by Simone Elise
I smiled intensely and loosened my grip on his hand. “I’m right here, Dan. You aren’t doing this alone.”
Maddison
My mom poured a glass of water and handed it to me. Holding my hand out, she placed the new cocktail of medication in it.
A knock on the door caught both our attention, and while she glanced up, I quickly placed the pills under the blanket and brought an empty hand up to my mouth. Just in time before she looked back.
Sipping from the water, I cleared my mouth and opened it for her to see that there were no pills inside. She examined my mouth and, pleased with the result, took the glass of water from my hand.
“And you would be?” She said politely to the guests at the door. But I was more focused on keeping the blankets tight around me, so she didn’t see the pills.
“Chloe, and this is my friend Dan. We are with the visitors program.” A sweet low female voice spoke to my mom. I glanced up, and took in the raven hair beauty. Here I thought that sort of beauty was only seen on a magazine cover. Her beautiful tanned skin made me feel even paler.
She moved slightly, and I gulped when I took in her friend. Great, out of all the people possible, it was him.
“Oh, I remember reading that on a pamphlet.” My mom smiled. “Well I was about to leave to go to work away. So thank you.”
Yes, thank you so much for ruining the only time I get alone. She kissed me lightly on my forehead and I glared into my lap as I heard her picking up her bag and making small talk with them.
I have five peaceful hours to myself, and what do I get? Some stupid teenagers doing volunteer work.
“I’m Chloe.”
I slowly dragged my eyes from my lap and looked into her excited ones. Why the hell was she looking at me like that?
“Maddison,” I muttered and then glanced at Dan as he pulled up a seat next to her. “Nice to see you again, Dan.”
He didn’t look at me. Instead he nodded his head and glared down at his feet; just as friendly as I remembered. I pushed my hand under my blanket and pulled out the pills. I pulled the bedside drawer open and placed them in there.
“Shouldn’t you be taking them?” Chloe frowned at me.
“You can if you want.” I closed the drawer.
She threw an angry glance in Dan’s direction. Why, I didn’t know. But the room fell to silence again.
“You guys can go.” I leaned back into the wall of pillows behind me. “You don’t have to stay. Believe it or not, I manage fine with no one to talk to.”
Chloe shook her head. But clearly Dan hadn’t gotten the message because he started to get up. And I swear, I heard her growl something at him under her breath.
“We are here for a while, so might as well get use to it.” Chloe smiled and leaned back in her chair. She was proving to me that she wasn’t going anywhere. “So, how old are you?”
“18.”
“Same!” she smiled. “Do you still study?”
“No, dying gets you out of that.”
Her mouth shut quickly and she suddenly looked very uneasy. Dan’s shot me an annoyed glance. For the first time he looked at me. I swallowed the nerves in my stomach and shifted under his intense stare. I felt like I was being examined.
“How about you? Do you guys go to school?” I looked back at Chloe. For some reason, I was going to make an effort. I saw Dan nod his head just slightly at me, as if pleased I was, for Chloe’s sake.
“Yeah, we do. We’re in our last year.” She grinned at Dan before grinning at me. What the hell was wrong with this girl? Did she not know it wasn’t normal to grin all the time?
“Cool.” And just like that my conversation well dried up. I began to tap my foot uneasily in the bed. I hated this. I hated strained conversation.
The only sound in the room was the clicking of the clock and, man, I wished it clicked quicker. Suddenly even dying seemed more interesting than this. I noticed Chloe hit Dan’s leg and then I saw out the corner of my eye them share some quiet conversation. Her face looked threatening.
“So, your brother isn’t here?” Dan said, forced, and looked across me briefly.
“He has lectures in the morning.” I made sure my voice sounded just as bored as his. “Why?”
Dan’s head snapped up, now alert. “Why what?”
“Why did you ask?”
“I was making conversation?”
“Why?”
“Cause Chloe wanted me too,” he snapped. “Next time I won’t bother.”
“Sounds good to me.” I whipped back at him, narrowing my eyes. He groaned and crossed his arms clearly annoyed.
Chloe’s small giggle had me looking at her like she was mad. Hell, she was mad. Both Dan and I stared at her. Had she lost her mind?
“Nothing. Sorry. It’s just your first fight.” She grinned, really pleased. She lowered her voice. “It’s cute.”
Dan made some grunting noise and then glared down at his feet once more. There was a soft knock at my door and I groaned. Great. Another unwanted visitor.
Bored and really annoyed, I looked at the door and nearly choked on my salvia. What the heck! Terror was clearly painted on my face. He had no right to be here.
“Hey, Maddie.” Justin moved farther into the room and held the flowers slightly more in front of him.
“I hate flowers,” I hissed at him and crossed my arms. “Get out.”
He was taken back for a moment. “Maddie, look I’m...”
“I have a visitor restriction. So get out.”
“Maddie, don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. You know you get visitor restrictions when you’re dying. Apparently it wears you out. Get out, Justin.”
“Maddie, come on. It was a shock. What did you expect me to do?”
“I expect you to get out right now.”
“Maddie, it was a shock. I’m here now.”
“You’re right, Justin. I have no right to be mad. Hey, you came to visit. It only took you four months!” I felt myself getting weaker by the moment. I shouldn’t be yelling like this. It was only going to bring on my afternoon nap sooner.
“Maybe you should leave,” Chloe spoke up. I noticed she had her hand over Dan’s. “Maddison can’t get worked up and clearly your visit is stressing her.”
“And who are you?” Justin snapped at her, now defensive. “Clearly no one who knows her very well. Otherwise, I would know you.” The flowers in his hand now dangled at his side.
“Logan, thank god!” I greeted my brother, pleased. He examined the room from the doorframe. His hands curled into fists as he noticed Justin. Justin cursed under his breath, his party now over.
“Want me to walk you out?” Logan glared at Justin. “Or I can help you out the window?”
“I thought you had classes in the morning,” Justin muttered.
“I vote window,” I said with too much delight. I saw Logan’s lips twitch slightly but he suppressed the smile to keep his face threatening.
Justin glanced at me for a moment, and sighing with defeat, walked out. Pausing in the doorway, he looked at me one last time. Most likely thinking it would be the last time he would see me, and hell it would be if I had anything to do with it.
“I’m sorry, Maddie.” He smiled grimly. Logan pushed him in the back, pushing him through the doorway and out of my life.
Closing my eyes, I sighed softly and fell back into the pillows. My strength was now gone, and my energy levels falling. Thank the lord Logan turned up early. Maybe his classes got cancelled? I would have to ask him when he got back.
“Maybe we should go,” Dan said softly. I couldn’t even be bothered to open my eyes. I knew for some weird reason I would be hurt by the bored expression, which was most likely on his face. I knew I was dying, but hell I wasn’t that uninteresting. “We will come back after lunch. Give you time to rest.”
Snapping my eyes open wide, I looked at him. His expression
was neutral. “You’re coming back?”
“Chloe too.” He stood up. “If that’s ok?”
“Why?”
“We have to.” Dan wouldn’t meet my eye. He kept looking at Chloe.
Chloe was smiling at him with such admiration. I couldn’t understand it. Frowning, I watched Chloe get up. She reached across the bed offering me her hand to shake.
I slipped my hand into hers and her tanned hand engulfed mine softly. “It was lovely to meet you. After lunch I am sure we will get to know each other better.”
I nodded my head slightly, still extremely confused by her kindness. She let go of my hand and stood back slightly. Then she pushed Dan in the back, edging him closer to my bedside.
Dan’s eyes were focused. Yet they revealed an intense debate. Frowning, I couldn’t look away from his. It was like his eyes were pulling me in, and I wanted to know what he was so torn up about. Slowly he reached a hand out to me.
“I’ll see you after lunch.” His voice was just as torn as his eyes, as if shaking my hand was a bigger deal than what it was.
Slowly I reached out and placed my hand in his. It was only now I realized how cold my skin was compared to his. It was only a handshake, but for some reason it felt like more.
His eyes were locked with mine, as if he was expecting something to happen. Slowly I pulled my hand from his, and saw a flash of disappointment cross his eyes before he looked away.
I glanced at Chloe. She looked so happy. Whatever she was on, I wanted it.
“I’ll see you guys later then.” I nodded my head. For the first time ever, Dan smiled shyly at me. Then he walked out.
For some unknown reason, I would bet the little life I had left that I would see him again.
Chloe
The elevator doors closed and I spun around so quickly that I was slightly dizzy as I hugged Dan.
“I’m so proud of you!”
I felt Dan sigh softly on my shoulder as he held me to his chest. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I failed you.”
“No, you didn’t. You accepted your mate.” I leaned back slightly to stare into his eyes. I saw his regret. “This is how it was meant to be, Dan.” I untangled a hand from his back and placed it on his cheek. “She’s beautiful. You’re so lucky.”
“I can’t believe I touched her.” He groaned slightly. “I can’t believe I started it.”
The first touch starts the process. Your first touch with you mate gives you purpose. It sparks the fire. For a human, it was weaker. So she wouldn’t have felt such a strong pull, though I knew Dan had. I saw his clenched eyes as he walked away from her, leaving her there so sick.
“Come on, we’ll get lunch and go back.” I smiled. “She’s a bit of a spitfire.”
Dan let go of me as the elevator doors chimed. “Yeah, she is.” He smiled and I saw his pride in her.
I wondered if Xavier ever smiled like that about me. The phone in my pocket felt as if it were on fire. I knew Xavier had sent me a message, but I had yet to open it. I thought it would be rude to just pull my phone out while visiting Maddison, and I knew Dan needed my full attention.
I glanced at Dan as we walked across the parking lot. For some strange reason, I wasn’t feeling sad about losing him. I felt happy, happy that he would be happy and happy that I knew nothing could ruin our friendship.
Opening the car door, I pulled the phone from my pocket and unlocked it quickly, before I lost my nerve.
‘Tonight seven xx.’
Slowly, a smile crept across my face. Maybe things weren’t past fixable.
“Ready, Chloe?” Dan ducked his head, looking up at me from his seat. I still stood with the door ajar.
“Yeah, I am.” I grinned and got into his car.
Tonight I had a date with my mate. I knew I shouldn’t be excited. He was married. He had children. And he had hurt me. But I still couldn’t stop the excitement from building inside me, knowing I was going to be one on one with my mate.
Chapter 21
“So, a date with Xavier.” I watched as Dan’s lips twitched into a small line. He hadn’t gone back to the hospital. For some reason, I didn’t nag him to follow through on his promise. Which I know was morally very wrong. “Excited?”
I put the back on my earring, still watching him very closely. “It’s a blackmail date and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat excited.”
“I wonder if his wife is excited about it.” Dan didn’t hide his disgust as he crossed his arms.
“I heard she moved out.” Well, that was what my dad had told me. I didn’t know if it was permanent or anything. “But the boys keep asking for her.” I hadn’t seen the boys, though I knew they were in the pack house. I just thought it could be awkward, perhaps make it worse for them.
“Fair enough.” Dan got up from my bed. “I’d better get going.” His voice lowered as he spoke, and I suddenly realized why Dan had stayed here the whole time. He didn’t want to go home.
“You don’t have too. Stay here.”
“What and wait for you?” He arched an eyebrow at me while picking his wallet and keys up from the bed.
“I just thought maybe you might enjoy the peace and quiet.” I smiled at him, knowing that he was going to stay. “If you’re still awake when I get home, well, that’s just a bonus.”
He shook his head slightly and a smile twitched at the corners of his lips.
I walked towards him and placed a small kiss on his cheek. “Don’t wait up, ok?”
Dan hand ran down my side, his eyes burrowing into mine. “Trust me. I won’t be able to sleep till I know you’re home, safe, with me.”
A bubbling feeling built up in my stomach, and I swallowed hard. I knew it was wrong of me to want Dan to still care for me. But for some unknown reason his touch set my skin on fire and it just didn’t make sense.
“I’d better go.” I stepped away from him. “I’ll see you later, or in the morning.” I turned away from him quickly and made a getaway.
Why did I care for him? He wasn’t mine to love, but yet, for some crazy reason, I did love him. I couldn’t lie. I was excited to have a first date with Xavier, even though he was married. But a part of me wanted to stay there in my room with Dan.
What confused me the most was why? Dan wasn’t mine.
***
Xavier opened the front door to his house. I couldn’t help but feel a tad weird as I walked into the foyer. The car ride was quiet. We made general chit chat. He had to pick me up down the street from our front gates so people at the house wouldn’t see him. Plus dad didn’t want the boys to see him just yet.
“So you cooked?” The smell of food was drifting through the air. “I didn’t know you cooked, Xavier.”
He smiled widely. “I’m a man of many talents.”
I walk into the kitchen. A small table was set up, with candles. “Full of surprises,” I muttered more to myself than him, but I knew he heard me.
“I thought we would be going out for dinner,” I said, as I sat on a stool near the kitchen counter, watching him, instead of taking a seat at the table he’d prepared.
“I didn’t think you would want anyone to see us.” Xavier had his back to me as he stirred something on the stove.
“You mean, you didn’t want anyone to see us,” I corrected him, knowing him too well. An awkward silence followed. Xavier finally turned around to face me.
“I didn’t think tonight was the right time for everyone to find out about us.”
“Us?” I arched both eyebrows. “There is an us?”
“You’re my mate, Chloe. So of course there is an us.” Xavier had made his way from the stove to standing in front of me.
“Xavier, it isn’t as easy as that.”
“What do you want from me?”
I looked him seriously in the eye. “I want you to divorce Emily.”
Xavier took a step back, but placed a hand on mine, where it lay in my lap. �
�I can’t pull her from the boys.”
“I didn’t say you had to.”
“Emily is human. She won’t live forever.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
Xavier sighed slowly. His eyes were still clam. Clearly he had put a lot of thought into this.
“I just mean she won’t live as long as us. That’s all.”
“I don’t care how long she lives for. She can live forever. That doesn’t change the fact you have to leave her.”
“I hate fighting with you.” Xavier took a step into me and softly he placed his free hand on my cheek. “Do you know how much I love you?”
I gulped as I began to feel the bubbling of emotions for him form within me. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to take my mind off the conversation we were having. But if that was his plan, it was working.
“You don’t show it.” I stuttered as I attempted to keep some control. Smoothly he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
“I love you, Chloe.” His hot breath was around my face and I knew I was now under his control. My emotions ripped through my blood. I was completely locked into my mate. He knew the right words to say.
“I need you…” I began to speak but his lips cut me off again, his soft, smooth, hot lips.
His scent was delicious. As our lips began to move with more passion, I felt myself drinking in his scent and moving closer into his strong embrace.
“Something is burning.” He pulled his lips from mine for a moment. But I still pressed my mouth against him. I wanted him. I needed my mate. My wolf was raging for control.
“Chloe.” He slowly pulled me away from him, his charming smile so soft and caring. “I have to turn the stove down.”
Sighing, I unlocked my arms from around his neck. “We don’t have to eat,” I muttered.
Xavier’s laughter was soft as it filled the air. My eyes were glued to his broad back. “Well, by the looks of this, we won’t be.” He placed the pot in the sink and turned around to face me again.
His eyes were sparkling with happiness. I knew my eyes would be reflecting the same. For once, we were together, and it was fulfilling.
“I miss you. Even when I’m mad with you, I miss you.” I opened up.
