Chapter 8
*****
*Jayden’s POV*
I walked through the hotel lobby looking for something to do.
Sean had announced that Benjamin’s station wagon had broken down and it would only be fixed by the next afternoon, so there we were: stuck. I was bored out of my mind.
There wasn’t much to do except watch TV, and I didn’t want to be around Corey or the others. Things were strange ever since I woke up, Corey not saying a word to anyone and everyone seeming very upset except Sean, who I figured was trying to calm everyone.
Something must have happened while I was asleep in the car, and Kaden just brushed it off when I tried to ask him what. I had given up and decided to take a walk to get away from the stuffy atmosphere.
I wandered around aimlessly for a while until reaching the elevator where I decided to go back to my room, but as I was about to push the button, someone bumped into me. I stumbled and ended up tripping over my feet, falling onto my butt while the person began apologising profusely.
“I’m so sorry! I was in a hurry. I just left my phone upstairs, and I have a meet…” he stopped.
I looked up, confused and he gave an apologetic smile.
“Uh… I-I’m really sorry.” He held out his hand.
The man was attractive. He had hazel eyes, low eyebrows and dark brown hair that was gelled back. It was quite a contrast from Corey’s messy blond hair and blue eyes. He was also built pretty well, the white button-up shirt he wore hugged his torso and the sleeves were lifted to his elbows. The top of his shirt was unbuttoned further revealing a little bit of just how toned he was.
He looked around twenty-five. I was sure he was quite a few years older than me.
I accepted his hand and thanked him as he pulled me off the ground effortlessly. From the touch, I could tell he was not human. He raised his brows at me.
“You’re a werewolf?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Nice… I am too,” he said. “Brent, by the way.”
I looked down at our hands wondering why he hadn’t let go of mine, and then tried to pull away but he held on, making me look back up at him.
“You are?” he asked when he was sure I had no intention of telling him, which I had not until the question.
“Uh… Jayden,” I mumbled.
“Jayden… I like that… How about I apologise for my bumping into you by buying you a drink?” he asked.
I was a little caught off-guard. No one had ever asked me that before – or asked me out.
He must not have been able to tell I was sixteen.
I opened my mouth to reject him with the ‘I have a mate’ excuse but stopped myself. Did I have a mate? Not really… and he was offering me a free drink, not a date or a ring. I would tell him how old I was if he tried to ask me out. So, what the hell?
“Make it lunch and I’ll forgive you.” I smiled faking confidence.
He chuckled.
“Done. I was actually just going to get my phone. So, how ’bout you come with me and then we can go out?” he asked.
I felt uneasy but blamed it on the mate pull. If Corey could ignore it, so could I.
“Sounds great.”
—–
*Corey’s POV*
“Where is he?” I asked Izabella.
I was lying on her bed flipping through TV channels as she curled Hayley’s hair. I had no intention of actually watching anything and didn’t know what I was looking for; I was just bored.
After the drive, they were still angry at me when we reached the hotel, but we began making small talk again once in the room and their anger at me seemed to fade until they were replying to me normally again. They were never able to keep being mad at me for long.
“Where is who?” she asked, playing dumb.
“The reason I have to be on this fucking trip,” I muttered.
“Corey, seriously!” Hayley snapped.
Izzy sighed, shaking her head at me.
“Corey, you’re not like this. Why are you being so mean to him? You know you’re hurting him. Your pairing isn’t his fault. You haven’t once spoken to him. No one’s going to hate you if you just give him a chance,” Izabella said.
“Izabella, you’ve known me my whole life. You should know I’m not gay,” I hissed.
“We know, Corey,” Hayley sat on the bed beside me. “But we also know that you’re not like this, you don’t hurt people unless they’re a threat to our pack. You don’t make someone constantly feel bad about something that isn’t their fau –” Hayley was saying.
“It is his fault! If he wasn’t a fucking gay, I wouldn’t have been mated to him! You’re supposed to be my friends, and yet all I see is you taking his side,” I said, getting up and tossing the remote back onto the bed.
“We’re not taking his side, we just don’t want you regretting this decision and we don’t want you to turn into someone you’re not –” Izabella tried.
“Whatever,” I cut her off. “Let’s just get to the Peaks, get this shit over with and then pretend it never happened.” Then I can continue with my life as it was before the awareness of his existence ruined it.
“Corey –”
I left, slightly slamming their door behind me.
The sound of laughter made me stop in the hallway. His laughing, as well as someone else’s. The sounds made angry. I hated that I couldn’t decipher whether it was because I was annoyed by the sound of his laugh, or whether it bothered me that someone else was laughing with him and making him laugh.
I tried to convince myself that it was the former because I did not care who he was with.
“So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
I looked down the hall to see Jayden with some man who was clearly older than anyone he should be with. I frowned. What the heck? Where did he find the guy?
“Actually… I’ll be leaving tomorrow,” Jayden said.
“What time?” the man asked.
I felt jealousy surge through me but tried to fight it. I hated the mate bond. I wasn’t in the least jealous.
“Sometime in the afternoon,” Jayden shrugged.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then, at nine. We can have breakfast,” the man said.
“Um… I’m sixteen…” Jayden mumbled, sounding a little uncomfortable.
The uneasiness in his voice caused a protectiveness from my wolf that made my hands tremble, but I balled my fists to get it together and stood my ground despite wanting to head over and get the guy away from him.
I didn’t care if he was uncomfortable.
“I’m not asking you out, Jay.” The man chuckled as he glanced over Jayden. “Just call it another apology for bumping into you.” He winked.
“A-alright.”
I fought to control my urge to attack the man. I could clearly smell that he was a werewolf, and didn’t like him at all. He wasn’t looking at Jayden like someone who had no intention of asking him out. Every move he made was flirtatious. Why couldn’t Jayden see that the guy clearly had more in mind?
Why the fuck did I care that he was too naïve to notice the stare he was getting?!
I didn’t have a problem with them doing whatever the hell they were going to do. Well, except for the part of me affected by the pull.
I just had a bad feeling and did not want anything to mess up what we were on our way to doing.
Despite what he had said, the man leaned to kiss Jayden’s cheek before he left.
Jayden’s uneasiness seemed to have disappeared as he smiled and turned to walk to his room but paused seeming surprised when our eyes met.
How he hadn’t felt that I was behind him before he turned around was beyond me. Perhaps he had, and ignored it? I would have done the same thing.
“Glad you found a boyfriend. You better not get marked before I fix this,” I said.
He rolled his eyes as he began walking towards his room, which was beside me.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” he said, attempting to step around me, but I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t –” I froze as I felt his power, which there was practically none of! “You’re an Omega?” I hissed.
Instead of answering me, he tried to pull his wrist from my hand, but I held onto it tighter. He was so fucking weak. Not to mention thin, he felt so frail as my hand clasped around his entire wrist even with the thick hoodie sleeve covering it.
Did he even bother training? I hated people like him. Yes, I didn’t like training sometimes, but I still worked my ass off to strengthen my pack. Everyone did. He was one of those people who was just dead weight in their pack.
“Answer me!” I snapped.
“Yes! Not that it’s any of your damn business!” he said, ripping his arm away as he stepped around me.
How the hell wasn’t it my business? He was my mate.
The Gods must really have hated me. First, my mate being a guy and then him being the weakest werewolf in his pack. What the fuck?! How could I, a Beta – and a fricking powerful one at that – be mated to a fucking Omega?! I felt absolutely no strength from him.
I grit my teeth as I shoved him back. He stumbled and bumped into the door like the weak excuse for a werewolf he was before he tried to straighten up.
“Omega… You have nothing to offer. You know he’s probably just using you, right?” I asked, glaring at him.
“Like you use all the girls you’re with?” he spoke, before stumbling back because he knew I was already angry.
How did he know I was with lots of women?
“Have you been stalking me? Of course, you would do that. You were probably so glad you were mated to Beta who would draw you from being the lowest of your pack.”
He shook his head, avoiding my eyes.
“You better watch what you say to me.” I stepped forward and he flinched back when I lifted my hand. I let out an annoyed breath as I used the keycard to unlock the door behind him. What was that reaction? “Pathetic,” I mumbled.
He didn’t answer me. He just looked down and I felt his pain creating an ache in my chest.
Once again, his emotions left me conflicted. I wanted to say I was glad he was hurt because I blamed him for our pairing, but I couldn’t feel good. I hated how much it bothered me that he was hurt and I wanted to apologise and comfort him; hated that my wolf seemed to be leaning more and more into wanting to be closer to him. Even as I stood there, it felt like I was fighting with a wolf that was pissed I had hurt our ‘mate’.
My wolf didn’t control us though, so I quickly suppressed him and leaned into my annoyance at the Omega in front of me. If I looked at it as this being his fault, it made me feel better that he was upset.
“Have a nice night, Mate.” I chuckled, turning to head towards the elevator.
*****
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