Luke: Please can I see you tomorrow so we can talk in person?
Jasmine: I’m free all day.
Luke: I’ll come by in the morning. Text me when your parents leave for work
Luke: Please get some sleep tonight. I don’t want you to worry. You’re my mate and I want to be with you no matter what
I stared at my phone, feeling another wave of nausea come over me. I couldn’t help myself as I ran to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet again, sickened that Luke had more or less confirmed everything I’d been told earlier. I couldn’t believe that my mate had gotten my best friend pregnant. It was like I was living in a bad dream. Because it had been several hours since I’d eaten, mostly just stomach acid that burned my throat came up. Once the nausea passed, I stepped into the shower and tried to wash the day away.
I tossed and turned all night, falling in and out of sleep, feeling my anxiety choking me. My stomach rumbled with hunger, but I found I couldn’t bring myself to even want to eat, the idea of food making me feel ill. I woke up early the next morning and waited for the sound of the garage opening and closing before I finally got out of bed and got ready. I texted Luke as I brushed my teeth to let him know I was home alone.
About twenty minutes after I sent the text, I heard the doorbell ring. I walked to the front door and opened it to his tall, brawny frame standing before me. He walked in with his hands in his pockets. I could sense he was nervous.
I led him into the living room where he sat down on the couch, pulling me down to sit next to him. He rubbed the top of my thighs, making me feel calmed and aroused by the feeling emitted from his hands. I was almost ready to forgive him.
Finally, he spoke. “I’m sure Lucy must have told you most of what I came here to say. I’m sorry you had to hear about it from her first. I didn’t know she’d tell you before I had the chance to.”
I moved away from his touch and anger bubbled within me. I began to see a pattern. Luke was putting off every important decision and conversation, just burying his head in the sand. I nodded, deeply frustrated. This was not the first time it had slipped his mind to tell me something that affected my life!
“Jasmine, I’m so sorry.” He closed his eyes. I could sense that he was remorseful. Then he opened his eyes again, looking at me for a response. I couldn’t find the words to say anything, seething within.
After some time, he finally spoke again. “I’m sure the reason you ran off was that you were stressed, and I don’t blame you. I asked the warriors on patrol to mindlink me once you returned, and they did. But I was surprised to find out you weren’t alone when you came back.”
I could sense there was some anger behind his words even though he said them calmly.
“Why were you with Blake?”
At his question, I became triggered, finally finding my voice and confronting him. “How dare you ask me about Blake when you knocked Lucy up after you already knew I was your mate? You told me to give you time and space, and meanwhile, you just continued your relationship with Lucy as if nothing ever happened. Is that why you didn’t want to tell her? Because you wanted to continue being with her?”
He shook his head, a pained look on his face, his eyes clenched shut and nose scrunched. He put his thumb and pointer finger to the bridge of his nose. I stared and waited until he finally said, “I know I messed up, Jasmine, and there’s nothing in the world I can do to make up for it. I know you probably won’t believe me but what happened wasn’t my intention. It just happened.”
“What do you mean ‘it just happened'? You just tripped and fell on top of her?”
He tried to take my hands and I pulled them away from him, moving farther away from him on the couch.
“Please, Jasmine,” he pleaded. “I will spend the rest of my life trying to make this up to you if I have to. I know I messed up and there’s no excuse. But you’re my mate. When I asked you for the opportunity to start over, I meant it. I want to be with you, my mate. I broke up with Lucy and have committed myself completely to you since then. I wanted to put everything in the past behind us and give our relationship the chance it deserves—I still want that.”
“Don’t you think that will be a bit difficult when you’re going to have a pup with someone else?”
“I will, of course, take responsibility and support Lucy and our pup, but that will not take away from what you and I have. I know it’s a lot to digest right now, but I know one day we’ll move past this and be happy together.”
I shook my head, not knowing if that was true. Would we be happy together one day? Would we move past this? Or would I spend the rest of my life bitter that my mate, instead of immediately coming to me, took a detour and knocked up my best friend? Why was that something I should put up with and accept?
He moved in closer to me, his scent overwhelming me. He began rubbing my shoulders and arms, the sparks and calm spreading throughout my body. Before I could stop myself, I lay back on the couch as he pulled me against him in a cuddle.
I could feel the remorse seeping from his body as he rubbed my back. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of being against him, his scent, and the sparks that traveled up and down my body, making it impossible to continue seething, the mate bond taking control of my emotions. We stayed like that for several minutes.
Finally, Luke pulled away and said, “I’m so sorry, Jasmine. I want to be a good mate to you. I really do. I don’t expect you to forgive me today or any time soon. But I am hoping that, with time, you will see that I am committed to our relationship and want to be with you.”
He snuggled me close to him, kissing my head, making me powerless to object. No matter how much I wanted to hate him, the mate bond wouldn’t allow me to. Being so close to him made me forget that anyone even existed outside just the two of us. It was like Blake said, I was willing and ready to forgive any of his worst transgressions.
We continued lying against each other on the couch, intertwined. After some time, a thought from earlier came to me and I asked, “Are you sure Lucy’s pregnant?”
He looked at me sadly. “Yes, I’m sure. I went to an ultrasound with her, and it couldn’t have been any clearer.”
“How did this happen?” I demanded.
He sighed and said, “We were always careful and just one time I slipped up. Just one time. And that’s when I’m sure it must have happened.”