Chapter 8
EIGHT
Crew
I’m not sure what to do or what to think.
What I do know is that I can’t stay here. I don’t want to say or do something that I can’t take back. I need to get my head on straight, and then I’ll come back and deal with my traitor mate.
My bear growls inside of me. He’s not happy about leaving our fated mate. I’m not either, but how can I trust her?
When I left to meet the Alphas, I thought that Griffin and Ryker were going to tell all of us about something that had happened with the Red Fog Pack, and I was right. I just would never have guessed what the news would end up being.
Vera, my mate, my love, is the daughter of the Red Fog Pack’s Alpha. She’s a traitor, a spy sent here to help them take us down or do God knows what else to our pack.
Getting that news was like a sucker punch to the gut. I didn’t know how to react. At first I didn’t want to believe it, but they showed me proof.
They had called me in ahead of everyone else to break the news to me first. Hearing it again when they told my friends didn’t make it any easier.
My friends had looked at me with pity, but my bear and I were silent and emotionless as we processed everything.
I had tried to insist that there had to be an explanation, but what could it be?
Why didn’t she tell me? Why is she here? How can I trust her after this?
Why did she do this?
I was wondering that same thing for the whole drive home. I was trying to remain calm, but by the time that I parked and got out of my car, I was pissed. Furious that she had lied to me and betrayed me. Angry that my fated mate is a spying traitor.
Heartbroken that I was going to have to reject her.
My bear roars in pain inside of me, and I close my eyes. We’re both in pain, and I don’t know how to fix it.
Don’t reject her, my bear begs, and I sigh.
We can’t be the reason that our pack is in danger. We can’t be with someone that we can’t trust, I tell him.
He knows that I’m right, but that doesn’t make this any easier.
I open the door and there she is, smiling at me, looking so happy that I’m home.
She’s a good actress.
Her smile drops and I wonder what emotions are etched onto my face right now.
“I can explain,” she blurts out.
“No, you can’t. You lied. About everything. About who you are. About where you came from. About who your family is and why you came to Twisted Oak.”
Her eyes glisten with tears, and I can feel my resolve breaking.
Don’t give into her, I remind my bear and myself.
She looks so sad though, my bear whines.
I grit my teeth and turn on my heel, stalking upstairs.
“Crew, wait! Please, just give me a chance,” she cries as she rushes after me.
“I can’t. How could I believe a word that you say to me after everything?”
She sobs, and it breaks my heart. I want to stop this and pull her into my arms. I want her to explain and have a good reason. I want none of this to have happened.
“Crew,” she chokes out, and I blink back my own tears as I start stuffing some clothes and toiletries into a duffle bag.
“I hope that you got what you wanted,” I say as I turn and push past her.
She doesn’t follow me downstairs. I’m not sure if I’m glad about that or not. I can hear her crying, and my heart and resolve break with each step that I take away from her, but I still force myself to continue on.
I head out to my car and toss my bag onto the passenger seat. I glance back at the house and every fiber of my being is screaming at me to go back in there and comfort my mate, but I can’t. So, I turn the key in the ignition and take off.
Where do I go now?
Tucker’s house? My bear suggests, and I shake my head.
He’s all happy with his mate. I can’t be around that. Not right now.
He nods and curls up inside of me. He’s depressed and broken inside of me, and it only compounds my own feelings, making everything so much worse.
How do humans deal with a broken heart? I wonder as I rub at the ache in my chest.
I turn out of the drive and head towards Logan’s house. He lives nearby and is a good friend. He works at the fire department, so we’ve spent a lot of time together.
When I pull into his driveway, he’s sitting on the porch, waiting for me.
“Hey. I figured you might show up here,” he says, passing me a beer as I climb the porch steps.
“Thanks. Can I crash here?”
“Of course.”
I nod and down half of the beer in one gulp. He leads me inside, and I groan as I sink down onto his couch.
“What did she say?” He asks me, passing me another beer.
“That she can explain.”
“Okay, and what was her explanation?”
“I didn’t let her talk. I knew that I would break no matter what she said to defend herself.”
“Maybe she does have an explanation?” He suggests, and I sigh.
“Maybe. I hope so. I just… I need to be in a stronger position before I hear her out.”
“It will work out. You just have to hear what she has to say. Then we can go from there,” he tells me, and I nod.
“Just not tonight.”
He nods, and we sit in silence. My mind is going a million miles an hour, overanalyzing every minute that we spent together.
My mind goes back to before I left to head to the Alphas’ tonight. We had been in bed, and she had tried to tell me something, but I had to go. She had seemed nervous over dinner too. Could she have been trying to tell me then? Or is this all just wishful thinking?
Hear her out, my bear says, and I take another sip of my beer.
“I’ll go talk to her,” I announce. “Tomorrow.”
“Good. Tonight, though. Let’s get drunk.”
“I’m in,” I say, clinking my bottle against his.
I stare at the ceiling and try to ignore the pain as I drink with my friend. For Logan’s part, he does his best to cheer me up and get my mind off things, but it’s no use. All I can think about is Vera.
I doze off at some point, and when I wake, the sun is starting to shine, and I know what I have to do.
I take a deep breath as I push to my feet and stretch.
It’s time for me to go face my mate and find out if I can forgive her or if I’m about to break my own heart.