MATE AND HIS LOVER 7

#12 Ants [The End]

Laugh and tears, both, come to me as I hug him tight.

Chris' return hug lifts my feet an inch off the floor. "I love you, Belle."

"I love you, too."

Wiping my tears away I pull back my head and say, "There's still one more secret though. Probably the most important one. I saw your mom, the one who gave birth to you."

Chris lets go off me and takes a few steps back. "No," he says.

"It's true."

"No."

"It's true, Chris. I saw her."

"H-How do you know who she was?"

The tremble in his voice tears me up again. I feel his pain. "At first I didn't know who she was. Later, she told me herself."

"What did she want with you? What did she tell you?" he angrily asks.

"Everything," I whisper, "She told me everything."

Chris runs his fingers through his hair and backs away further. "You know? You know wh—?"

"I know. I know you are hurt because of that, and you couldn't forgive her."

"She had no right to talk to you! Did she want to ruin the only good thing I've in my life now?"

"No, Chris. She was sorry for what she did. She regretted it. That's why she couldn't move on. That's why she was still a ghost. She saw you suffering. She told me why you wanted to hurt Joe."

"That's not for her to tell you!" he says. "That's—" He leans back on the wall and closes his eyes as soon as his eyes start to glisten.

I give him the space and time to process everything. I'm not going to pretend I know what he's going through. No child should be hurt by their parent like this.

"I loved her," he says, "And I thought she loved me and dad. But... I couldn't forgive her, even after her death. My father didn't deserve her.

"It was even worse knowing who the guy was. Joe was like a brother to me. But after that day, I hated him and his father so much. I wanted Joe's dad to see his son suffer, because I suffered for my mother and his doing.

"Things got out of hand before I knew it. I'm not saying what I did was right. But I didn't know what else to do. Seeing you were his mate too only made me want to hurt Joe even more. I couldn't stop till I got scared I might lose you. You're more important to me than some revenge, Belle."

He opens his eyes and looks at me. "I'm sorry."

I run and throw my arms around him. "I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry you had to suffer all by yourself for so long. I'm so sorry, Chris."

"So you don't hate me?" he asks.

"Just as you said, There's nothing you could do or say that could push me away."

Without breaking our kiss Chris lifts me up and takes me to what would be the master bedroom in our new house.

After a week I meet up with Joe at a restaurant for brunch.

"I'm surprised he even let you leave the house during the honeymoon phase," Joe says with a grin.

I shyly rub the mark on my neck before remembering to throw a puny glare at Joe. "So when are you guys leaving?" I ask him.

"Tomorrow night."

"I'm glad you're doing this."

"Me too. After you and Chris mated, even though it's clear Jennifer and I should be together, I think it's best if we spend some time with each other as friends and lovers first. We want to do this right and get to know each other better," he says.

"That sounds exactly like the speech I was given by Chris' mom and yours when they came to persuade me to move in with you guys and Jennifer."

He laughs. "I didn't know you were not given a choice."

"Oh, it was a choice, alright. A choice with only one option."

After our lovely meal, we exit the restaurant and walk to our parked vehicles.

Before I get in my car I say to him, "So, I'm sure you heard from Chris about my..."

"Gift?" Joe says, "Yeah I did. I just have one question."

"What?"

"Is there someone beside me?" he says.

I push him away, laughing. "Even if there was I won't tell you you are being haunted just so you could suffer."

"I expect nothing less from you, Belle."

When Chris comes back home at night he asks, "How was the brunch?"

"They are leaving tomorrow night for Europe. Isn't that romantic?"

From on my way to the kitchen Chris grabs and pulls me to his chest. "Just say the word. I'll take you wherever you want."

I turn around and look up at his face. "Why should I say anything? Shouldn't you already know where your mate wants to go?"

"If I get it right you tell me not to read your mind; If I get it wrong you get upset saying I don't care. I'm not playing this dangerous game with you."

I chuckle. "Well then, let's go where you want to go."

"That's easy," he says picking me up off my feet, "It's right behind the door at right."

I wrap my arms around his neck. "I see you make up with perverseness for your lack of romance."

"Is it working?"

I sigh in defeat. "I'm afraid it is. Let's go to the bedroom on the upper floor though."

"Why? What's wrong with the ones downstairs?"

"We've some visiting guests you don't wanna know about."

He laughs. "I think it's time we start to keep a jar of salt on our bedside table."

"Why? Afraid your performance will be judged by our audience?"

"You moaning out my name every night is enough for me to gauge my performance," he confidently says, making me blush, "But that's not why I asked for the salt, babe. I saw some ants coming in through the window sill."

I bury my face in his chest to muffle my laughter.  

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This is the seventh book in the Mate And His Lover series. Check out and follow my Wattpad profile to get updates to my current ongoing books :) 

💕 xx, Auctorsam