Young Mate (Wattys2016)

Chapter 22

I finally look at Nickolas after telling him my story. He’s still sitting beside me on the makeshift bed; through my blurry vision I can see he’s not moving. But despite my tears I can still see what he is doing.

I thought he’d be mad. I thought he’d be angry. I thought the only thing he would care about was finding that man. I expected everything else, but not him crying. 

He was crying quietly. Tears were falling freely from his brown eyes. Mate.

“Nickolas?” My tears stopped flowing once I saw his. He inhaled sharply and started coughing. I have never seen my mate cry like this; it scared me. I push the covers off and crawl over to him.

“Nickolas?”

He throws his arms around my waist and buries his face into my chest. 

“I’m so sorry.” He whispers. I let my jaw drop at his behavior; this isn’t what I expected, but it scared me more than what I was expecting.

“It’s not your fault.” I stroke his hair to comfort him.

“That was the night of my fucking party! I knew about the game, lots of parents were talking about it. If i just left the damn party I could’ve found you!”

“It was your last night at the pack, you wanted to enjoy it. Besides, that day you were still technically 17, you hadn’t been paired with me yet.”

“If I was just there, my wolf could’ve found you when you got lost! Or heard your scream! If I was just there!” He shouts. His wolf would’ve been helpful; new born wolves are fairly weak for the first year or two and his could’ve picked up my scent or heard my shouts. But it doesn’t matter now.

“Shut up.” I whisper. I move my position so I’m straddling him. “We’re not playing the ‘What If’ game. It happened. And I want you to forgive yourself for doing nothing wrong and move past this; it took me years to move on and I don’t want a relapse.” I choke on my own words. A relapse into depression sounded like hell and I didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m sorry.” He kisses my forehead gently. I kiss his cheek and taste the salty tears.

“It’s all right.” I weakly smile. “I’m glad I finally told you; I feel relieved now that you know.”

“I love you.” He’s said it so many times, but this time seems so different. He had a genuine look of love and care in his brown eyes.

I gently pull his neck towards me and kiss him again. Several minutes later I separate to take a breath. Nickolas breathes deeply and presses his forehead against mine. 

“I love you.” I smile at him. 

Nickolas

My mate had fallen asleep a while ago and the temperature was dropping so I carried her back inside to our bedroom. She loves me. There are no words to describe the happiness that my mate has brought me. She loves me. And I love her. 

As much as I want to stay in the bed with her, I know I can’t.