Chapter 23

Twenty-Three

CALEB

" W hat time is the meeting with the omega set?" asked the alpha over the phone.

Fuck.

I was so fucking tired of these alphas being so pushy about their potential mates. I didn't get enough time to find a replacement omega for him, but he thought he was getting Jade. The hell he will .

The following day, I was driving to the new house, excited to see Jade again. Of course, we'd talk about business first, then fuck later. My dick twitched in my pants, coming to life as I remembered her incredible ass and thick juicy thighs. I wasn't ready to tell my pack, as I didn't want to share her just yet, but I was sure they could smell her scent on me.

"The omega canceled again," I said hastily. "Don't worry, I'll find you a new one."

"You promised Jade to us," he said, his voice lowering. "Do I detect something fishy going on?"

The truth was that I matched her to them after her little punishment. I was hellbent on getting her matched up, but I regretted it soon after I called Tim's pack. After the phone call, I couldn't shower or do anything normal for days until I saw Jade again.

She was my life now. She was my mate.

"Nothing fishy is happening," I said. "If you don't trust my company, there's no use doing business with me."

"I trust you'll get through to Jade and convince her to meet us," said Tim. "Didn't you say she signed up to be matched too? So why is she canceling?"

"It's tough to snag an omega these days, brother," I said pacifying him for now. "I'll do everything in my power to either get her to reply to me, or I'll match you up with a new omega similar to her in description."

To me, no other omega compared to Jade. None at all.

"Fine, I'll follow up in a few days time," said Tim, hanging up on me.

Asshole . Yeah, he was definitely unhappy.

I parked the car in the driveway, noticing her car was gone. Why would she have gone shopping already without me? I thought she was excited to see me this morning too. Going into the house, I looked around. She left the house clean and tidy. Noticing a piece of paper on the kitchen counter, I picked it up. It was a letter from her.

Dear Caleb,

This may seem random and sudden- but I'm writing to let you know that I no longer wish to work on the house with you. I appreciate you giving me a place to stay during the hardest time of my life. Say goodbye to Dravin, Bruce, and Nick for me. After last night, I realized I want something more serious, not just one-night stands with you anymore.

Anyways good luck in your search for your true mate.

Thank you for the opportunity,

Jade

As I read the letter, my chest tightened with every word.

I crumpled up the letter and threw it in the trash. She wasn't serious, was she ?! Why the fuck would she think it was a one-night stand? I dialed her number into my phone. I needed to talk to her.

What we had last night was as real as could be.

The phone rang and rang. My pulse pounded as I waited for her to pick up.

"Damn it!" I shouted as it went to voice mail. Then, in a calmer tone, "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Jade, but it's enough now. Please come back, and let's talk about this."

Did she not feel the connection we had from the start?

I stomped towards her bedroom and saw that she had taken all her boxes. She wasn't playing around. She was serious. The sight of the bare room made me feel physically sick. I sat on the bed, inhaling the last of her scent in the air. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I looked around. I started replaying everything in my mind and what I'd done to make her leave. Did she want a formal pledge from me? I thought it would scare her if things moved too fast. I wanted her to be my pack's omega, and now she'd completely lost trust in me.

I punched the mattress, completely and utterly upset with myself.

Back at my old house, I was sitting in the living room with my pack- after gathering them for an impromptu meeting.

"What's up, Cal?" asked Dravin, sipping his beer, eyes on the television.

My pack was disgruntled with me ever since I spanked Jade in front of them. Bruce hadn't spoken to me in days, only for business-related things for Enchanted Nests . Nick was being Nick. He was in his own world of trying to expand our business. He threw himself into the work. No one spoke about Jade around me.

They sat around me, Bruce with his arms crossed, staring at me expectantly. Nick looked impatient, ready to run out of the living room and back into his office.

"It's about Jade," I said. Soon as I said her name, Bruce sat up a little straighter, Nick's eyes lit up, and Dravin set his glass of beer down on the coffee table.

"What about her?" asked Nick.

"Well I…"

"Get to the point, Caleb," Bruce grunted. I felt like he had the least patience with me.

"I slept with her yesterday," I admitted, my jaw tensing.

"Did you fuck her? Like sleep, sleep with her?" asked Dravin, his voice a rolling thunder. He would be intimidating to any other pack but not to me.

"I did," I said. I could sense the spirits of the alphas lifting in the room. They were hoping something would come of this. I hated to burst their bubble. "But she left today, leaving a note behind for me. She quit, and she said bye to all of you."

"Wait, that doesn't make sense," said Bruce. He could smell bullshit a mile away. "What did you do, Caleb? The whole truth."

"Nothing at all," I said. "After I took a shower and came back, she seemed a little bit weird to me, and then I came in today and found her gone."

"Did you make any commitment to her? That she would be ours?" asked Bruce, digging deeper.

I exhaled, gripping the sofa's armrest until it ripped.

"I did not."

"There you go," said Nick, shaking his head. "Why did you fucking sleep with her? Were you even serious?"

"I was dead serious," I said. "I was waiting for the right time to bring her back to you guys."

"Whatever, man," said Dravin, getting up, beer in hand.

"Wait," I said. "We need to find out where her parents live. That's the only place she could be staying at now."

"What will you do once you find her?" asked Nick. He was a ‘take-action' sort of alpha.

"I'm going to ask her to be our omega."

"It's not going to be that easy," said Bruce.

" We will go down on our knees if we have to. She's mine," I growled.

"Ours," Dravin corrected.

Bruce pumped his fist into the air, and Nick's serious face cracked into the first smile I'd seen in a while.

"Exactly. And I'll be damned if another pack mates and marks her," I said. "Nick, please work on finding a new omega for the Hawthane Pack. There's no way in hell I'm handing Jade over to them. Bruce and Dravin, we need to find our omega as soon as possible."

"I'll get to work immediately," said Nick, dashing off to his office.

"We'll find her," said Bruce. "And hope to god, she'll want to give us another chance."