I Only Want One

Chapter 7

Jude

I watch as Natalie's eyes water and she takes a few deep breaths, looking around the room. My heart hurts watching her and a fresh bout of self loathing crashes through me. I did this. The reason we aren't sharing this room is because of me. I know that, but it doesn't stop the ache in my chest. The longing I feel for my mate.

"Look, Nat. You can use this room if you want." I say gently. She swipes a hand across her face to stop her tears and shakes her head, walking passed me into the hallway.

"No. I'll use the one with the bathroom. Thanks." She says, making a beeline for the door.

"I'll get you some black out curtains." I tell her, knowing living with her will be hard enough, but dealing with a pissy Natalie right away in the morning is even worse.

"Don't worry about it." She snaps before she slams the door in my face. I sigh and stand outside of it, listening to her cry. My wolf whines in my head and I feel like my chest is being split open in two. She lets out another sob and I clench my fists to keep myself from barreling into the room.

"Natalie, please." I beg, knocking on the door.

"Just leave me alone!" She yells and I sniffle back my own tears.

I have no right to cry.

I walk back to my own room, shutting the door behind me and pacing the small space before I mind link my brother.

'What were you thinking, bringing her here?' I ask and I feel Eli accept the link.

'She's our mate. She should live with us.' He says and I scoff, anger welling in me.

'She's your mate. Not mine. She's made that very clear.' I respond and I can feel his frustration through the link.

'She walked in on you with another woman yesterday. Give her some fucking time to process, Jude. Besides, do you think her staying away is going to help her forgive you? Help your bond grow? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and try to make it fucking right.' He says harshly and I sigh running an annoyed hand through my hair.

'She wants nothing to do with me. And I don't blame her.' I say sadly and Eli sighs.

'Then move out if you want. But I'm not going to be away from my mate because of your shitty decisions.' He says a firmly and I feel even worse about putting my brother through this shit as well as Natalie.

'You're right. I'm sorry.' I tell him.

'What were you thinking?' He asks and I can tell he just genuinely wants to know.

'I don't know, Eli. It's hard to think right when your wolf won't let you sleep or eat. When all he does is shove images of your mate into your head every moment of every fucking day. Fucking someone else was the only way to piss him off enough that he would shut the hell up and leave me alone.' I seethe and my wolf whines in my head again. He knows this is his fault too.

'Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you tell me?' He asks and a little growl escapes me.

'I don't know. I honestly didn't think you could do anything to help me. You were handling it so much better than me.' I tell him.

'I really wasn't. I was struggling too. We could have dealt with it together. But now we have a much bigger problem.' He says and I throw myself back on my bed, curling my fingers in my hair.

'What should I do?' I ask.

'Just give her some time. Leave her be. Show her you can respect her boundaries.' He says.

'Alright. When will you be back?' I ask.

'Couple hours.'

'I'll make dinner.' I tell him before cutting the link.