He was so lost in thought he almost missed the moment his mate stopped the car. “Okay, big guy,” the human said. “Home sweet home.”
Mathias’s mate slid out of the vehicle and let him out. Mathias jumped down on the ground and looked around, sniffing the air curiously. They were in front of a medium-sized house, pretty old in style, but not particularly run down. Mathias wondered if this was Will’s family home, or some other property his mate had purchased for his own use.
The human almost seemed to guess his thoughts, and he obviously needed the company, because as they headed toward the stairs, he started to explain, “So I’m just getting the house clean. Don’t you dare tear into the carpets or whatever. My grandfather loved this place. It was among the few things he had left of his brothers and his parents.”
Given all that, Mathias expected his mate to tell him to stay outside, but the human didn’t. He gestured for Mathias to wait in front of the couch. “Be right back. Let me see what I have in the fridge.”
Mathias wasn’t actually hungry—he could hunt easily enough for himself—but he didn’t want to refuse his mate’s generosity, so he waited. A few minutes passed, with the sound of banging and muttering the only sign that Mathias’s mate was making any progress. Mathias couldn’t contain his curiosity anymore and he padded to the edge of the living room. When he peeked into the kitchen, he found his mate standing in front of a table, helplessly looking at a slab of frozen beef.
The human noticed him and shot him a sheepish grin. “So I wasn’t exactly planning on having a barbecue anytime soon, and that backfired on me.” Shaking his head, he turned around and opened the fridge again, zeroing in on what looked like pressed bacon. “Okay, this is going to have to do. I’ll work on getting more later.”
The last thing Mathias wanted was to unnecessarily dig into his mate’s supplies or cause him inconvenience. He considered changing into his human form and explaining. Maybe he’d have done exactly that if his mate’s phone hadn’t rung from somewhere in the living room.
The human cursed. “Damn it. Okay, I’ll feed you in a bit. Let me just take care of this.”
His mate’s tone concerned Mathias. There was something both harsh and lost in it, and he followed the human, knowing he shouldn’t eavesdrop, but unable to keep himself from it.
Because of Mathias’s wolf form, his mate didn’t deem his approach an invasion of privacy, which would probably backfire on Mathias eventually. Mathias couldn’t change that, not for the moment, now when his mate was glaring fiercely at the phone. He accepted the call, but he looked so thunderous he was probably more inclined to throw the device out the window. “What do you want, Peter?”
“I spoke to Vera,” came the reply from the other side of the connection. “She said you’re dating someone already. What the hell, Ward?”
Ward. His mate’s name was Ward. That was good to know—and probably the only good thing that would come out of this conversation.
“That’s my line,” Ward snapped. “What in the world gave you the idea that you can call me again—ever?”
Mathias really didn’t like this Peter person, or the reaction he caused in his mate. He growled lightly, which drew Ward’s gaze to him. He almost feared he’d frightened his mate, but Ward smiled. He plopped down on the couch and gestured for Mathias to sit with him, and Mathias quickly took his mate up on the invitation.
He ended up with his head on Ward’s lap, Ward’s hand petting his fur. It felt nice, Mathias couldn’t deny that, but he also knew his mate needed it as much as Mathias did.
Ward’s voice was calmer when he added, “My life is none of Vera’s business—or yours.”
“I think it is,” Peter replied. “If you forgot about me so quickly, I can only imagine what you’d been doing behind my back when we were dating. Do I have to go get tested?”
Ward’s fingers tightened in Mathias’s fur, and Mathias let a hint of magic reach out to his mate, soothing him. Ward took a deep breath, Mathias’s presence and power anchoring him. “I never cheated on you, Peter. You were the one who decided my sister was better than me. And for the record, I did go see a doctor after we broke up, and my tests came out clean. If yours are different, you should ask yourself what you’ve been doing since.”
“This isn’t about me,” Peter hissed. “You’re trying to turn this into another accusation when I was only ever—”
“Please, Peter,” Ward interrupted him quietly. “Just stop. You have what you want, a normal marriage, with a woman who can give you your white picket fence happily ever after. Leave me alone.”
Without waiting for a reply, Ward ended the call and tossed the phone on the coffee table. “I really should block his number,” he said with a sigh. “Why can’t I do it?”
Mathias lifted his head to look up at his unhappy mate. He wanted to hunt down the asshole who’d hurt Ward like this, and the helplessness and the jealousy were almost crushing him. He should have been there for Ward instead of stupidly pining over Will.
Ward hugged Mathias’s head and buried his face in his shoulder. “Stay. Let me... Just let me hold you.”
Mathias didn’t move, but as his mate’s hot tears soaked his fur, he swore that somehow, he’d make sure Peter didn’t get away with this.
He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, with Mathias’s mind working furiously and his heart racing painfully, his entire sense of self thrown by his discovery of his mate, and the realization of said mate’s grief. When Ward finally released him, though, he made Mathias’s decision for him.
“I’m sorry about that. Ex. Brings out the worst in me every single time.” He sighed and rubbed his red-rimmed eyes. “He’d probably say I’m crazy, talking to you like I do. You don’t understand a word I’m saying. Even crazier that I wish you were a person...”
Mathias knew he couldn’t perpetuate the deception any longer, not if he wanted his mate to forgive him and open his heart to him. He leaped off the couch and put enough distance between them so that Ward wouldn’t be too scared once he shifted.
When he was as ready as he was going to get, he allowed his magic to surge forth and summoned his human form to the surface. A heartbeat later, he was standing on two feet, facing a wide-eyed Ward.
“I am a person, and I’m here for you.”