off that scent? I was usually good at masking my emotions. I was just taken off guard.
“What did you do now?” I rolled my eyes at him and he growled at me, using his dominance over me. I felt my knee bend a little as my wolf wanted to submit, but I refused to. I put my hands up, shaking my head.
“Nothing, I didn’t do anything to her, I promise.” I didn’t do anything to Lexi, but he didn’t ask if I did anything to her friend, the girl who wouldn’t get out of my head. Ada.
“Ada was in the car.” Mekhi grinned at me as he ran off to leave me dealing with Dad. Fuck, he threw me under the bridge there.
“What did you do to that poor girl? I’ve been hearing things about you upsetting her. You didn’t upset her, did you?” Dad was a good guy, both my dads were, but he didn’t like my lifestyle choices. He wanted me to find a mate, not mess around with different girls every week.
I shook my head to deny that I had done anything, but he growled at me. Before I could answer him and have my ass chewed out, I ran out and towards the Lovell’s house. There was no way I was going to speak to Lexi. I needed a buffer, someone who could maybe calm the situation down.
I didn’t stop as I passed by Lyell in the kitchen, a book in one hand and eating a sandwich in the other. I ran straight up the stairs and hoped that Maverick was in his room. I didn't even knock, I just threw his door open. As soon as I saw him, I slammed it shut with my foot.
“Lexi is going to kill me. You have to help me, man,” I panted out as I looked over to what Maverick was doing in here. He dropped the paintbrush from the painting he had been making for art class and raised his brow at me.
“Kill you? You almost cost me my balls. Lexi is pissed, and I wouldn't go near Ada, man. I'll even kill you if you do. You need to figure out your shit before you speak to her.”
I knew it. I fucked up so bad this time. I huffed and sagged onto his bed and ran my hands through my short hair as I flopped back dramatically, hoping that he would take pity on me being my best friend. I felt like ripping out my hair but it was too short now. I was so stupid, it was my wolf. It was like it was making me do crazy shit that I wouldn't normally do.
“I fucked up,” I admitted. It was the truth. He didn't say anything because he knew it was true too. He picked up his paintbrush and started painting again. Wasn't too sure if he was ignoring me because he didn't wanna pick sides, or if he didn't know what to say. Or how to help me.
“Man, what do I do? Lexi wants to see me.” I could see the wheels turning in his head. He seemed confused at that.
“Why”—his brows raised—“Oh fuck, she's really gonna kick your ass. She told you. She warned you not to fuck with Ada, her best friend, and you were an asshole to her. I would know, I had to hear about it all afternoon from the two of them.”
I jumped up and moved closer to Mav. I wanted to plead with him to fix this for me. Hell, I would beg for him to. I didn’t want Lexi mad at me, it would cause so much shit for our friendship. I already caused enough shit that our friendship wasn’t as strong as it used to be, but losing Mav would kill me.
“Look, I don't know why I did it. Noah called me and told me that fucking Rawlins asshole gave her his number, and I don't know what happened, okay? I just…”
Fuck, this was not what I wanted. I started to pace the room. I didn’t think. Why didn’t I think about this? I shouldn’t have asked Noah to give me updates on her but I did, and then when he told me, I freaked out. I wanted her to have my number, I wanted her to call me, but when I held her phone in my hand I forgot to put it in there. I was just so focused on his number that I deleted it and gave her phone back.
I felt like shit after, guilty even. I shouldn’t have done that. Lexi had warned me, hell, Mav and Ranger had warned me so many times. I got it. Ada was Lexi’s only friend. If I messed up with Ada, I messed up with Lexi, and then I wouldn’t be welcomed around the boys anymore. They wouldn’t be taking my side, I was in the wrong. They would always take their mate’s side. Always. If I was in their positions, I would feel the same way.
Especially if one of them had been hurting my mate’s friend.
“You like her?” he questioned, and I stopped pacing and snorted at him. I didn’t like her… my wolf liked her. And her strawberry scent… and the way she licked her lips when she saw me and smelled of this deep arousal that had my cock growing hard. Or how she tucked her golden locks behind her ear and smiled up at me all shy and innocent looking. I was so fucked when it came to Ada. She was breaking into walls I built a long time ago. She could destroy them all.
“Fuck, I like her, okay? I do. She’s so… ugh.” I looked up, trying to find the right words. “She isn’t what I thought I would have in a mate, okay? She’s different from the girls I normally hook up with. I don’t know if I want her or if it’s because I don’t want Rawlins to have her.”
It was half a lie, but almost freeing having that off my chest. I kept too much to myself and that there was something I hadn’t admitted to myself until now. I didn’t have a packmate. I knew I wouldn’t. I wasn’t going to have a real shifter mate. I chose this years ago for myself. I wouldn’t change a woman, I wouldn’t bite her.
But with Ada, and Noah… Huxley. Would they want that from her, to turn her shifter? I didn’t want that for her at all. But I also didn’t want to lose her to them. It was breaking me in two.
Maverick surprised me. He got up, marched over to me, and punched me in the shoulder. My wolf rose fast and I growled at him. I saw his eyes glowing as his wolf was close to the surface too. This was our way of dealing with too much emotion, and I knew it was a smart idea coming to him.
“Let’s go for a run.”
We ranfor an hour then headed to the usual place we all liked to hang at, where the cliff meets the sea. We had been laying on the grass in wolf form for a while. It was dark out, the full moon long gone, but the stars were beautiful tonight. It was nice here, and we didn’t shift back to speak at all. Just relaxing, thinking.
Me, overthinking everything. Like for starters, what was my issue with Ada? My wolf thought of her as a mate. Why was she different to the girls before her that made him think this one was the one for us? Maybe because she was different, they weren’t after more than just sex with me. She didn’t want that from me, not like they did. She wanted the whole nine yards.
The other girls knew the deal, no strings attached. It was easy; fuck them and move on. We were in it for a good time, they knew the score. Ada needed a commitment before that was to happen. Even if I thought I could try and fuck her out of my system, I knew deep inside I could never do that. I couldn’t treat her like those other girls. She was so pure and innocent, and I wouldn’t want anyone to destroy and take that light from her. I wanted to protect her against others that could see all that and use it against her.
She talked too much, said things you should keep inside like the snails fucking story or when she asked so many questions to Galen about drinking blood that she didn’t even let him speak, let alone take a breath. But it was always cheerful, it was a nervous habit she didn’t know she was doing most the time. It was… quirky. Was that the right way to describe her?
I shifted back and sat up, hugging my knees to my chest and looking out to the dark waters. When Mav did the same I broke the slience.
“Hey, so do you think I should go see Ada?”
Mav just hung his head between his legs and let out a deep breath. Shit, maybe that was a stupid idea.
“Are you gonna say sorry?”
Did he really just ask me that? Of course I would say sorry, I didn’t think she would let me talk to her if I didn’t apologize first. I fucked up. I deleted Huxley’s number and I was stupid. She would want to hear those words from me, followed by I’m sorry, something I didn’t say very often.
“You need to think this through. Do you want her in the long run? Is she someone you see as a mate? If she's someone you want to hook up with, then pick someone else. Ada deserves better than that.
“If you want her as a mate, then look at getting a packmate. Noah, I guess, would be the best option there. I already saw the way that you two work together around her. I know she has a thing about his age, but he's almost sixteen. That's the legal age of consent here in Washington.
“The two of you ask her out on a date, a real one. No sex, just a date. See how things go, and if you think she's the one, then tell Huxley you're with Ada and you're going to put a claim on her. Don't go shifting and attacking him. She likes him, so I'd be careful around that. She might pick him over you since she seemed to really like him.”
My best friend had become so… well… Was this the same Mav from two months ago? No, he had really matured and everything he said was too real. Especially about Huxley.
“That’s it? You've changed. Not in a bad way, but that didn't sound like the old Mav. I'll go talk to Noah, I think… You know, to make sure he's on board with me.”
“To be honest, I would go and see Huxley and explain what you did. Apologize, get his number, then go to Ada. Tell her that you're sorry, give her the number, and then walk away. Think about it, truly think, and if you can't live without her, go ask her on a date.”
I stood up. I needed to do something now. I needed… well, I needed my clothes for starters. I was naked out here with Mav. Oh shit, I just had a great idea.
“If I ask her on a date, maybe it's best if we go on a double date. You and Lexi, me and Ada.” I knew it didn’t include Noah, but even if we became packmates we needed to date her separately as well as together. And he was already one up on me. She liked him more than she liked me right now so I needed to take her on the date first and get her trust back.
“Why not?” Maverick shrugged as he threw his hands up. I felt so much better, I was going to do this… I was gonna go ask her out on a double date.
“This is gonna be great,” I let Mav know. He didn’t seem too convinced and I needed to reassure him that it was. It was going to be better than great. I shifted and took off into the woods, back to the Lovell’s.
I needed to find Ada and apologize before it was too late.