Chapter 5

Five

Chloe

O pening my eyes, my heart immediately starts pounding in my chest when I look around and see that the sun is shining through the window, and I'm still in Nick's room. Nick's arm lays across my hip as he breathes heavily in his sleep. Closing my eyes, I cover my face with my hands and shake my head. Oh, God. This is bad. How did I allow this to happen? I need to get out of here before his parents wake up, preferably before he wakes up. Oh, God…my parents. It'll be nearly impossible to sneak in before they get up because my dad wakes up at the crack of dawn to shift and run on a daily basis.

Pulling my hands down from my face, I look at the clock on the wall, and my eyes fly open wide when I see that it's already eight o'clock. I gasp and shoot up to a sitting position. "Oh, my God."

Nick immediately stirs and sits up behind me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Chloe, it's okay."

"It's not okay. It's freaking eight o'clock. I need to get out of here," I say, trying to stand from the bed, but I'm stopped as Nick's arm wraps around me from behind .

He pulls me back into his chest and says into my ear, "It's okay. My parents stayed in Denver last night."

"What about my parents? They're probably worried sick," I say, struggling against him.

His hold on me strengthens, and he says into my ear again, "It's fine. I covered for you."

I really wish he'd stop saying things into my ear because I feel myself getting wet at the mere sound of his voice, but then I still at what he just said. "What do you mean you covered for me?"

"I got into your phone and texted your parents to tell them you were spending the night with Mia. Don't worry, they thought it was you texting them."

"You what?"

"It's okay. I texted Mia too. All the bases were covered."

Anger bubbles to the surface, and I turn to face him. "You got into my phone?"

"Yeah. We'll set up a password for you today. Anybody could get in there, Chloe," he says, kissing my shoulder.

"Obviously," I say, yanking my shoulder away from him. "And don't kiss me. We won't be doing anything. It's my phone. Why would you get into my phone? That's a violation of my privacy."

"I didn't look at anything else," he says with a shrug as if it's no big deal. "Why are you getting so upset? I took care of things for you."

"You didn't have a right to do that. Just like you didn't have a right to tell my parents we're mates yesterday."

"Chloe—"

I stand and face him. "No, Nick. You should have woken me up last night." I'm suddenly aware that we're both very naked. I have to avert my eyes when I see his erection growing as his eyes roam my body, so I grab my clothes and start getting dressed.

"I didn't want you to leave," he says as he gets out of bed and pulls on his boxer briefs.

I'm instantly hit with the memory of him leaving me alone in that bed during prom. "You mean like you did? "

He sighs and shakes his head. "How long are you going to throw that in my face? I thought we moved past that last night, Chloe. I know you remember everything we said to each other…the things you said to me."

"I was sucked into the moment," I say, looking down at the floor. "I didn't know what I was saying."

"Bullshit. We both told the fucking truth last night," he says, closing in on me.

"Last night was a mistake, Nick."

His face tenses. "Last night was not a fucking mistake, and you know it."

"I have to go," I say, going to the door to leave.

"Damn it, Chloe," Nick says as he puts his hand on the door to keep me from opening it. "I don't know why you're fighting this. In just a couple of days, you're going to feel everything. Why not let yourself feel it now? Just fucking choose to be happy with me."

"I don't want to choose to be happy with you. All I want right now is for you to let me out of this room so I can go home."

He sighs and shakes his head, while still keeping his hand on the door. "I'll take you home. You don't have your car."

"It's not far. I'd rather walk."

"You'd rather walk than spend five minutes in the car with me?"

"Right now, yes."

He gently takes my chin in his hand and turns my face so that I have to look at him. "If you're going to reject me, at least have the fucking decency to look me in the eye."

Tears form in my own eyes as I look into the torment of his sapphire eyes. "I'm not rejecting you, I'm just…God, Nick, I don't know. I just need some space."

"I wish you would have thought about that last night before you told me you love me and slept with me."

And just like that, I'm angry all over again. "Oh, please. Don't even with that bullshit. You practically pulled the words out of me."

"I only pulled out the truth."

"And it wouldn't be the first time that sleeping with you ended up being a poor decision."

His jaw clenches and he backs away from the door with a shrug. "Fine. You want to go? Go."

"Fine, I will," I say, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.

"Fine," he says.

"Good."

"Yeah, good," he says, and then he slams the bedroom door in my face. My mouth drops open and shuts immediately as I feel the tears coming to the surface and then trickling down my cheeks. I cry as quietly as I can as I run down the stairs and out the front door, where I finally lose it in one aching sob. I get a text from my mom as I'm walking down Nick's driveway telling me that she and my dad are heading to Boulder for the day. Thank God. I don't have the energy to deal with anyone right now.

I make it home in about half the time that I usually would. It turns out I walk incredibly fast when I'm pissed off. As soon as I get in the house, I run up the stairs and go straight to my room where I fall face first onto my bed and sob into my pillow until there's nothing left. I'm so thankful that I have the afternoon all to myself to sulk. I'm able to shower and grab something to eat before my parents get home, retreating back to my bedroom. When they come up to check on me, they accept my lie that it was a really late night with Mia, and I just want to relax and go to bed early. Mia texts me, but I don't even feel like talking to her. I tell her I'm tired and that I'll call her tomorrow.

All I can do is lie on my bed and think about him. Damn him for doing this to me. I was doing just fine with all of my feelings for him buried deep beneath the surface. I hate him for making me love him again. I hate it that all I want to do right now is go to him. I hate it that I want to tell him that I forgive him and choose to be happy with him. I hate it that what he did to me that night still hurts my heart so damn much. I know that in a matter of days, I'm going to feel who he is to me. He's going to be my mate. I'll likely forgive him for everything because I won't be able to resist the pull to him, and that just pisses me off so damn much.

For now, I'm going to turn off my lights and cry until I finally fall asleep and leave this miserable day behind me.

Nick

Sinking down on the couch across from Ethan in his living room, I shake my head and let out a heavy sigh.

"What's going on?" he asks. "Did something happen with Chloe last night?"

"Everything happened with Chloe last night."

Ethan's eyes widen. "Did you guys fuck?"

"Yep, and I thought things were finally okay. She admitted that she still fucking loves me."

Ethan scrunches up his face. "Well, that's good. Isn't it?"

"Oh, it was all fucking good until she back pedaled on everything and walked out on me this morning."

"Shit, man. I'm sorry."

"She did at least say she's not rejecting me, but she wants me to give her space. What if she changes her mind about that too? What if she fucking rejects me?"

Ethan shakes his head. "Uh, uh. She won't do that. She told you she loves you. From what I've heard, she won't be able to continue fighting it once the mate bond kicks in."

"I hope you're right."

"So, is it true what they say? Do you feel this consuming need to be around her and protect her now that you've fucked her after finding out she's your mate?"

"What do you think?" I say, shaking my head. "I'm having to fight like hell not to go over to her house. Part of me wants to beg her to forgive me, and the other part of me wants to demand that she get down on her knees to show me how sorry she is for running out on me this morning."

Ethan busts out laughing. "Yeah, man. Good luck with that one."

Raising my eyebrows, I nod. "Yeah, I know."

Seeing Alpha Sullivan enter the living room, I stand up and straighten my posture. "Hello, Alpha Sullivan."

"Hello, Nick," he says with a warm smile. "Have a seat."

"Thank you, Alpha," I say, taking my seat again.

"How are things going with Chloe?" Alpha Sullivan asks.

"To shit," Ethan says with a smirk.

I shoot Ethan a glare and respond, "Not well at all, Alpha."

"That's actually not totally true," Ethan says. "She told Nick she loves him."

Alpha Sullivan sits down next to Ethan. "Well, that sounds like it's going quite well."

"Well, she told me that yesterday, but then this morning she basically changed her mind and said it was a mistake."

"Ah, I see," Alpha Sullivan says. "You know, it's actually not unusual for one mate to fight the truth for one reason or another. We aren't usually so lucky to find our mate under perfect circumstances. You remember what I told you, though. You never give up, Nick."

"What if she doesn't want me, Alpha?"

"I've never heard of a mate telling someone they love them one day, and then formally rejecting them days later. She's making you work for it, and while I don't know the circumstances, something tells me that maybe you did something to deserve the extra work," he says raising his eyebrows. "Show her she's worth it. Show her that you'll do anything to make her yours."