Chapter 4
*****
*Corey’s POV*
I was incredibly vexed. My mind was clouded with thoughts of him that made me cringe and my senses were blocked by his scent, his presence and his voice no matter how much distance there was between us.
I could be in the middle of the forest or even anywhere in the city and could still smell him!
What pissed me off more was the fact that now that he was often nearby, my wolf seemed to switch up and was agitated about what I had said to him. I had never in my life not been in tune with my wolf, and he had never felt so restless to me. That ‘mate’ ruined everything.
I looked across the table at Samantha who was currently talking, but could not hear a word she was saying because all I could think about was him. Apart from him, I was trying to reason with the stupid animal in my mind. I had my leg shaking restlessly under the table, hating my mate more every second for making me so uncomfortable.
My wolf growled deeply, and Samantha stopped mid-sentence and raised her eyebrows at me.
“Uh… Sorry, he’s annoyed. Haven’t shifted in a while…” I mumbled.
It was only half a lie. I didn’t trust my wolf at the moment, so we were not shifting.
“Really? That’s all it is? Because it seems like you’ve been distant since we got here… Is-is it me?” she sounded hurt, and I shook my head quickly.
“No, no. Of course not, Babe… I’m just… I’ve got things on my mind…” I muttered, pushing the food around my plate but making no attempt to eat.
“Your mate?”
The question made my hand stop moving.
“How do you know about that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “That’s all your friends talk about. Apparently, you won’t tell them who she is,” she said.
Ah. Sean and the other guys. It couldn’t have been Hayley and Izabella because they already knew and had probably told Alexis by now.
I wanted to laugh when she said ‘she’. I wanted to throw something.
“Yeah? Well, she can go to hell.”
“Corey, she’s your mate.”
“He’s nothing but scum!” I snapped.
Her eyes widened and I cursed at myself for the impulsive reply as I drew my hand off the table.
“‘He’?” she whispered, shocked.
“Don’t,” I muttered. “Don’t tell anyone.”
She was silent as she stared at me still stunned before clearing her throat.
“Uhm… So… You’re… You’re… uh… gay?”
“No, I’m not fucking gay, Samantha!” I snapped, causing her to cringe back, afraid.
Sighing, I rubbed my face to hide my eyes, which I was sure had gone black. She was afraid because that usually showcased a loss of control or a wolf forcing a shift. Luckily, I had an incredible amount of control over my wolf even when he was being a pest.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said.
“But if you’re not gay then how –?” she was saying.
“I don’t fucking know. It doesn’t make sense, but I’ll fix it,” I said.
“‘Fix it’? Corey, mates are destiny. You’re not supposed to try to ‘fix it’, the Gods are never wrong,” she said.
I gave a dry chuckle. “They are this time,” I said.
“So… Who… Who is he?” she asked carefully, as though fearful that I would attack her for asking.
I grit my teeth. Might as well tell her if I was going to be around her so often.
“Jayden.” The name left a bad taste in my mouth even after I forced it out.
“Mmm… Maybe you shouldn’t twist your face like that when you say your mate’s name,” she said.
“He is not my mate.”
I glared at her, she shifted a little before nodding and biting her lip. I sighed again, releasing my fists, realising I had unconsciously clenched them. My hands felt tight, so I opened and closed them a few times before running them through my hair.
“I don’t know how it happened…” I mumbled. “It’s a mistake…”
She was quiet for a while before I felt her soft fingers graze my arm gently.
“Corey… You know… Witches do a lot of things… Maybe…” she drifted. “I mean, if you really can’t stand the thoug –” she was cut off by my gasping as I sat up.
“Oh my God, you’re right. You’re so right!” How had I not thought of that before? “You’re amazing, Sam, thank you!” I pulled my wallet from my pocket to pay for our lunch.
“Uh… Corey? Where are you going?” she asked.
“To find a witch – actually, I know a pretty powerful warlock. See you later,” I kissed her cheek dropping the money onto the table as I ran out.
—–
*Jayden’s POV*
I pulled the headphones off before grabbing my notepad and began scribbling down the words and notes that flowed into my mind.
I always found listening and writing calming. It made me happy, so it was all I did most of the time. I grabbed my guitar to begin stringing along to the melody playing in my head and smiled. Music just cleared my mind and made me feel less lonely.
As my fingers played over the strings, I began singing but almost jumped out of my skin when the door suddenly slammed open.
“I’ve got it!”
The voice was a shock.
Corey?
Why would he dare come into my room? Wasn’t he afraid of catching ‘gay’ or something? I stared at him as he walked across my room but still stayed quite far away from me.
“Come.”
“Uh…” I cleared my throat.
Why did he look happy to be in the same room as me? I was trying to keep calm, trying not to get my hopes up and trying to keep my wolf calm because I wasn’t sure why he would suddenly be so happy when just that morning he refused to be within ten feet of me because we were still being forced to stay in the ballroom.
“W-what?” I asked, softly.
“Get up! You need to come with me. Right now.” He frowned, looking at my attire which consisted of my pyjamas which were basically boxers and a long-sleeved t-shirt. “And aren’t you supposed to be in the ballroom?” he questioned.
His tone of voice was calm, as though initiating a normal conversation and, for once, the glare on his face wasn’t there. He seemed genuinely curious.
I shrugged. I was, but that didn’t mean I was going to stay in there all day every day. A perk of being someone no one usually spoke to or noticed was that I could disappear sometimes.
“I –” I began trying to explain.
“It doesn’t matter. Just get dressed and come on!” he snapped. And he’s back.
I stared at him, surprised and alarmed.
Come? With him? He was terrifying. I wanted to listen just because of that, but my legs didn’t agree with me as my fear had run into them.
“I… J-Joe said… not to leave…” I mumbled.
“He’ll make an exception. Don’t make me ask again.”
He had asked? When?
I swallowed at the tone he used. It wasn’t commanding, but it was familiar and unnerving. I was too afraid to refuse and just nodded.
“I’ll wait outside. Black Audi,” he muttered, walking out.
I let out a breath when he left.
I knew not to get my hopes up, he didn’t sound at all friendly… but that didn’t stop me from being stupid and doing exactly that.
—–
“Uh… Where-where are we going?” I asked quietly as he drove.
It had been just over half an hour and Corey was driving quite fast.
We had been completely silent for the entire drive so far. Not a sound was uttered until I had to force my mouth open with an imaginary wrench and hope I didn’t get a punch in the face for speaking. He hadn’t had to do anything aggressive for me to picture that; I just always imagined that being people’s reactions to me saying the wrong thing. That was partially why I tended to keep my mouth shut.
He shot an annoyed frown my way, making me regret the question before he clenched and unclenched his jaw.
“We’re going to meet a friend of mine,” he said.
“Oh… Why?”
Was I pushing boundaries? I really didn’t want to get hit. My ability to heal wasn’t great.
He had made no attempt to fight me in the past few days we had seen each other, but he always looked like he was seconds away from snapping and attacking me, so I expected anything.
He ignored my question and kept his icy blue eyes focused on the road as we drove towards Galaxy territory.
Conflicting feelings were running through me. On the one hand, I was dejected, uneasy and quite frightened, but on the other, there was a calming feeling of being close to him that made me want to stay there forever. My heart was racing, and it was purely blissful being surrounded by his scent in the warm car.
The conflict of emotions made my head hurt.
I ran my eyes over his side profile, studying him.
He had long eyelashes that were a few shades darker than his hair. There was a beauty mark just below the corner of his right eye. His eyes were narrowed and matched the rest of the sharp features that made him look both intimidating and strikingly attractive. His curly blond hair hung messily above his eyebrows and all around his face, it stuck up in all directions and somehow still looked good.
“Stop staring at me,” his harsh mutter snapped me from my thoughts.
I opened my mouth to apologise, but then realised that doing that would confirm my staring at him. So, I just shut my mouth and turned to look out of the window beside me as my nose stung making my eyes water. I wanted to lift my knees to my chest to feel safer but wouldn’t dare put my feet on his car seat.
Where were we going? I should have texted Kaden…
The car dove back into silence apart from the wind and I held my breath, praying that Corey couldn’t hear my pounding heart because it would suck if he knew I was the only one that felt something.
*****
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