Chapter 4 The Crack
four
The Crack
*MARCELLUS*
Idon’t know how Floyd did it, but this time when I come home, it’s just Mom waiting for me. Before I can even say anything, she beats me to it. “I knew you didn’t do anything,” she tells me. “Not because I’m blinded by love for my sons, but because I know them. I know when either of you lies.”
“Mom,” I utter, finally feeling the last few hours catching up to me. Tears are filling my eyes, at the same time, I’m frustrated for acting like a baby.
She wordlessly pulls me into her arms.
“Why?” I say. “Why did it turn out like that? Why is she my mate?”
“I don’t know,” Mom whispers. “I don’t know why the goddess mated you to her. It doesn’t make sense for me either.”
“It’s just cruel. What am I going to do now?”
“I… I have no idea,” Mom says, while grabbing my face between her hands. “But we’ll figure it out, okay? Just no rash decisions, please.”
“Tell that to my brother,” I say.
“I did,” she tells me. “I said it to both him and your father, just with more curt words and a little more insistence.”
“Don’t tell me you threatened Dad.”
“I did. Told him if he doesn’t want to rely on his hand for the rest of his life, he’d better fucking apologize,” she spits out, much to my surprise. When I raise my brows, she just shrugs. “What, you think I can’t curse?”
“For someone who always scolded us for using bad language, you for sure didn’t hold back just now,” I say.
“If there ever was a time to curse, it’s now,” she says. She takes a deep breath. “So, can we try to repeat the talk from earlier today?”
“Right now?” I ask her.
“Do you really want to postpone it further?” she asks quietly.
I shake my head. “I just want to get it over with.”
“Alright, come.” She leads me out of the alpha suite and downstairs to where my father’s office is. Beta Floyd already waits for us in front of the door, nodding encouragingly at me. I always thought he disliked me, but today he had my back. I won’t forget that, ever!
Mom confidently enters the room without knocking and strides inside, tugging me after her.
Floyd follows, closing the door behind him.
Inside, I spot my father and Eugene. They are already sitting on the sofa.
And she is here, too. My heart clenches painfully while I try to fight the urge to run to her and close her into my arms. Fuck the mate bond!
“Just so we are clear,” Mom says. “This is the second and last chance of having this talk! Now…“ She takes a deep breath. “Olive, is Marcellus your mate?”
“Yes,” Olive answers quietly. My heart fills with relief, not because it means she accepts me now, but because she didn’t lie. “I, I felt the pull when he turned eighteen. I panicked and ran outside before he could spot me, but he followed me. He… he didn’t know it was me at first.”
Mom looks at me. “Does this correlate with your story, Marc?”
I nod.
“Alright, Eugene?”
“I also panicked,” Eugene admits quietly.
“I knew something was off. I saw Marc running outside, as if something was chasing him, and I could feel the tension through our twin bond. I just…” He finally raises his head to look me in the eye.
“Fuck… I saw the both of you and just went crazy. I thought you were trying to take her from me, and I was so mad that you would do that.”
“I didn’t tell him you were my mate,” Olive admits. “Not until later.”
“I’m sorry I lied about her being my mate,” Eugene admits quietly.
Dad sighs, pinching his nose. “I understand,” he says.
“You understand,” I mimic him. “That’s certainly more grace than you have shown me. But it’s good to know that you think I’m a lying rapist.”
Dad looks tired. “That’s not what I thought. Not really. I was overstrained with the situation. I handled it badly.” Mom stares at him. “I’m sorry,” he adds. When Mom keeps glaring, he clears his throat. “I’m also sorry for hitting you. I should have listened to you first.”
I didn’t know how tired I felt until this point. I just feel drained and wish this whole ordeal would be over, for me to never think about it anymore. I don’t want to reply to any of them or hear any more explanations, I’m too disappointed to think straight. “And now?” I ask instead.
Dad swallows. “I… I can’t force anyone to accept a mate against their will,” he admits quietly. He looks at Olive. “What do you want?”
Olive has tears in her eyes. “I feel the bond,” she says sadly. “But I, I love Eugene. This is so messed up. Why did the goddess do this?”
For once, a sentiment I can agree with.
“May I say something, Alpha?” Floyd asks.
“Please do so,” Dad encourages him. “Right now, any ideas are welcome.”
“I would allow the three of them to take a couple of days at least,” Floyd suggests. “To just think things through and to come to terms with what is happening. This is a lot, and even I, as an experienced wolf, wouldn’t know what to do. Deciding things on a whim has never ended well.”
“I agree,” Mom says.
“What do you boys think?” Dad asks us.
“I have no better idea,” I concede.
“I agree, too,” Eugene says. “Olive and I will stay away from each other for that time.”
Olive looks heartbroken, but she nods her agreement as well.
I’ve known Olive since we were little children.
She was always so cute, always had a smile on her lips.
She was a little shy at first, and even back then, I tried everything to make her smile.
If I’m being honest with myself, I liked her, just as my brother liked her.
He was only the first to say it, and I didn’t have the heart to be honest with him.
I decided to move on and be mature about it, instead of pining over a girl my brother liked, especially knowing she liked him in return.
I slept around for a bit, trying to distract myself with other girls, though none of them could match her and her charm. Then, Eugene and she got together for real, suddenly girlfriend and boyfriend, so much in love that he even said he would make her his chosen mate.
And fuck! Here I am, her fated mate. A part of me was happy for a moment to finally have a chance with the girl I had liked for so long, but that small part got crushed fast.
Eugene is more important to me than any mate could be.
But it’s one-sided. I chose him, but he didn’t choose me.
We haven’t talked since the showdown at our birthday party, and I haven’t told anyone about what happened, only Flo and Elliot, my closest and dearest friends. And even them I didn’t tell the whole story.
“Fuck!” I curse when I drop to the ground for the nth time during my training. Floyd isn’t even going hard on me, but my form is getting worse every day.
“Are you okay?” he asks me, worried.
“I’m just in a funk,” I confess.
“Marc -” Floyd starts.
“Don’t,” I beg him. “Just… don’t say anything.”
Floyd sighs. “How about we work on some strength exercises instead?” he offers.
I nod, ignoring the pain I feel in my chest. It’s getting stronger every day. I’m no expert, but I don’t think being away from my mate is doing my wolf any good. I also feel these aches occasionally, unsure where they are coming from. I just know that it’s sucking the strength out of my body.
How are you holding up, buddy? I ask Amos.
I am trying, he says. Sorry for not being stronger. It’s the strained mate bond that pulls me down.
What are we supposed to do? I ask him.
I want our mate!
I know, I say quietly. Me too, but I don’t think we can have her, Amos. We can’t force her to accept us as our mate.
He lets his head hang down. I know.
“Marcellus?” Floyd calls towards me. “Are you coming?”
“Yes, sorry.” I decide to shove these thoughts aside and instead focus on my training with Floyd.