Chapter Twenty-Three Calum

“I … I don’t know what to say,” Erick muttered as the doors closed and the elevator began to move.

I just stepped closer to him, my head pressed against his shoulder. What was there to say? We’d walked into the hotel lobby to find Sam kissing another man, one we’d never seen before. Sam said he was a new tenant, but was that the truth? I’d never thought to distrust him before, but now I was wondering if that had been a foolish choice on my part. Was Sam the guy I thought he was, or did he lead some sort of double life? Or maybe it was our fault.

“Do… Do you think we did something wrong?” I asked as the elevator doors opened once more on the second floor. “Did we mess it up?”

“I don’t know,” Erick replied, shaking his head. “I knew there was a new rogue coming to the hotel this week, but I didn’t expect…” He trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. “I just don’t know.”

I’d lost my appetite by the time we got back to our room. And judging by the fact that Erick put the box down and immediately flopped onto the bed, he wasn’t thinking about food anymore either. I went over to the bed and laid down beside him, knowing he was feeling just as bad as I was. However, I did reach down and lace my fingers through his, giving his hand a squeeze. He glanced over at me, a sad smile on his face telling me he appreciated the support. I knew it wouldn’t fix anything, but I wanted him to know I was there for him no matter what.

For a long time we just laid there, both of us staring at the ceiling. I found myself trying to come up with any excuse to let Sam off the hook, anything to stop myself from feeling so awful. I didn’t want to believe that Sam was hurting us on purpose. He didn’t seem the type to do such a thing. But at the same time, I’d seen him kissing another man. I couldn’t force myself into thinking he’d done it on purpose. So, instead, I decided to blame myself and try to figure out how I’d managed to push him away in the first place.

However, no matter how much I tried to blame myself, it didn’t make me feel any better. Eventually I could stand the silence no longer.

“So… who do you think that guy was?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Erick signed. “But obviously they know each other. Did you see the way he was looking at Sam? There was history there.”

“I guess so. Have you seen him before?”

“No. He’s not one of the tenants.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been working the front desk, remember?” he snapped. “And he wasn’t at that poker tournament.”

I turned my head away, the bite in Erick’s words going straight to my heart. “S-Sorry.”

“No…” Erick sighed again, shaking his head. He reached over and grabbed my cheek, forcing me to look at him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. You didn’t deserve that. I’m just… I’m scared.”

“Me too. I don’t know what’s going to happen now.”

“I don’t either.”

“Do you think it could be innocent?” I offered with a hopeful foolishness. “Like maybe it was an accident or a misunderstanding?”

“I don’t know how you can accidentally end up with your lips on someone else’s. Maybe if they had fallen on the floor or something and bumped heads, it might be plausible. But they were just standing there! That guy had his hands on Sam’s face and… and…” Erick let out a frustrated cry, grabbing one of the pillows and chucking it across the room. “Fuck! I just want to punch that guy in his stupid fucking face! Nobody should touch Sam except us!”

I felt the same possessive urge in my gut as well, but I was too sad to act out on it like Erick had. Still, I squeezed his hand again, letting him know I was at his side.

“Sorry,” Erick muttered again, his voice trembling. “I’m just really angry.”

“I… I think we should have a plan,” I said at last, hating the words on my lips. “Because if Sam comes back and says we’re through–”

“He can’t do that!” Erick cried. “He can’t! Not after we just mated with him!”

“But what if he does?”

Erick’s expression went from fury to crushing sadness in a matter of seconds. His brows furrowed and his chin wobbled. Tears were already forming at the corners of his eyes as he looked away.

“Then we pack,” he said at last. “And we get the hell out of here.”

“You want to leave?”

He spun back toward me, his eyes red. “No, I don’t want to leave! I want Sam! I want him here in our bed, kissing us and not some fucking stranger downstairs!”

Tears streamed down his face as he spoke, his emotions overwhelming him all at once. I reached out, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck and pulling him tight against me. He resisted for a moment before he gave in with a sob, his body trembling against my own.

“We’re gonna be okay,” I said, trying to calm him down.

It was moments like these when Erick needed me the most. Erick was typically the stable one. But when it came to matters of the heart, his emotions were quick to consume him. He felt things so keenly. I did too of course, but I was better at bottling them up until he was feeling better. Then I’d lose my shit. It probably wasn’t healthy, but it was the coping mechanism I’d developed after a lifetime of keeping my true self secret. At least it came in handy now and then.

“Maybe we should start now,” I offered once Erick had calmed down a bit. “I want to be hopeful and say everything we just saw wasn’t real. That it didn’t mean anything to Sam.” I felt a lump rising in my throat as I tried not to cry. “But the way that man was touching him… it seemed… familiar .” I paused, a terrifying thought racing through my brain like wildfire. “You don’t think that guy could be his old mate, do you?”

Erick choked, gripping me tighter. He buried his face in my chest, the tears flowing once more.

“Yeah,” I muttered, running my fingers through his hair. “I wish I hadn’t thought of it either.”

It was a horrible thought, but it lent some light to the situation. The wolf in the lobby definitely knew Sam on a personal level. Random strangers don’t just kiss people like that. I tried to convince myself that Sam was resisting him. After all, when Sam spoke about his past, it was never in a good light. But then again, stranger things had happened. Old flames could be reignited. And Sam even mentioned that he’d been mated before. If that was his original mate downstairs, I had a feeling that he wouldn’t be coming back to us. Why would he? The love of your life only came around once, right? That’s what all werewolves believed. Fated mates was a once in a lifetime chance.

So how could he ever want us when he already had a mate?

I wished and wished with all my heart that it wasn’t true, that I was just spinning a story that couldn’t possibly exist. However, the more I tried to wish it away, the more I found it sticking to the inside of my skull, unwilling to leave my brain for even a moment.

Maybe it was better that we started packing. The more I thought about it, the more likely it was that Erick and I would need to be on our way. I didn’t think Sam would kick us out, but living in Shifter Grove and having to see his face every day after all this was a torture no one deserved. It was best that we just left.

“Come on,” I said, coaxing Erick up off my chest. “I’ll grab our bags.”

“Where will we go?” Erick asked, his cheeks stained with tears. He wiped them clean angrily with his hoodie sleeve. “We can’t go anywhere near home.”

“I don’t know, baby,” I said honestly, the words choking me up. “I just don’t know…”