Unexpected Mate

Better Than Before

The next day Chase didn’t come to breakfast. That made her worry even more. Maybe he had changed his mind about her. What if he didn’t want to talk to her anymore? What if he had left? She felt sick when she thought about it. Maybe she shouldn’t have left herself get so attached. Then it wouldn’t hurt if she did get rejected. She decided to walk down to the pond. When she got there, she found Chase there by himself sitting on the bank. She went and sat beside him. Neither of them said anything for a while. They just sat there in silence. After a few minutes Tahlia told him that she was sorry about last night. He told her it was okay. She then went on to tell him that she knew there was something more going on and she believed him that it wasn’t girl if he said that it wasn’t but that she hoped he would tell her what it was and not feel like he had to shield her from it. He looked sad and perplexed and told her that he hadn’t lied, it was complicated. She told him that she hoped he would trust her enough to tell her. He explained that it wasn’t about trust. She all but begged him to tell her, and he finally did. But it wasn’t what she had expected. He told her that because he had killed someone to protect her, he had to pay a price for that, just was he would in the real world. He had spent the last few months at a facility that was kind of like a prison where he served his sense and full filled his punishment. That made Tahlia’s heart heavy. He had been protecting her and should the worst of him. She felt tears well up in her eyes and couldn’t bring herself to look at him. She was so ashamed that she had automatically thought badly of him. He reached over and grabbed her hand. She couldn’t help it the tears spilled down her cheeks. Chase brushed them away with his thumb and told her not to cry, that it was okay, and things would get better now. He also told her that he didn’t regret doing it because he would give anything to keep her safe just as he did that night, nothing would ever change that. She couldn’t understand how he could still feel that way about her when she had been so negative towards him. She asked him why did he protect her that night? He could have just walked away. And then he wouldn’t have all this mess now. He told her he could never have walked away. He knew she was his mate the first time he had seen her, which had been her first semester in school. She had walked through the nature trail and he had been out there as a wolf. She was so surprised. He had been watching her. He had made several trips to the woods long side the trail just to see if she was outside so he could see her. So, when the creep went after her he had no hesitation to protect her.

                She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. She was his mate. These were the words he used. Those were strong words among the pack, and she knew they weren’t taken lightly. She asked him if that was why the pack had spared her and given her a chance at redemption. She could tell by the look in his eyes it was. She knew from hearing some of the others talk that they respected each other’s mates and if they truly believed she was his that same respect would extend to her. She guessed that was why they were so welcoming and accepting of her. That was why they trusted her to go back to school and then to come back. She knew that once they found their mate it was lifelong. She couldn’t believe she was so lucky. She would be part of the pack. She would have a family that cared about her. That was something she had never really had before. She knew her mother and her grandmother cared for her, but this was a whole family. And she would have Chase by her side. She had come to Oregon hoping to star over, to better herself, to reinvent herself. But now she was happy to be who she was and even thankful for what she came from because it had made her who she was and made her thankful to have what she now had. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any better Chase leaned in and place a kiss on her lips, and whispered in her ear, you could never be nothing.