Chapter 5
Kaiser lay in his bed, scrolling on his phone. When his phone rang it made him jump, and that wasn’t like him at all. Irritated that he was obviously on edge, he swiped the screen to answer the phone without even looking at who the caller was. “What?” he said gruffly.
“Yeah, sounds like getting away is doing you a lot of good,” Cristie said.
Kaiser started chuckling.
“How are you? You miss me yet?” she teased.
“Always. How are you, Mrs. Almost GreyStorm?”
“Almost GreyStorm?” she asked.
“Yep, almost, as in I’m mated but not married, so almost.”
“Mated is more than married, and I’ll do it when I’m ready, thank you very much.”
“I’m sure you will. But remember mating doesn’t carry over into the legality of things. Make that shit legal.”
“Yes, sir!” she said, then she grinned to herself. “You can’t see it, but I’m saluting you right now.”
“No, you’re not. You’re lying on your back, either in your bed or on your sofa with one leg up with the ankle crossed over the opposite knee as you stare at the ceiling.”
Cristie quickly dropped the leg that had been propped up at the ankle against the opposite knee. “No, I am not.”
“Yes, you were, too!” Remi said from right beside her.
“Is that Remi? Tell my friend I said hi,” Kaiser said.
“How about telling me you said hi. I’m supposed to be the bestie,” Cristie said.
“You are. The bestie girl. Remi’s the bestie guy.”
“Yeah, yeah. And here all this time I thought you cared.”
“I do. And by the way, sorry I missed your party. I just couldn’t stick around for it. Had to get back to Atlanta.”
“Yeah, about that. Why’d you sneak off in the middle of the night.”
“Just time to go.”
“Oh, okay. I don’t suppose it’d have anything to do with a certain female. Maybe one whose name starts with a K, and ends in an E E G A N?”
“What? Why would you think that? She’s just a kid!”
“Which is why you ran screaming for the hills.”
“I didn’t run screaming. I left in a well thought out plan. And it had nothing to do with anybody but me.”
“Hah! Yeah, nice try. I know exactly what she is to you, and what you are to her.”
“Whose lies you been listening to now, Cristie?” Kaiser asked as he rubbed his eyes with one hand and held the phone with the other.
“I haven’t heard any lies, my friend. The acknowledgment came direct from Keegan herself.”
Kaiser stopped rubbing his eyes and sat up. “Keegan said we’re mates?”
“She said a lot of things, but yeah, that was part of what she said.”
Silence buzzed on the line while Kaiser thought about the fact that Keegan knew he was her mate. Finally he asked the only question that had an answer that actually mattered to him. “Is she okay?”
Cristie smiled softly to herself. Even now, with knowing Keegan was aware of their connection, he only wanted to know if she was okay. “Yes, she’s alright. She was very upset at first, but after we talked, she was better. Smiling even.”
“Will you tell me?” he asked.
“That’s why I’m calling. Remi saw us coming out of my house and it was obvious that Keegan had been crying, so he asked what was up.
We negotiated a bit, and after he figured out I already knew what he was trying to keep to himself to protect you, he broke down and told me why you left.
I told him what Keegan said, and we decided that I should call you and let you know. ”
“Okay.”
“So, basically, she was torn up over the fact that you left. Thought she’d never have a mate now because her only one didn’t want her because she was so young.”
“That’s not it at all!” Kaiser almost shouted.
“I know. And I’ll let her know, if you don’t want to do it yourself.
But anyway, she had concerns about accepting a mating before she even graduates, not being able to live, figure out what she wants rather than just being somebody’s little wife holding things down at home while they go out and be the man. ”
“She said that?” he asked, his voice sounding a little confused.
“She said the meaning. I added a little to make the point. Back to that point… she had, and I’m sure still has, very conflicting feelings about it, not the least of which is her feeling slighted because you left in the middle of the night without so much as a word to her about any of it.
Then she was worried about her future and not being able to explore her own opportunities, and then worried again about not having a mate at all since you obviously didn’t want her.
I assured her that not only did I believe that you did in fact want her, but that if she didn’t want you, she didn’t have to have you.
Doesn’t want you, doesn’t have to claim you.
There is not one singular person that you can build a life with.
My parents as case in point number one. My grandparents as case in point number two.
The mate bond snapping into place doesn’t mean you have no choice in the matter.
If you want it, more power to you and good for you.
You don’t want it, go about your business and eventually, you and whoever the bond was with, will both find other options.
Your life trajectory is your choice no matter who is or isn’t placed within your path. ”
“You’re kidding.”
“Huh? About what?”
“You actually told her to disregard me totally and go do whatever she wants because what we feel doesn’t have any bearing on her future so I don’t matter?”
“No! I told her that the bond isn’t an unbreakable sentence for the rest of your life.
And coupled with what her father already told her when he found her crying in bed after she felt you leave, I’m pretty sure it’s all okay.
When we were finished talking, she was even laughing.
And she’d been basically catatonic before hand. ”
“Lucas talked to her about me?”
“He did. Kind of.”
“What did he say to her?”
“That sometimes mates are pulled in different directions, but that if they are meant to be together they’d eventually find their way back.”
“That’s it?! That’s all he said?!” Kaiser demanded.
“Yeah, Lucas is a great guy, but not so good at soothing teenage girls’ broken hearts hence the generic, what will be will be.”
“She has a broken heart? I broke her heart?” Kaiser asked, his voice conveying that he was almost afraid to hear her answer.
“Maybe a little crack at first. But she’s much better now.”
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell her about coming to see me. It would have taken care of everything.”
“Who, Lucas? He went to see you?” Cristie asked.
“Yeah. When I walked outside to leave my parents’ house at 3:30 in the morning, he was leaning on my car.
I thought he came to kick my ass, which I’d have let him do because I can’t fight my mate’s father before we’re even mated, but I was wrong.
He’d overheard me and Remi talking and came to make sure that I came back.
He thanked me for giving Keegan time to grow up and find her way without having to deal with me lingering around, and said he respects my choice to take the separation all on myself.
At the time we didn’t know she knew. I had no idea it would cause her pain.
I thought I was doing the right thing to give her space and time. ”
“You are doing the right thing. But she’s a little nervous, too, about the fact that you left. I think I made it better, but I don’t know. Sometimes when you’re alone your inner voice can create all kinds of doubts that have been dispelled in the light of day.”
“Don’t I know it,” he said.
“You want me to call her?”
“No! I think you’ve talked to her enough,” Kaiser snapped.
“Hey! Based on the fact that I was flying blind here, and had no information from you, or my mate who is not supposed to keep anything from me, I did a hell of a job convincing her that being your mate wasn’t a bad thing and could be taken as she pleased or not.”
“Yeah, still. Don’t. I’ll figure something out.”
“You sure?”
“I’m very sure.”
“And what do I tell her if she comes back to talk to me again. I made it clear that she can. It’s my job to make sure that my people are okay.”
“I know. And I’m thankful that you were able to make her feel better. But if she comes back, maybe just listen to her. And now that you know why I actually left, you can reaffirm what she’s about to hear from me.”
“You think that’s a good idea?”
“It’s got to be better than her having no idea why I left. At least she won’t think I’m denying her. But I think I’ll call Lucas first.”
“You know I love you. We both do. You know we want you happy.”
“I do. And ditto.”
“I really hope the two of you can figure out a way to make this happen in the best way possible for the both of you.”
“I can deal with anything I have to, as long as I can make it easier on Keegan,” Kaiser said.
“And having said that, please don’t make this common knowledge.
If she wants to, that’s up to her and I don’t care what she says to anybody.
But until she does, I don’t want her to have to deal with everybody else bringing it up to her. ”
“Understood.”
“I’m going to call Lucas now.”
“Good luck with that,” Cristie said.
“I think it will be alright. I’m going through him, not around him.”
“Talk to you soon.”
“Yep!” Kaiser said, then ended the call.
~~~
Lucas glanced over at his phone ringing, as he was laughing at a comedy special he watching on TV.
His smile immediately fell when he saw the caller’s name on the screen.
He grabbed his phone. “I gotta take this,” he said as he headed outside onto the porch.
“Hello,” he said quickly before the ringing stopped.
“Lucas? It’s Kaiser.”
“Hey, yeah, I saw your name come up. Everything alright?”
“I don’t know. I got a call from Cristie. She said that Keegan was very upset over the fact that I left and didn’t tell her I was leaving and she thought she’d never have a mate now because I rejected her because she’s young.”
Lucas sighed. “It makes sense now.”
“What does?”
“Her being as distant and upset as she’s been. At one point she was curled up in her bed, fully dressed, sobbing.”