Chapter 23 #2
Shaking my head, I let him leave and return my attention to my Omega.
“I miss you,” she admits. “All of you. I… forgot how hard it is to be away from my mates after bonding.”
Flipping onto my back, I tuck one arm behind my head and shift up onto her pillows, propping myself up so that we can see each other better.
“You’ll be home soon. We all know how much it means to Emmett and his family that you were there when they needed you.”
Her eyes flicker over my face, bottom teeth digging into her lip. My fingers twitch with the urge to reach out and pull it free.
“Are you okay? Bell told me about your rut earlier. If you need me…”
“Then I will drive there. Don’t worry about me. The rut…” I swallow thickly, mouth watering at the memory of my insane desire to claim Bellamy.
Skye tilts her head, and I’m brought back to all the years we spent sitting across from each other in the cafeteria.
All the secrets we shared. Never once has she judged me.
Not even when I let my mother frost the tips of my hair like a pre-designation boy band member. I can talk to her about anything.
Including my interest in one of her Beta mates.
“I think I’m bi.”
Her eyebrows jump, soft lips parting in shock.
“Well, not bi, but something. I’m…”
“Attracted to a specific person?”
Bobbing my head, I briefly remember I had the same reaction to Sterling at their show as I do around Bellamy, but I brush the thought off. One attraction at a time is the only way I can face this without overwhelming myself.
“Yeah. That.”
The uncontrollable tinge of fear evaporates when my Omega melts, her hands clasped together beneath her chin and hearts in her eyes.
“Oh, Caleb. Thank you for sharing with me. I want you to know that I will love and support you regardless of whether you choose to pursue this attraction. Do you feel comfortable sharing more with me? Like who it is and what you like about them?”
This woman. She wrecks me. Her openness always has.
Despite being raised in a strict religious household with extreme bias against the designations and queer relationships, my girl managed to grow up with a heart big enough to accept anyone, so long as they aren’t harming others.
We’re so damn blessed to call her ours.
“B-Bellamy.” Saying it out loud has a flush crawling up my cheeks. It makes it real. Or more real than keeping the thoughts on lockdown in my mind.
Skye’s squeal hurts my ears, and I can’t help but laugh as she slaps her hands to her cheeks. “Of course it is. That brat wins hearts left and right.”
Her giggle is a sound I can never get enough of. Making her happy makes me feel like I’m not as shitty an Alpha as I believe.
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, so I’m pretty sure the interest is mutual. He’ll love having another Alpha to knot him whenever he demands.”
Fuuuuuck, now I’m hard again.
Grabbing the glass of water from the bedside table, I quickly take the next rut blocker. Admitting I want to see where things go with Bellamy is a hell of a lot different from letting myself fall into a rut and mauling the man.
“When I woke up today, I felt the side effects of our bond sickness. Hard. It was riding me when I went to leave your room, and he was there. Wearing those ridiculous gray sweatpants.“
Skye groans her agreement, because, yeah, they’re a beautiful sight when they’re wrapped around his lean frame.
“My instincts were already riotous, and then I caught his scent and it’s like they snapped into alignment. All I could think about was biting him. Making him mine.”
“He could be yours. Bell is a pretty chill guy, so recognizing his emotions through a Fated connection is difficult. The only extreme emotion he’s felt since we moved to New York was lust-”
“And that is something I would have assumed was coming from you,” I finish.
Holy hell, I hadn’t considered that he could be my Fate matched mate too. That would definitely explain the pull I feel to claim him.
Wait, he might not have felt stronger emotions, but I have.
“Wouldn’t he have mentioned feeling me through the connection?”
Her head shakes, hair falling from the bun it’s pulled into.
She huffs, untangling the tie to pull it back up.
“We just found out we share a Fated connection, something we had written off years ago. And you’ve been adjusting to joining a new pack.
Leaving your band. That’s a lot to process.
I bet my silly Beta didn’t want to put more on your shoulders. ”
She’s quiet for a moment before she laughs. “Or he just didn’t stop to consider where the emotions were coming from and decided you were his from the start. That’s a totally Bellamy thing to do.”
I chuckle with her, wiping a hand over my face as I stare up at her ceiling. This is a lot. My whole life has been upended and rewritten over the past few weeks. I should slow down, let myself find my gravity before I dive into anything else, but the sense of urgency is hard to ignore.
I wasted eight years away from Skye on a maybe. I don’t want to make the same mistake with Bellamy.
Sliding my hands away from my face, I flip the phone back up to find her smiling knowingly.
“So, if I were to ask him on a date, where should I take him?”