Second Chance Mates Box 1

by Rosa Swann

  I hold onto them. “I know. I do know. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen sometimes, you know? I know that you don’t mean for it to happen, but you keeping things from me hurts a little.”

  “Yeah. Probably.” He puts my hand to his lips, looking up at me. “Come back safely.”

  I almost laugh, but then I see the serious look in his eyes. “I will. I’ll be safe.” I’m not exactly sure why he gets so serious about this, but I guess it’s not too bad that he cares. Right?

  When we drive off, I can see Wilder in my rear-view mirror, waving at us until we’re out of sight. He really does care about us, and I’m starting to care more and more for him too, but I really don’t get whats going on in his mind sometimes.

  The market is the same as it always is, people greet me and I need to make chit-chat with everyone. It’s a nice community and they’ve always been here for me when things got rough.

  “Sterling.” An Omega who sometimes works at his parents’ stand comes up to me.

  “Yeah?” I know the young man, but with everything going on, I’ve sadly enough forgotten his name. Which isn’t that odd because I’m sure that he was a lot younger the last time I saw him properly.

  “I’m Aiden. Remember?” He laughs as he stops in front of me, holding out a small bag. “My parents wanted me to give you this. It’s not much, and I know that it won’t take the pain away, but I guess it’s something.”

  “Thank you.” I try to swallow away the lump in my throat. When I open the bag, there are some candles inside and a few small bags of hand-made candy. Aiden’s parents run a sweets and candles stand and they also sell other stuff that they can get from their bees or animals. It’s always a lively stand, as they have a lot of kids and one or more of the older ones regularly help out. I’ve seen them around for years, but I haven’t seen Aiden around that often in the last years. “Thank you so much.” I can feel the tears burn in my eyes.

  Aiden looks at me, an uncomfortable look in his eyes. “Ehm.”

  “What is it?”

  “Can I...” He starts but then stops. “I know this may be rude, but can I help out at the cottage this summer? I know you’ll be really busy, and with Logan gone... I can imagine that you may need some help.”

  “Oh.” I hadn’t even thought about that really, at least not in the practical sense.

  “I’ll be graduating college in a couple of weeks, and I don’t really feel like helping my parents this year. I’m getting a little too old for that, you know? I’d like to have a kind of a job for myself. Something that isn’t with them.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, of course. But if you’re graduating, shouldn’t you be in school now?”

  “I’ve got a couple of days off, I’m taking care of some things here before I go back to college on Monday.” He smiles, then his face falls. “I’m really sorry about what happened. I can’t imagine how hard this all is for you. Losing your mate like that...” He looks away. “I’ll... I’ll let you get back to what you’re doing.”

  “Wait. Aiden.” I grab his arm. “I’m okay with you coming over this summer, but you should really try to find a job and a place of your own, you know.”

  “I know. I’ll find something. But just for this summer... I don’t want to leave just yet.”

  That’s... interesting. “Why not?”

  He shakes his head, making me a little worried.

  “Aiden? Why not?”

  “I don’t think it’s okay to talk about that here...” He looks around.

  Fuck, that doesn’t sound good. “Did something bad happen to you?”

  He shakes his head. “It’s not me. Don’t worry.”

  “One of your siblings?”

  He nods. “I can’t say anything, nobody is supposed to know. But I need to be here this summer, I can’t be away right now, and I need to earn money.”

  “Okay. Sure. It’s okay. Just... Tell me if you need to talk, yeah?” Fuck, that desperate look in his eyes, it makes it hard to even think about why he’d look like that, why he’d be this desperate.

  He nods. “Thanks.” Then he walks off, leaving me behind with a rough feeling in my stomach. I can’t imagine what would make a kid like Aiden look like that... Dammit.

  2. Wilder

  I lean back in the chair, running my hands over my face. I Don’t like the argument I had with Sterling this morning. Like, there just wasn’t really a way we could have done this better, right? I don’t want to get annoyed with him, but I’ve been stressed so much, and there just isn’t enough time in a day to get work done and keep on top of all our legal options... and of course, to try and hide this all from Sterling. I guess all of this now being out in the open is better, but it’s still weird and uncomfortable.

  I check on the website, trying to see what our options are, how I can make sure that they won’t pull my family apart. It’s no longer Logan’s family, it’s my family now. Will or not, Sterling being pregnant means that they’re my family to take care of. But finding articles on twice mated Omegas... not so easy. Also, not very common, pretty rare even. Most of these cases are either of forced mating, something I’ve never really understood why anyone would get involved with that, or where both mates still live at the same time, making it effectively a threesome. In the case of a third partner when the Omega is already mated, usually it’s more a case of the other Alpha allowing the marriage with the new Alpha. But neither of those applies to us. I’m here, but Logan isn’t.

  I stand up and walk around the living room, I’ve taken up one corner of it as my temporary office, just so I have a little space to work at.

  The sound of a car coming up the gravel road makes me look up, makes me look at the door. Sterling’s already back? Really? But then I hear a second car. That can’t be right. I step out of the sight of the windows, making my way to the hallway and carefully looking through the hole in the door.

  Like I suspected, bad news. It’s Sarah’s car and what I suspect is Logan’s parents’ car. Bad news, very bad news. I stay in the shadows and I can hear Sarah try to get her parents not to go into the house.

  “I’m not letting some minor inconvenience destroy this family’s reputation.” Logan’s father walks towards the house and Sarah steps in front of him.

  “You can’t do this. You know that. Please, just... leave them be. There isn’t anything for you to do here.” She pleads with him, but since she’s with her back to the door, I can see her father’s face as he replies, the disgust obvious.

  “Like I’m letting my Beta daughter speak for me. Like I’m letting you decide what is right for this family. You, the child who has no family of her own. You’ve never understood responsibility. At least your brother came to his senses. At least he didn’t keep being irresponsible.” He pushes her aside and comes over to the door, ringing the bell.

  I have half a heart to not answer, to just ignore them like they’ve always ignored me.

  “Dad, please...” Sarah comes back over to him. “Please... They’re probably just out. Sterling’s car isn’t even here.”

  “Well, I have a key, so we don’t actually have to wait outside.” He starts rummaging through his pockets, making my window to make a decision really short.

  I move as if shot and open the door, facing Logan’s father head-on. “Hello.”

  “Hi.” If I thought the look he gave Sarah was bad, this one is even worse, like, there is definitely no love lost between us. None. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was about to ask you the same thing. I live here.”

  “Says who?” The man grumbles and I see he’s considering to just push me aside and barge in.

  “Your son’s will.” I make myself wider, cutting off any idea of him to push past me.

  “Right. That piece of crap paper. Like it has any value. Like anything in it is enforceable. Assigning you as co-owner in his company, giving you half his house. That stuff doesn’t even belong to you.”

  “Right, and who does it b
elong to then. You?” I can’t help but poke at him, at least I can let some frustrations go for a bit.

  “His sister, for example, or his mate.”

  “But I am his mate, you know that. You weren’t very happy with it back then either. What did you call it again? Oh, right. You thought it was disgusting that your son mated another Alpha.” I want to close the door again, but one look at Sarah’s upset face stops me. I can’t hurt her, not her too. She was never supposed to get in the middle of this, it’s not her fault.

  “At least he came to his senses.” Logan’s father huffs. “And left you.”

  “And still he wrote me into his will... That must have hurt.” I shrug. “But, of course, if anyone wants coffee or tea? I think I can get you something, even with Logan’s Omega not being at home and all. I think I can manage.”

  I see a short look of surprise and a little bit of worry pass Sarah’s face, but she goes back to looking neutral immediately. It’s not good to do this, I know, but I know how Logan’s father thinks, and me offering to make them anything will just upset him.

  “I think I can wait for Sterling to return.” Logan’s father grumbles, but he still walks past me into the house, followed by Sarah and then Logan’s mother. I’m sad to see how broken she is, how upset. I’ve always felt bad for her with a husband like that, but I also know that I can’t really do something to help her, not back then, not now.

  I carefully put my hand on her shoulder, and she looks at me with anger in her eyes, but I don’t let that stop me. “I’m very sorry for your loss. I don’t want to make you more upset, but I won’t be able to give this up. You know that.”

  “You were never the smart one.” She steps past me.

  No, I wasn’t the smart one. At least, that’s what they always liked to believe. I was the stupid one, because I didn’t come from a perfect pairing, not an Alpha with an Omega, just two Betas. But I also know she means it a little different. She means that I don’t always have the best ideas and my track record with her husband isn’t the most productive... not really. Lots of arguments and fighting in our past. I guess I always had things to say to him, even if he didn’t like it. And I don’t think that made Logan’s life any easier either. But I’ve never been one to back down, apart from that one time...

  I close the door and follow them to the kitchen. Logan’s mother is looking around the cupboards, probably trying to find something to drink. I stop her, then I turn her to the table. “You go sit down. I’ll do this.” I don’t like the feeling of them rummaging through Logan and Sterling’s stuff, they don’t belong.

  “But—” She starts, only when she looks at her husband, she quietly sits down. Of course, as usual.

  “Coffee? Tea? Something else?” I offer, looking around.

  “We’ll have coffee.” Logan’s father speaks for the all of them and I have a hard time not rolling my eyes at him. He hasn’t changed at all in the last two decades, or however long I’ve known him. Three decades?

  From the corner of my eyes I see Sarah pull a face, she never enjoyed coffee much, but luckily, I don’t have to ask about that. Because we know this about each other, we know these little things that make us able to understand each other without words. I make enough coffee for three people, and then turn on the electric kettle for Sarah.

  “What are you doing?” Logan’s father looks at the kettle.

  “Boiling water.” Kind of obvious, right?

  “Why?”

  “For tea.” I sit down next to Sarah. Even her just being here gives me some courage, but that’s the only good thing about the all of this, because I can’t imagine this is healthy on anyone’s stress levels. Everyone is quiet until I stand up again to make a cup of tea for Sarah, putting it in front of her without saying anything, sliding the sugar pot next to it. She may be older than me, and we may not have seen each other in a long time, but I know what she likes. I know her in ways that probably even her parents don’t know her, or want to know her.

  “Sarah. Don’t. We’re having coffee.” His words are short and Sarah flinches, but she still reaches out to the cup and pours some sugar in it, the slight clinging of her spoon in the cup the only sound. Sure, with me here, she’s got a little more courage too, especially when it’s the both of us together who are standing up to her father. Which I know isn’t easy and she’ll probably get in trouble for it down the line.

  Then I stand up again and pour three cups of coffee and put them on the table. Luckily Logan’s father doesn’t say anything else anymore. As the coffee is cooled down a little and everyone starts to drink, Logan’s mother suddenly sits up straight.

  “This is ridiculous. We’re not here to just sit quietly drink coffee. You can’t be serious.” She glares at me. “Why would he do this?”

  “Do what?” Not like I can’t imagine what she means, but I’m not going to play into her hand.

  “Leave everything to you. You have nothing to do with this.” She shakes her head. “Logan left you. We finally...” She stops, keeping quiet then, still glaring at me. “I don’t get it.”

  “Not everything. He split everything between his mates, as is the law.” I can argue with them all day like this, as long as it’s just us and there aren’t any lawyers involved, I can do this.

  “You weren’t even married.” Logan’s father jumps in too.

  “So? We’re mated. We don’t need marriage for that to be recognised.” I stand up, taking all the cups. “Anything else?”

  “What did you mean when you said you live here?”

  “I live here. Pretty much what it says. I. Live. Here. In this house.” I’m not sure how else I can make that clear.

  “I don’t like that. That’s not normal. That’s not right. An Omega living with an Alpha who isn’t his mate…” Logan’s mother starts again, but I have lost my patience with her.

  “I don’t care if you think it’s right. It’s mine. Half of this house is mine. So I live here.”

  “Don’t you have your own place?” Logan’s father again, and I don’t like the tone of his voice, there is something dangerous hiding in it.

  “I do. But Sterling needs help around the house now Logan is gone. So I stepped in. Something that his family, even his family-in-law should have been doing. But you don’t care. Do you? You don’t care about Sterling, or Maddy. You just care that you lost your only Alpha child. You never even cared about him, about his feelings, about who he was as a person. You just saw an Alpha that could continue your legacy.” Whoops... I never meant to say that. Sure, I can think it, but you don’t say things like that, not to one of the most influential men in the city. I step back, giving them a clear path to the front door. “I’d like you to leave now. You’re not welcome here anymore.”

  Logan’s mother nearly flees out of the house, but Logan’s father stands in front of me, glaring. The man is the same height as me, which is an advantage right now, since he can’t just glare me down. “We’re not finished. You’ll hear from me. You haven’t signed anything yet, so all that is in my son’s will... it’s not yours yet. I’d watch my back if I were you.” Then he stalks out of the house. “Sarah, follow me.”

  I look at Sarah, who is still sitting in her chair, her eyes full of tears. I’m next to her in just a couple of strides. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I put my hand on her back, not sure if I should hug her or not. “At least, not with you around.” I knew it would come out at some point, but I don’t want to hurt Sarah, I don’t want to cause her more pain than she’s already in.

  “I don’t care. They’re the same as always. There isn’t anything different.” She looks at the door, shocked, then I hear it too, a car driving away. They left. Without her. Typical. Then she looks up at me. “I miss him. I miss him so much.” Her voice breaks and her tears now really start rolling down her cheeks, her whole mask of indifference gone now that her parents have left.

  This time, I do wrap my arms around her. I can’t believe the pain in
her eyes, I can’t believe how much of a mess this all is. “I miss him too.” Even if I hadn’t seen him in a long time, I still miss him, knowing that he really is gone. There is a huge difference between knowing that he’s alive somewhere, out there, and knowing that he’s no longer in this world. Two different things, two different feelings.

  I slowly guide her from her chair and to the living room, where we curl up on the couch, holding each other. No matter what has happened in the past. There are things that never go away. We’ve always had a connection. Not like I had with Logan, but our friendship has always been strong. Along the route to the living room, I’ve picked up a box full of tissues and put it in her lap and she immediately starts wiping at her eyes.

  After a while, she stops and looks up at me. “I’d forgotten that you could be like that.”

  “Like what?” I’m not exactly sure what she means.

  “All Alpha and stuff. I forgot how you used to blow up at people about all sorts of things.” She smiles a little. “But it was different when you were around Logan. You let him do stuff like that, even if you didn’t agree with it. I don’t know why that was, but I never knew what to think of it.”

  I try to think back, back to how I used to be. “He was always my Alpha. So if he didn’t think it was important enough, it wasn’t. I know that I can have a temper, but Logan kind of suppressed it. I don’t know, maybe because he mated me?”

  “It’s always been something that I didn’t know how to react to. When he wasn’t around you’d stand up for yourself, for others. For Logan, very often. I don’t think he even knew how often you protected him when he wasn’t there.” She takes my hand and holds it. “I remember now. I remember how you could be. Not that man I saw cowering at the funeral, but this one. This man who stands up for himself. Who stands up for those that he loves.”

  I feel a blush creep up my cheeks. I didn’t expect this. Not at all. Was I really like that? Can I be like that again?

  3. Sterling