Mateless and Home Bound (In Process Of Publication)

Chapter 12: Fate

"I don't care," he overheard. "I'm not going. That's final!"

"Reginald Locke!" a female voice rang through the halls. "You will not talk back to your father like that! That is not how we raised you to be!"

Eric sighed. He wished that Dad and Pop could hear this whenever it happened. Uncle Lafayette always acted so different around them than when he was alone with Reggie. Eric had heard plenty of fights as bad, if not worse, than this one when they were younger. It hurt to hear, because all it ever did was drive his best friend further from the place that they called home.

"I am not talking back," Reggie lowered his voice a little. "I am stating that I will not be going to another pointless party to find my mate."

"You need to find your mate soon, Reggie," his father argued. "Why don't you understand that we are just trying to help you?"

"I don't want your help!" he sounded so frustrated. Eric knew when he talked like that. He had heard it all the time too. "I want to stay home for once, not throw away my youth searching for a mate just so you two can keep this silly little competition between me and Eric going."

"You were brought here in our family for a reason, Reginald," his mother said. "What if you're fated to find your mate at this party?"

"Fuck fate," he said. "I'm done playing your game of 'What if's'. I'm going to stay here, and that's final." Then there was a slamming of the door and a rush of feet echoing down the halls.

Eric quickly matched up his speed and followed him. Reggie knew that he was there. It was too easy to pick up on alpha scents for him to not know that he had been in the halls the entire time the argument was taking place. Eric always did this whenever it happened. He had a knack for knowing when Reggie's parents were going to fight with him. He had done this exact thing since they had realized that Reggie could be the Alpha of the pack and take on the Locke legacy.

"I'm glad you put your foot down, at least," Eric finally spoke as soon as they got outside. It was night time now. They had spent most of the day training with Alistair and trying to perfect some new techniques. It was a good day. But Reggie's parents always liked to stress him out on days like these.

"I'm so done with all of this, Eric," Reggie sighed. He plopped down on some soft grass and buried his face in his arms. "I'm so tired of all of this."

"All of what?" he sat down next to him. They had plenty of nights like these. This was actually their best hiding spot to talk about this stuff. No one really came over to this little patch of grass. It was just them and the stars and the moon.

"This," gestured at everything in front of them. "The parties, the being pushed around, the having to pretend to be something I'm not. You have no idea just how tiring it all is."

"How long have you been hiding all of this, Reggie?" Eric had to ask. He had known Reggie almost his whole life, and he never once really talked about his preferences. They all assumed that he was straight because that's all that he ever talked about. It kind of hurt that he never told him about it until now.

"Since I was about twelve, I think," he sighed. "I was scared half to death when I realized it."

"Why?" he couldn't really get over that. Reggie shouldn't be scared to tell people who he really was. This pack was a welcoming one.

"You don't get it," Reggie shook his head. "No one does."

"I might if you explain it," he coaxed. "What's going on, Reggie?"

"I really wish you and I could swap parents or something," he looked at Eric with troubled eyes. "Do you know just how difficult it is to go from the boy that has to impress everyone to the boy that has to do everything they say? Now top that off with being gay and not being able to lead with a traditional Luna, and here we are now."