His Reject

Chapter 15

Michael's POV:

We had just taken our seat and picked up our menus when a delectable scent hit my nose. Ezekiel (my wolf) started pacing in my mind and tried to push his way out.

'Mate. Mate. Mate.' He chanted making me growl. Glancing at Toby, I realized that he knew exactly who was here. It didn't take long for us to locate the scent at the front entrance. There was my other mate, Matthew, staring over at Toby and me. He was hot and images of me bending him over and marking him flashed through my mind.

However, images of Toby's beaten body erased those erotic images immediately, making me pissed. This was the guy that beat my baby for years. Mate or not, he hurt Toby, and that was not going to be okay with me. I turned back to the table, like nothing happened and continued to look through my menu.

I didn't want to do anything with Jeremy sitting at the table and I knew that my eyes were flashing from green to gold and back. From the corner of my eyes, I could see that Toby had a faraway and fearful expression on his face. Before I knew it, he had stopped breathing and was having a panic attack.

"Jeremy, go and take Ozzy for a walk. Please." I ordered politely. Although he wasn't a werewolf, I let my Alpha voice slip out a bit, letting him know I was serious. Thankfully, he didn't ask any questions as he stood from the booth with Ozzy on his hips and headed in Matthew's direction. I waited until the bell over the door rang before quickly taking Toby into my arms and whispering soothing words into his ear.

"I need you to breathe, baby. It's okay. He won't hurt you. I'll make sure of it."

It took a couple of minutes, but Toby was finally able to relax as I talked to him. However, he tensed in my arms when we heard approaching footsteps. Matthew's scent drifted up my nose again making me groan. This was not the time.

"Don't you dare come any closer." I warned once he was at least five feet away from us. He stopped walking immediately and just stood there. I avoided eye contact as he switched gazes from me to Toby and back repeatedly. Ez, surprisingly, kept quiet. He didn't know whether to comfort or kill our mate, and I didn't blame him.

'We'll go with whatever Toby decides.' I told him and he made a sound of agreement.

"Wh-what are you doing here, Matthew?" Toby asked nervously from my lap, avoiding eye contact as well. I pulled him more into my chest to comfort him, which seemed to help a lot. It took a while for Matthew to reply, but when he did, Toby tensed all over again.

"I came to get you back and take you home." Matthew answered, causing a snarl to pass through my lips. Nobody was taking Toby away from here. Despite that, I could smell Matthew's arousal, and suddenly, I was growling for all the wrong reasons.

"Home? I don't think I can ever call that place home again. Why would I ever want to return to a place that held more than too many bad memories for me? You wasted your time coming here. " Toby immediately replied, finally getting his confidence back, and successfully snapping me out of my thoughts. I almost wanted to whine when he moved from my lap and sat back in the booth.

This was the Toby I loved to see; the one who wasn't afraid to stand up for himself. I held a proud grin on my face while Matthew seemed to be shocked. He didn't expect Toby to grow a backbone and go against him. I bet he was expecting the same Toby he beat for years.

"But you're my mate." Matthew voiced, making Toby chuckle humorlessly.

"So I'm your mate now? Why? Is it because you won't get your Alpha title without having your mate? Yeah, I heard about that." He muttered when Matthew raised his eyebrows in shock. "You don't know what it takes to be a mate. A mate doesn't constantly abuse the one they're supposed to love endlessly. A mate treats their partner as an equal. You're nowhere close to being a mate. This man right here, he's a true mate and he treats me like I'm the greatest thing in the world." Toby finished while looking at me. I looked back at him lovingly before kissing his forehead.