Behind Closed Doors

Chapter 7: Bittersweet

“f**k. Oh f**k f**k fuckity fuck.” I whisper scream. I hear angry footsteps stomping up the stairs.

“Wow, I would have never guessed you had such a filthy mouth. I like it.” Damien smirks.

“Not the f*****g time. Ok we need to get out of here. You, out the window. Take my bag and go.”

“What are you going to do?” He asks worriedly as start pushing him out.

“I don’t know, stall her I guess. Hopefully I can pretend like nothing is happening and sneak out once she goes to sleep. Now go!” My instincts to protect him are irrational but intuitive. No one ever fully explains the mate bond, they want to keep it a surprise. All I know is at this moment, I need to get him out before more people know about him. From what he said, just the knowledge of his presence here could be dangerous. Shouldn’t I be more scared of him? This mysterious man with an alleged rolodex full of life-threatening enemies walks into my life and yet, I know I can trust him.

Damian is halfway out the window when he says, “Just one more thing.”

I turn back to him about the yell for him to keep moving when he captures my mouth in a blazing kiss. Fireworks explode behind my eyes and my p***y immediately throbs with need. His lips are velvet and move in perfect harmony with mine. It is everything and not enough. He nips my bottom lip with his teeth before pulling back. My eyes are still closed for a second but when I open them he is gone, disappeared into the night with my suitcase.

I stand dumbfounded in front of the window trying to spot him when my sister barges into my room. Oh she is pissed.

“Hey! What the hell Mia?! Where did you go? We were all worried about you!” Dana marches up to me.

I have to be quick. What can I say to seem that won’t raise any suspicions? I turn so she can’t see my face as I lie straight to hers. “I’m sorry. Too much champagne, I started not feeling well so I came back home.” Believable. Simple. That should work.

“How’d you get back home?” she questions me. Busted. We drove all together since the ball was about twenty minutes away driving.

“I, uh, shifted and ran! Thought I would let Sage out for a bit since she was acting so weird earlier.”

She pauses, eyeing me suspiciously. “Your dress is looking pretty neat for someone who shifted and ran with it.” she states. She clearly doesn’t believe a word I said.

So I deflect and I feel like a piece of s**t about it. “Hey what’s with the third degree miss detective? This isn’t important, what is important is how your night was and finding your mate! Where is he by the way?” I look around, trying to change the subject. I spot the goodbye note on the bed and quickly sit on top of it before she sees it.

“He is downstairs. Wait, how did you know I found my mate?” She asks as she sits down beside me. She’s observant tonight which does not bode well for my plans of sneaking out later.

“I saw you guys tackle each other after midnight. You know, before I started feeling sick.” I stink at lying, I am already trying to make my stories match up and we’ve only been talking for a few minutes.

“So you know who my mate is then?” She questions.

“Yes, and I am so happy for you! Tyler better treat you right.” I warn while chuckling. I get up, slyly grabbing the note as I rise and making it look like I was adjusting my dress. I keep my eyes on her to make sure she doesn’t see as I put the note on my bedside table. It blends in well enough that it should be inconspicuous until I return it back to its original spot later.

My next lie is forming about wanting to get some sleep when Dana shocks me with her next question. but it feels more like an accusation.

“Is that why you left? Because my mate is Bethany’s brother?” Her tone is growing angry as she looks down. Dana is rarely angry.

“What? Dana no! Goddess no!” I sit back down with her and hold her hands. “ I really am so happy for you. He seems sweet and kind and I know he will make you happy. That is all I ever wanted for you, I don’t care who he is related to.” A half lie. Still don’t love the idea of her mate being related by marriage to an ex boyfriend who broke my heart but I am genuinely thrilled she met her mate. Even more so now than earlier tonight, it will be someone to take care of her when I am gone.

“Then why are you lying to me? I have seen you drink a whole bottle of champagne without having a buzz and as far as I could tell you only had two glasses tonight. God you are so f*****g selfish!” Dana bursts out.

“What… what are you talking about?” I ask, tears forming in my eyes. We're sisters, we fight for sure but she has never yelled at me like this before.

She continues her rant, “This whole last year has been about you, you, you and your pathetic heartbreak and now when I find my mate, it is still about you! Mom and dad only cared about my news for like two seconds before realizing you were gone. They were freaking out that you might have been taken by the Rogue Alpha!” She stops, rubbing her hands over her face with frustration and paces around my room.

I am stunned into silence, my mouth hanging open. Usually I would fight back but this could be the last time I see her for awhile. I don’t want this to end in a screaming match.

I pull her hands from her face and hold her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know coming home early would cause all these issues.” I decide to come clean, at least partially. “When I saw who your mate was I was shocked and did start thinking about how it would affect me. I was selfish and thoughtless and I really am sorry about that.” I pull back to look at her, tears falling from both of our faces. I need to look her in the eyes so she knows how genuine I am. ”But I am not lying about being happy for you. I just wanted to get away from everyone so I could process what I am feeling and not ruin your night. I am sorry that happened anyways.” I search her eyes, hoping desperately she will believe me.

Whipping the tears from her eyes, she takes a deep breath. ”I am sorry too, I didn’t mean what I said. Just a high emotion night.”

“I understand. Why don’t we talk in the morning?” This lie tastes like battery acid on my tongue but I continue, “I am going to get some sleep and you have a mate downstairs waiting to get to know you.” I wink to try to lighten the situation.

She giggles and smiles brightly. I hug her one more time, extra long since I don’t know when I will hug her again. I pull back quickly and pretend like I am heading to my closet to get dressed for bed so she can’t see the pain in my face.

“Goodnight Mia, love you!” She calls as she exits my room to head to her mate.

“Love you too. Always will.” I say the last part quietly, reality dawning on me.