The Wolf’s Fake Mate by Layla Silver

Chapter 15 – Silas

“And she just ran out on you?” Renly said, giving me a look between pity and amusement. “Man, that’s so not good.”

“Thank you for stating the obvious,” I replied, annoyed at him.

Honestly, I was just mad in general. In particular, I was angry and embarrassed at the entirety of Fuzion, pitying me. A few days after the fiasco I could no longer deal with Hailey avoiding me at work. I needed my best friend. Right now I just wanted the opinion of the person who I’d worked with and trusted most for years.

“Let’s be real, Renly. Stop thinking that the situation is funny for a moment, and help me get through this.” I sat down, holding my head in my hands. “Because fuck me if I know how to live now.”

“Why are you so dramatic? That’s not like you.”

“I just had my mate run out on me when I proposed to her, and you call me dramatic,” I huffed.

Renly made a face. “Yes, that’s exactly what happened. But it doesn’t mean your life is over.”

“Easy for you to say, mated as you are. Hailey’s the other half of my soul. Now that I’ve met her, I can’t be apart from her.” I sighed. “But she doesn’t want me.”

“Doesn’t she, though?” Renly sat down in the armchair opposite the one I was sitting in and looked me in the eye seriously. “From the way you described things to me, all that happened here is that your proposal scared the ever-living shit out of Hailey.”

“Well, yes,” I answered. I had been able to smell her fear at the time. “She was awfully distressed.”

“If she didn’t care for you, she would have simply calmly declined. As things are, it seems that you two had different expectations for your relationship,” Renly explained. “You acted too rashly.”

Waverly’s words came back to me. How Hailey had abandonment issues because her father had left her mother, and how her life had become a whole lot harder after that tragic event. Did Hailey think I was the same? That I could ever leave her? Did she not trust me? Of course, she didn’t; she’d only known me for a few weeks, after all. It took a lot of time and effort to build trust, especially when someone wasn’t prone to trusting others in the first place.

All I’d wanted to do was show Hailey how serious I was. But instead, I’d frightened her. Of course she would be scared to commit to me if she really thought the relationship wouldn’t last.

“Do you understand now?” Renly asked me, smiling. “If you’re truly mates, you’re meant to be together. But it’s not a fairytale: you don’t just snap your fingers and magically solve all your problems and end up together. Love is something you have to fight for. Do you think Hailey is worth the effort?”

“Absolutely!” I answered immediately. “I won’t give up.”

“Good. Now that’s the Silas I know,” Renly praised me. “From now on, be very careful how you approach her, but keep at it. Make her realize you won’t give up so easily.”

“Is that what you had to do with Kaia?” I suspected that might have been the case, that there was more to how they had gotten together than I’d realized.

“Maybe.” He gave me a mysterious smile. “But right now, what’s important is your relationship with Hailey. I hope to see you happy soon. You deserve it.”

“Thank you, Renly. You’re a great friend.”

“The best you have.”

“Always.”

***

I needed an opportunity to show Hailey that I still cared about her and that I didn’t resent her for declining my proposal. Thankfully, with her sister’s wedding fast approaching, opportunities were easy to create. All I needed was to request Hailey’s presence while I worked on the wedding banquet preparations.

Today, eight days before the wedding, I’d asked Hailey to stay with me after work, of course for paid overtime. She’d agreed, and now we were sitting in silence, browsing cookbooks, working on building the menu for the wedding celebration.

The scene felt so similar to when I had asked her to help me prepare the menu for Sun and Moon. Back then, I must have subconsciously known that she was my mate—or maybe my panther knew. I’d wanted so badly to have her close to me that I’d made sure to get us alone and working closely. This time was the same—I didn’t necessarily need help making the menu, I just wanted to spend time with Hailey. However, our current silence was getting on my nerves. It felt like we had taken a step back in our relationship—no, a giant leap back to the ice age. If Hailey thought she could get rid of me so quickly, she was mistaken.

“Hailey,” I started. “We need to talk about what happened the other day.”

“Which day?” she asked, obviously trying to avoid the talk.

“You know. The day I proposed to you.” I would give her no chance of running this time.

Hailey shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “What’s there to talk about? I gave you my answer.”

“I don’t believe you don’t want to be with me,” I said. But before I could continue, Hailey snorted. She put her papers down in front of her, then looked me in the eye.

“Always so full of himself, the perfect Silas,” she spat out through gritted teeth. “Can’t stand the thought of someone not wanting to be with you?”

I looked at her, shocked. Where had all this aggression come from? That wasn’t the Hailey I knew.

“You don’t really know me,” she replied, and I realized I’d just said my last thought out loud.

“Oh, I do! Better than you want to admit to yourself,” I said, trying to hold on to my composure.

“Sure, delude yourself like that all you want,” Hailey replied, then got back to work.

“Hailey…” I started again, softly.

“Let me work, boss,” was all she said. Any of my further attempts at conversation were met with silence.

What was going on in Hailey’s mind? She didn’t seem like herself at all. I felt as if she was in a lot of pain, close to falling apart. I knew I was the cause of this situation, so I was in pain along with her. I wanted to help her—but how?