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Conflicted
Kade
LeavingBlakehadbeen more difficult than I’d thought it would be. Already he had me wishing that I’d accepted a full bond and allowed him to take control of my burdens. He may be younger than me, but his thundercloud colored eyes held the wisdom and patience of a man twice his age.
Of course, I knew why that was. He’d seen some shit in his young life. Probably more than I had, if I was being truly honest. A controlling and abusive alpha father, a mother who had died because of one of his beatings, a pack almost left in tatters by leaders that didn’t care. Then having to take over as pack leader as soon as he came of age. Not to mention there were rumors Blake had graduated high school early and forgone college so that he could help rescue the farm and finances before they went bankrupt. The man had been running the pack from behind the scenes where he could.
I showered again when I got home, trying to erase his scent, then checked the millions of messages I had. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but Dakota and Shelby had sent a lot of texts. Still nothing from my so-called friend Isaac. Jerk. There were so many texts and calls it surprised me not to find a bear shifter on my doorstep or couch.
Replying to Shelby that she and some of the ogres could visit that day if they wanted, since I was feeling a lot better, I moved to the next on my list; Dakota. He answered quickly when I called.
“Are you okay?” Yikes, he sounded worried. “I called Heatwave, and the club did a welfare check and said you were fine, but it was your first time and you’ve been so ill —“
“Kota. I’m fine. You saw who I left with, didn’t you? I was sure you were still there.”
“Blake Sweetwater.” I couldn’t tell by his tone if that was approval or not.
“Yes. He says I’m his mate.”
“I heard that too. Have you bonded? Your heat was longer, like you had.”
Huh, that explained the longer heat. My pack hadn’t been great at omega education and I could admit to the nasty habit of hiding from things that I should probably know more about.
“A partial bond. My wolf surged briefly, but it didn’t appear when he bit me. I’m not ready, Kota.”
“But his claim stuck?”
“Yeah, I’ve got his mark and his phone number. He wants to date me.”
Dakota made a noise that I couldn’t decipher. I felt uncomfortable talking about the whole thing and wanted to change the subject. It made me miss Blake and his quiet steadiness.
“When can I come back to work?”
“Um, about that.”
Fuck! Was I getting fired?“What about it?” I didn’t hide the sharp edge to my tone.
“I’m moving you to the office for now. Light duties with your dad still out there.” He didn’t even pause to let me speak before turning it back to me. “I meant to ask, did you ask Blake about your dad?”
I felt my face flush. “We didn’t talk much.”
He chuckled, but it was hollow and I felt bad. We’d been doing so great, but it still must have been hard for me to go off with someone even though he had his arrangement with Hiroshi. Then for that person to be my fated? “I can talk to him, though.”
“I think that’s a good idea. He may have met with your dad already. He needs to know the full story so that your dad can be told to leave.”
“If he’s told that, he’ll know I’m here. It’s only a matter of time until we are face-to-face, Kota. I plan on being the only one that walks away.”
“You can’t fight an alpha, Kade.”
“I won’t have to. I just have to get enough to have him put away. You won’t let anything bad happen to me. I know it.”
He digested that for a second in silence. “You can come to work tomorrow if you are up to it. Nine AM for a few hours.”
“See you tomorrow then.” I hung up and grinned. Getting back to work would make me feel more like my usual self. Already I was feeling so much better compared to a couple of weeks ago. I was sleeping less, eating more, and actually had energy.
Now I needed to process that I’d partially bonded with my fated mate. Was that something I wanted? Blake assured me that not being able to have kids wasn’t a problem, but did I want to burden him like that? An omega like me didn’t deserve an alpha like him.
It was evening before I caved and texted Blake, asking if I could call.
