Chapter Seven
Nate’s phone dinged with a message on the chopping block where he’d left it on accident. Shit. He needed it in his pocket so he didn’t have to get off this roof unless he had to.
It was probably Nory giving him an update on where they were.
She’d been trying to stall and keep Delta in town as long as possible.
The more he got to know Nory, the more he was glad Liam had brought her into this Pack.
Did he love that she was human? No. Did he love that her pairing with Liam had dissolved their pack and taken their homes away from them?
Absolutely not. But he did appreciate that she’d bought this land and was trying to make up for the losses they’d suffered. Sure.
He wouldn’t have done as much. He knew that about himself now. He’d been in his head about all of his downfalls for the last day, and it wasn’t going to ease up anytime soon.
He secured the tarp over the plywood and hopped easily off the framed-out roof. He would shingle it the next time Delta was out.
His boots crunched in the snow as he pulled his gloves off and made his way to the phone. There were a few messages.
Bridger texting, It’s all going to be okay, like he was some kind of fuckin’ future-teller. Nate responded with a middle finger emoji. Next was a text from Nory. Heading back. Twenty minutes out.
Crap.
Nate shoved his tools under the tarp he’d secured beside the house with stacks of firewood he’d chopped for Delta.
It was ten below zero, but he was overheated with the rush to get as much done as he could. Lunch with Bridger had jammed up his pace a bit.
He pulled the headphones off his ears and turned the music off, shoved it with his tools, and then unloaded the heavy shingles from the back of his truck as fast as he could.
He’d gone and picked these up after she’d told Bridger she didn’t need anything from Nate.
Not ever. Fuck, that was going to play on repeat in his head forever.
He could hear it in her voice. I don’t need anything else from you. Not ever.
He shook his head hard to stop the snarl in his throat. He didn’t have time for a Change.
Nate slammed the tailgate closed and jogged to get into his rig. He had everything, right? Keys, check. Cell phone, check. Pride, double-not-fucking-check.
He gritted his teeth as he threw his truck into gear and hit the gas, tires spinning a little on the snow before they caught traction.
He made it all the way to the main road before he got caught.
He spotted Liam’s truck at a distance and muttered a curse to himself. The road was busy, and he couldn’t escape fast enough that they wouldn’t see him.
“Shhhit,” he drawled as Nory pulled in and rolled her window down.
His skin prickled with an urge for a Change as he rolled his window down slowly. “Ladies,” he greeted them.
He had no idea where Liam was, but it was Nory driving his truck.
He looked past Nory and froze when he saw Delta in the passenger seat.
Her hair looked different. It was streaked with blond, but her base color was darker. It made her glowing green eyes look even brighter. God, she was pretty.
“Hey, eyes over here,” Nory said, snapping her fingers.
Nate blinked hard and tried his best to pay attention to the little rude one.
“We are going out tonight, and some of the Pack are meeting us, and I wanted to make sure there won’t be another moment like this afternoon.”
“Okay?”
“Can you stay away from the Yeti tonight?”
He ghosted a glance at Delta. “Is the whole Pack going?”
He’d meant to just say, ‘okay,’ but now questions were coming out of him without his permission.
“Almost all.”
“Everyone but me?” he guessed.
Nory pursed her lips. “It didn’t start like that. Vic heard us talking about going out and invited himself, and then he invited everyone else.”
“Except for me.” Nate didn’t know why he cared, honestly. He nodded and looked at Delta again. She looked so different to him now. The darker streaks in her hair, contrasting with the blond made her eyes impossible to look away from. “You look…”
He closed his eyes tightly and forced himself to look forward.
“Whatever she needs,” he told Nory. And then he rolled up his window and pulled onto the road.
Twice he looked in his rearview, and Liam’s truck was just sitting there.
He wondered what they were talking about.
Probably him and how bad he’d fucked up. It was fair.
Delta was something else, and he hadn’t appreciated her. She was glowing up after he destroyed them, and that was on him. Maybe she’d been quiet and boring because he hadn’t taken good enough care of her.
Fuck this ache in his chest.
He’d seen that guy talking to her earlier while he was eating with Bridger.
It had been easy conversation. His saving grace was that she hadn’t given him her number or anything, but how long would that last?
Delta was gorgeous. Why the fuck he hadn’t seen that before now, he didn’t know.
And what did it say about him that he only noticed her like this after she wasn’t his anymore? Nothing good.
He really was a Donn. His dad and brothers all acted like this too, but that wasn’t an excuse. He’d had a chance to do it better and he’d ruined it.
Fuckin’ typical.
At a light, his phone screen lit up with a message, and his heart dropped to the floor as he read it.
The Arrangement between Nathanial Braxton Donn and Delta Amelie Harrington is officially dissolved on reason of non-consummation and mutual decision to terminate the pairing. All documents can be downloaded here. There was a clickable link in blue.
Chest heaving, heart pounding, Nate dropped the cell phone onto the seat next to him and stared straight ahead of him.
They hadn’t kissed on their pairing day.
He’d tried to be respectful of her submissive, shy personality and not do that in front of her old Pack, but in this moment, he so fuckin’ regretted it.
He’d kept her at that distance for two months, thinking he had the rest of their lives to build up, but they hadn’t built anything. The Pack had fallen apart and so had they.
He should’ve leaned on her, not pushed her away.
They were supposed to be a team, and now…they were nothing at all.
Once an Arrangement was dissolved, it could never be reinstated officially again. They were really done.
A roar took his ears, and he screamed and slammed his palm against the steering wheel over and over until his hand throbbed.
The car behind him at the light honked and he wanted to get out and throttle him.
That wouldn’t help anything though.
He had no one to blame but himself.
He’d really tried to give her back to her ex.
He’d really done that.
The numbness had worn off, and he was able to feel it. He’d talked to her ex and her dad for a week, moving her to the meeting place, and didn’t even tell her.
He had just planned on setting her free, like some wild bear out of captivity, but she wasn’t. She’d chosen him!
She’d chosen him and he’d thrown her away.
And now the Pack was meeting without him, asking him to stay away, pushing him to the outside and he fucking deserved it. He deserved it!
He pulled over into an empty parking lot and wrapped his arms around his middle and rested his forehead against the steering wheel. His skin was burning with the urge to Change, but he couldn’t. “Not here,” he whispered raggedly.
Losing his mind, he picked up his phone and wrote in his diary.
He’d texted Delta a half a dozen times today, and none of his messages went through, so he was the only one who was able to see his thoughts typed in here.
He was blocked and probably always would be, but it was nice to feel like he could message her.
He could put his thoughts out there, directed at her, and even though she would never see them, they felt like a lifeline.
I should’ve kissed you, he typed out. Send.
He tossed the phone to the floor and slammed his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. This felt awful. She was gone. They were no longer paired. She’d filled out the paperwork to dissolve their Arrangement as fast as she possibly could, and had it pushed through.
It felt too easy. It hurt.
There was no getting what they were back and she’ d never even known him. Not really. He’d never settled into his own skin around her, and she hadn’t settled into hers around him.
He was angry that she had dissolved their Arrangement so quickly, but he also understood he deserved it. It was exactly what he had asked for.