My Taken Mate

Broken Hearted

Hayley

No matter how old you get, your mother's touch will always be one of the most soothing things. Lying on my mom's lap having cried myself out, her fingers stroking through my hair is comforting. Hunter leans against my door, both of them waiting till I'm ready to explain what happened.

I've never seen my brother as panicked as he was tonight. After getting me into his truck, he drove like a maniac as I cried uncontrollably in his passenger seat. He carried me into the house and straight to mom who had him bring me to my room. I'm lucky dad is out with my uncles. If he was here there'd be no waiting, he'd want to know right away who he had to kill.

"Are you ready to talk now sweetie?" mom asks.

I take a minute to remember how to speak after all the crying I've just done, "I found my mate tonight."

The confusion on my brothers face by my revelation is probably shared by my mom, though I can't tell from my position on her lap.

"Ok, that's a good thing though, right? I'm not sure I see the problem." she says gently.

I thought I was all cried out but apparently not If the silent tears leaking from my eyes are anything to go by. "It's not that I found my mate, but who he is that's the problem."

"Who is it?" Hunter asks.

"Phoenix." Just saying his name hurts.

Hunter straightens from his slouched position and asks, "Cody's friend Phoenix?"

"Wait a minute. The boy I met today when your father accepted him into our Pack? The mated one?" Mom questions, slowly putting the pieces together.

All I can do is nod to confirm. 

"No shit!" says Hunter.

"Watch your mouth!" Mom scolds.

"Sorry ma, but you gotta admit this is an oh sh-crap moment!"

I feel moms body ripple as she no doubt shakes her head at him. She turns my face so that she can see me. "What happened when you recognized one another as mates? Did he reject you?" The sorrow on her face tells me that thought probably brings up bad memories of her own rejection.

"No, it was amazing for about a minute. Then Cody joined us and called out to him by name. That's how I realized who he was."

"Does your brother know you're mates?" she asks.

I shake my head, "No, we both kind of played it off like nothing happened. I didn't think it would be a good idea to make him aware of it at a party with so many of our young Pack members there to see."

She lets loose a frustrated noise before saying, "You're probably right. Just like your dad he'd react first and ask questions later."

A ding sounds with a text alert and Hunter reaches in his pocket to check his phone. "It's Sam, she's looking for you."

"I'm not really ready to talk to her yet." I say.

"No prob, I'll let her know. She's gonna be worried about you. Is it ok if I tell her what went down?"

"Yeah, and let her know I'll call her tomorrow." I'll definitely need some bestie time then.

Hunter leaves, texting away on his phone.

Mom resumes smoothing out my hair, her silence tells me she's thinking and I probably won't like what she's about to say.

"Sweetie, you know the two of you are going to have to talk about this right?"

Yeah, not liking it one bit.

"You're mates, you can't just ignore it until it goes away." she informs me.

Sitting up, I look at her pleadingly, "I know that mom, but can't I ignore it till the morning at least. Just until it stops hurting so much?"

She looks at me sadly, "Awww baby. I wish I could take this pain from you. It kills me to see you hurting when there's nothing I can do to stop it."

Mom pulls me in for a hug and I cling to her for all I'm worth. She squeezes me tightly and though she doesn't say a word, I know what she's thinking. The hurt will only get worse. I'll have to see him with her. Hugging and kissing, sharing special moments that should be ours. 

How am I going to handle seeing him every day I work at the construction office? Or at Pack meetings. The grocery store, the movies, even our house is a danger zone because of his friendship with Cody.

"Maybe you two can work this out. I understand there were unusual circumstances contributing to him claiming someone other than his fated mate, but it's not something that can't be undone," she states hopefully.

Maybe I'm just too heart broken right now, but I'm not thinking as optimistically as my mom, "I don't think that matters, he obviously claimed her knowing he had a mate out there. Do I really want to work things out with someone who threw away our future without a second thought?"

"Hayley…" mom tries to interrupt but I'm on a roll now. Anger at the situation replacing some of the hurt.

"No, he didn't wait for me mom. He must love her a lot to give up his own mate? I don't want a mate who's affection I need to compete for! What about her mate? How can she do that to him? He's out there somewhere clueless like I was, not knowing his mate now belongs to someone else. Who does that? Selfish people, that's who!"

Mom grabs my hands, calming some of the ire I've built, "Honey, nothing you're saying is wrong. I'm with you a hundred percent, but that's why I think you and Phoenix need to talk. You need to know his reasoning, to get the answers to these questions. If you don't, I worry it will eat away at you."

I know she's right. We need to clear things up, but not yet. I need time to process everything and get not only my pain but evidently my anger as well, under control.

"I promise I will mom, in a couple days okay," I agree.

Planting a kiss on my forehead she says, "That's my brave girl."

She embraces me once more and I soak up her warmth and comfort. "Now that that's decided, we have another problem to deal with…" she says.

Lifting my head from her chest, I look at her questioningly, "What's that?"

"Your father."