ALEX #9
"Can I talk to you for literally one minute?" I ask Storm, who raises an eyebrow but nods. Jared looks surprised too.
We move aside and sit at a small table, which makes Storm look ridiculously big in comparison. His unnaturally turquoise eyes, glowing faintly as if lit from within, study me closely.
How strange to be a purple alpha, all that beast hidden inside, all that raw power…
"What is it, Alex?"
"Is it true, Storm? Can you really recognize someone’s True Mate?" I start not beating around the bush. "I mean, I know you work at a matchmaking agency and probably need to sell your talents a bit to the clients, but tell me honestly. Does it actually work?"
Storm smiles with a touch of superiority.
"See, all my brothers think my talent is nonsense, but I know what I can do. So yes, the answer is positive. Although it works best when I can see both people and compare the color of their energy. Jared’s case is harder, because I have to look for someone in the dark without knowing what I’m searching for. So I’m careful with promises."
I hesitate, wondering if I should push further.
"My question isn’t about Jared," I finally say, my fists clenched so tightly my knuckles turn white. That’s it, I’m gonna clear it out for good.
The whole uncertainty about our status. My throat feels dry as I ask, "It’s about me and Bay.
Have you ever seen anything between us? That similar energy you mentioned? "
A peculiar smile spreads across Storm’s face. He tilts his head slightly.
"It might be hard to believe, but you were actually the first person I ever looked at and immediately knew who your True Mate was. Even as a teenager I saw it between you two, that color harmony in your energy, in your auras."
I blink in shock. "But we turned out incompatible. How did you make sense of that?"
Storm exhales heavily. "That is exactly the reason, Alex, why I doubted my gift for years. Your case."
"Seriously?"
He nods. "Later on even when I sometimes saw compatibility or matching auras, I kept telling myself it was nonsense, because I’d made such a huge mistake before.
I decided it had to be random. And that’s one of the reasons my brothers never believed my ability, because right after Bay broke up with you I said at home that I still believed you were True Mates.
They shouted me down and mocked me. They thought I was arrogant and couldn’t let things go. "
"I’m sorry you were laughed at because of me, but you know…
you’re not alone in this. Blue Lowen believes we are True Mates ‘on hold’.
On some level, I choose to believe it too.
I’m currently in therapy to eliminate the allergic reaction we have to each other," I briefly explain what Blue discovered.
Storm listens, nods, and says, "I still see it between you two, you know. Your auras share the same color, perfectly aligned, like two halves of one soul. There’s no doubt you’re meant for each other. So I’m rooting for that therapy."
I bow my head and breathe out, feeling something inside me soften and finally loosen. Yes, I needed this. I needed confirmation that what Blue said is not just wishful thinking. I needed someone else to see it, to affirm it, to convince me that my instincts aren’t completely off.
For the first time in a long while, since the day I said goodbye to Bay in high school, just before he went on that last tour—the belief returns.
Back then, I waited to sense the grapefruit scent of my True Mate, and it never came, breaking my heart.
Now I have faith again. The certainty rushes back with force, igniting everything inside me.
Bay and I share a path. There is only one final stretch left to overcome before we can finally be together again.
◆◆◆
When we’re back in Jared’s car, he suddenly says, "You know… this may take a while, Alex. Storm promised he’ll try to figure out how to find him, but he has never done it this way, without seeing the other mate either in person or in a photograph.
My True Mate is somewhere out there, and he has no idea what method he should use. "
I glance at him. His fingers are tight around the steering wheel and his face is full of stress.
I know what this means for me. Taking in a single dad with a small child is a huge responsibility, but I can’t send him away. Where would he even go?
"Jared, relax. I’m not kicking you out. The room downstairs is free, it’ll be more comfortable for you two, and as far as I’m concerned you can stay as long as you need."
Jared swallows. "Thank you, Alex." I can see him struggling with himself until he finally manages to force the words out. "I treated you really badly, and you always wanted good things for me. You have no idea how much I appreciate your kindness and care. You’re an exceptional person."
I flinch a little at that compliment, because I have done my share of stupid things in the past. But one thing is certain: I know exactly what kind of fate might be waiting for Jared if those people ever get in touch with him again, and I doubt they are the kind who let go of things easily, which is why I want to keep him out of trouble at all costs.
"If there is even the smallest chance that Storm will find your fated mate, then I want you to stay here and wait for him calmly in a place that is safe for Tommy."
"I’ll chip in for all the expenses," he mutters, but I only shrug.
"Everything will work out, Jared, just stay patient and keep your hopes up."
◆◆◆
The first week passes as we try to adjust to everything.
The very next day we put up a small wooden gate at the stairs so Tommy won’t wander upstairs, and of course Jared has no idea that the downstairs room once served as the scene of a murder, but I don’t have spare rooms to offer him anything else.
There are two rooms upstairs, but one is incredibly small and the other is mine, so we have to make do with what we have.
Jared makes one trip to his old home and brings back more clothes and things that belong to Tommy, but he does it with a trace of fear, because he knows the house is no longer a safe place.
Tommy is generally a well-behaved child, he doesn’t cause trouble, and he has always been close to Jared, who is a good and caring dad and has given him a sense of safety even when his father was not present.
He adjusts easily now because the most important person in his world, Jared, is still right here with him.
It helps as well that barely a month ago they both stayed with me for some time, so this house does not feel entirely foreign to Tommy.
In the next week I again decide to take a higher dose of Compatron, but once more Bay sends Winter, saying he has important obligations, a big interview and he absolutely can’t get out of.
I start to suspect he might simply be avoiding me, but I do not give up. Another week passes, I take a larger dose again and feel even worse, and this time Winter can’t come, so Bay sends Skye, his younger brother!
Damn.
It is very discouraging and I finally conclude that Bay is simply keeping his distance.
I feel so awful about it that I decide I will not call him the following week.
I tell myself I will ask Jared to come get me with Tommy.
Before, I wanted to avoid that, because it means taking the child out of the house during his afternoon nap, but I feel I have no choice.
I do not text Bay either, and yet this time he surprises me.
When I am already in the middle of the test I get a message from him.
"Hey Alex, I’m sorry I kept sending my brothers recently, but I really couldn’t come, I already had commitments. This time I can come though. Do you need help?"
I admit I am stunned reading that text. My first instinct is to refuse, but I have not been with him for nine years.
Is it fair to expect that nothing has changed?
Maybe his life really is so busy that his schedule is packed.
He’s a star after all. Either way I text Jared to let him know he should not wake Tommy unnecessarily because I will have a ride.
I wait for Bay’s arrival in nervous anticipation. Before I didn’t think he would actually come, so I dressed comfortably with no makeup at all, and after the test I must look even worse, like a wobbly, exhausted zombie.
So when Bay walks into the room the nurse actually gapes at the sight of such a handsome, tall, beautifully dressed alpha arriving for a pale, pathetic, washed-out thing like me curled up on the cot with messy hair.
Next to him I feel tiny and sick and ugly, shrinking even more, staring at his flawless face.
But I would be wrong to assume his reaction will be negative in any way, because when he sees me balled up and deathly pale, something flickers across his face, something that looks very much like guilt and deep concern.
"My goodness, Alex, I didn’t know you were suffering this much, that this whole process was that hard," he whispers as he comes closer, sitting down on the chair and leaning toward me. My heart clenches because I see warmth and genuine care in his eyes instead of disgust or rejection.
Then I notice the thick black knitted gloves on his hands and I immediately understand why he wears them, to prevent direct skin contact between us.
Though I must admit, the sight of those gloves kinda makes me zone out.
Slowly he extends his hand and I immediately reach out with mine. I grip him tightly, my heart trembling. That moment feels strangely significant, the first time in so many years that I hold his hand like this.
I see him lean slightly forward, his eyes dropping to our intertwined fingers, and I watch the moment he looks at them, his breath catching for a second before he clears his throat and straightens, speaking in a surprisingly calm tone.
"Let’s get going, Alex, traffic is getting worse."