Chapter 5

Ash

What have I done?

I've been thinking that same thought since I woke up half an hour ago with Tessa curled up in my arms. My polar bear stretches and grumbles inside of me. He can't understand why I'm worrying right now. To him, we finally have our fated mate, and everything is good.

Go back to sleep,he tells me. Or better yet, wake our mate up by burying your face between her legs.

His idea sounds good, but I need to wrap my head around the fact that I have a mate now. It's something I had promised myself I would never do. I mean, I saw what my mom leaving did to my dad, and I vowed to never be like him. I never wanted to give someone else the power to destroy me.

Now, I've done just that, though, and I need to come up with a plan.

How am I going to make sure that Tessa never leaves me?

Relax,my polar bear tells me. Everything is great. Just try to enjoy it.

What if she changes her mind and leaves us?I ask him, and he snarls at me.

She won't. Don't mess this up.

I sigh and tense when Tessa starts to stir against me. She stretches, and my body reacts to her curves pressing against me even more.

She's so perfect. I just need to make sure that she's all in with me.

She turns over and gives me a sleepy smile.

"Morning," she says, and I force a smile to my lips.

"Morning. We should get going soon. Our flight leaves in a little over three hours."

"Ughh," she groans as she looks at the alarm clock. "Okay, I'm just going to take a quick shower."

I nod and watch as she climbs from the bed and hurries into the bathroom. It helps that she's acting like nothing has changed between us. Her not bringing up last night means I have more time to wrap my head around the fact that I have a mate now.

I climb out of bed and start to pack up our things. When Tessa comes out of the bathroom, I hurry in and take a quick shower before I pack up my toiletries and head back out to the room.

"Ready to go?" I ask her as I zip up my suitcase, and she nods, tying her hair up into a messy bun.

"Want to grab breakfast on the way?" She asks me as we head out of the room.

"We probably have time to hit a drive thru," I say, and she nods.

We walk out to the rental car in silence, and I can tell the moment Tessa realizes something might be wrong.

"Did you sleep well?" She asks as we climb into the car and hit the road.

"Yeah. You?"

"Uh-huh," she says.

We pass by a McDonald's, and I pull in and join the line for the drive-thru.

"Do you know what you want to eat?" I ask, and she shifts in her seat.

"I'll have the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. Oh, and a hashbrown."

I nod and move up in line to order. We're silent as we wait to pay for our food and then pull up to the next window.

"Thanks for breakfast," Tessa says as we unwrap our food and start to eat.

I just nod as we get on the highway and head towards the airport. I can feel the tension between us growing with each mile that passes.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asks as we pull into the lot to return the rental car.

"Yeah."

I can tell that she doesn't believe me. I head inside and return the rental car while Tessa waits outside with our bags. The bus to the airport pulls up as I walk out, and I'm thankful for the timing.

I grab our bags, and Tessa gives me a forced smile as she climbs onto the bus ahead of me. We spend the next hour in silence as we get to the airport and make it through the TSA line. We find our gate right as boarding starts, and I follow Tessa back to our seats.

"What's going on, Ash?" She asks as we buckle up.

People are still boarding, and I glance around before looking back at her.

"What do you mean?" I ask, deciding to play dumb.

She frowns, narrowing her eyes at me slightly.

"I mean, why are you being weird? You're like ignoring me and being all distant. I thought that after last night—" she cuts off, looking around the plane before she lowers her voice. "I thought that after last night when you bit me, that you would be… different."

"I…"

I don't know what to say.

"I have so many questions," she goes on. "When did you know that I was your fated mate?" She whispers.

"When you got to town."

Hurt flashes across her features, and my gut twists in discomfort.

"Why didn't you claim me when we first met then? Why did you wait so long? Why claim me now?" She rambles.

I swallow hard. How am I going to explain this? It's not like I can talk about shifters out in public like this.

"I think that we should talk about this later," I whisper as someone sits down in the seat next to me.

She frowns, but her eyes flash to the girl next to me, and she nods.

My polar bear is still pacing inside me, and I can feel how nervous he is about this conversation.

I have a feeling that when I explain myself, it's not going to make things better between us. I just hope Tessa will forgive me and that we can carry on together as mates.

Deep down though, I know that's not what's really going to happen.